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Picking The Right Pectin

March 16, 2020Cole Whitney
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The Struggle:

Pectin seems to be an ingredient that goes by many names. While it’s all pectin at the end of the day there are a few key differences that set them apart from each other. Unfortunately when buying pectin from the grocery store they don’t give you all the little details. Does this pectin work with sugar and acidity or is it better in low sugar situations? Is it Rapid Set or Slow Set? Does it require calcium for gelling? And most importantly of all does it go by any other names? Often we get asked what the equivalent of apple pectin or yellow pectin is. This is information that is useful to people and we feel we should share it to make your life easier when choosing a pectin.

 

“What pectin is Apple Pectin, Yellow Pectin, and Fruit Pectin?” 

 

Defining Pectin Brand Names 

 

Recipes across the world will call for pectin, commonly they will ask for apple pectin, yellow pectin, and fruit pectin. This gets confusing when you try to switch pectin types or say you purchase a new brand. Can you substitute apple pectin for yellow or fruit pectin? Will my recipe work the same way or will I end up wasting money? Well I’m here to help you understand what all these different types of pectin do. 

 

First I’ll make this easy for everyone, come in close I’ll whisper the secret in your ear… They do the same thing! Yellow, apple, and fruit pectin are all HM pectin. HM pectin comes in two forms: rapid set and slow set. For everyday home use Rapid Set HM pectin is what you want. It can stand in for any of the three aforementioned pectins. But let’s say you make some baller jellies or jams and you need to start producing them commercially, then you would need to use Slow set HM pectin. Slow set is just as it says, it takes longer to set. This buys you time from the finishing of the jelly or jam to filling that final jar. If your recipe calls for one of these types of pectin, that recipe will contain sugar and acid. HM pectin requires both sugar and acid to gel. Now there may be some of you out there saying “Wait, I make sugar free jams!”. If you make sugar free jams you may use something called universal pectin. This pectin is an LM pectin, LM pectin needs calcium in order to gel. This is why it works well in low sugar jams. We carry 3 types of LM pectin. Traditional LM pectin, Amidated LM pectin, and pectin NH. The difference between amidated and regular LM pectin is amidated pectin can gel with a lower amount of calcium. As low as 10mg of calcium can be used to gel 1 gram of pectin. As we stated LM pectin requires calcium to gel, and Pectin NH contains the calcium needed to create a gel. So whatever the type of pectin you are using can easily be deciphered by the method of the recipe. If there is sugar and acidity in the recipe then use HM pectin. If you are making sugar free jam, use LM pectin or pectin NH. Whatever jelly or jam recipe you are making you can now easily figure out what ingredient to use and forget about having to decide what ingredient will work for you.

 

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Comments (17)

Vivian Scott

March 20, 2020 1:40 pm

I purchased rapid set HM pectin. I make small batch jams and jelly for my side business. I have been using bulk pectin, same as the boxes you buy at the grocery. Most of my recipes call for 3 to 6 cups of sugar, and I put a quarter cup lemon juice in all of them. With my current pectin, some set more quickly than others. How much of this package of pectin should be used for small batch jams? There are no directions.

Reply
Janie Wang

March 20, 2020 6:32 pm

Hi Vivian – you can use it as a 1:1 replacement for your other pectin.

Reply
Tammy Tran

June 17, 2020 8:19 pm

I like low sugar fruit gelée for my macarons, which pectin shall I use and is there a recipe for mint gelée that is pipe-able?

Reply
REBECCA L SWINDLE

August 11, 2020 8:52 am

How much HM Slow Set should be used for high acid fruit jams? What pectin should be used for hot pepper jams (lots of sugar + vinegar)?

Reply
Janie Wang

August 11, 2020 9:51 am

Slow set pectin should be used in the same ratio as rapid set, it will also depend on how firm you want the jam to be. As for the high sugar and high acid pepper jelly, you’ll need rapid set for that.

Reply
Tina Belderbos

August 19, 2020 6:11 am

Should I use Certo pectin or Certo pectin with apple extract when making freezer raspberry jam?

Reply
Janie Wang

August 25, 2020 4:25 pm

We haven’t done liquid pectin or freezer jams yet!

Reply
Amy Covarrubias

October 13, 2020 12:19 pm

I’m trying some gummy recipes what pectin would help to withstand the high heat in Vegas? I was told pectin would help stabilize the melting point and take it a lil higher then with gelatin alone.

Reply
Janie Wang

October 20, 2020 9:45 am

Rapid set Hm pectin is non thermo-reversible so that is the best one to use.

Reply
Jason Vasquez

August 23, 2020 1:20 pm

I just started trying to make jams. I used surejell last time and my guava jam really never set. It was like a apple butter consistency and I used sugar and some lemon juice. What did I do wrong?

Reply
Janie Wang

August 25, 2020 4:23 pm

Not sure since it’s not our recipe or product.

Reply
Margaret Johnson

August 26, 2020 7:24 pm

Im so confused. Im making marionberry jam with low sugar. I bought you low Methoxyl pectin. Do I now need to buy calcium? which of the two less salty calciums should I use? I can’t find any blackberry jam recipes on your site even though you sell pectin. It would be helpful to have a low sugar Recipe for blackberry jam. Thank you

Reply
Janie Wang

September 14, 2020 11:14 am

There may already be calcium present in marionberries but you can still add some additional calcium like calcium lactate

Reply
Yasmin

November 4, 2020 9:13 am

What is the best type of pectin for lemon jam ?
Which will be high acidity and high or medium suger?

Reply
Janie Wang

November 6, 2020 9:25 am

The best Pectin for a high sugar and high acidity jam is a HM pectin. We have two types of HM pectin, a rapid set (small batches) and a slow set (large batches). The slow set is better for commercial applications.

Reply
Chiara

November 9, 2020 4:18 pm

Thank you. Finally, a website that clearly and fully explains about pectin. I have just one question please. I have a recipe that calls for Extra Slow Set Pectin. Would you know what this is?

Reply
Janie Wang

November 12, 2020 3:29 pm

Unfortunately we’re not familiar with an extra slow set pectin.

Reply

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