Steam Extraction Juice

[CarolineW]

Hi everyone,
in the days when I was trying to convince myself that I didn't need to buy a Thermomix but could live without one (who was I kidding?!) I tried out a jam maker.  One of its options was that you could put your fruit into a basket, and some water into the bowl, and it would extract the juice so that you could then remove the pulp remaining in the basket and turn the remaining juice into jelly.

Well, I found it good at extracting juice, but very hit and miss when it came to making jams - nowhere near as reliable as a TMX.  So back it went.

Several years later, wishing I had an easier way to make jellies, it has gradually dawned on me that surely the TMX can do the same thing as the jam maker, using the internal steaming basket?  I ought to be able to work out how to do it, but I can't (my brain doesn't believe me that it should start working again now).  Can anyone help me?

[achookwoman]

CarolineW,  this is an interesting problem.   If you want a clear jelly you have to remove all pulp,  the easiest way to do this is through a jelly bag.   I'm sure you know this but i am leading back to the amount of water that you use to just cover the fruit.  To steam the fruit and extract the right consistency for jelly, I think you  would have a small amount of water in the bowl.  I think that you would have to also line the steaming basket with cheese cloth or similar.   The resulting jelly has to have a balanced relationship between the fruit pectin,  the sugar and the water.   I think you could do it with a bit of experimenting,   although i think that in the end it would be easier to cook the pulp in the TMX and then strain the juice off and put it back in the TMX to make the jelly.  If you are going to try the basket method green apples may give the best result.    Sorry to be so long winded, I would love to hear how you go