Spiced Cider Jelly and Steam Canning in the Instant Pot!

 More than a month ago I attended a class on jelly-making.  The facilitator was using apple scraps, i.e. apple peelings and cores, to make "apple tea".  She had done the same thing with peach skins and pits as well.  This was such an exciting project that I immediately began planning for next summer when I could get some peaches and make peach tea.  Of course, since I am not planning to can the peaches I will have to get a gallon ziplock pack and put the refuse in the bags then put the bag into the freezer until I have a bag-full.  This is how I make vegetable broth: put all vegetables scraps in the freezer then add water and a bay leaf to the Instant Pot then cook the heck out of the scraps.  Most people who make vegetable scrap broth only let the broth cook for 5 minutes or so. No me.  I put it on for 58 minutes and if I fail to be in the kitchen when the timer is done, I put it on again, just in case...It works fine though maybe a little darker that other broth.

Back to the Spiced Cider Jelly--

At Thanksgiving we made many apple pies and there was a TON of leavings.  My sister kindly froze them then brought the big bag to us before we left North Carolina.  I did cook up the "tea" but had put in a lot of water.  It made more than two gallons.  I made one batch of jelly which was pretty good.  I steam canned it in the Instant Pot.  Worked like a charm.

Fast forward to today:  On my list of To Do jobs for today (along with about a dozen other useful things but almost certainly impossible to accomplish in one day) was to make Spiced Cider Jelly.  I had thought of making jelly as a gift but then realized that there were so many people I wanted to give gifts to that I needed to have started months ago.  Maybe next year.

Anyway, this is what I did:

1.  Purchased 1/2 gallon apple cider from the Food Lion. Then stored it in the refrigerator for almost a week...

2.  Cleaned off the island in our kitchen so there was room to operate.

3. Got out all the ingredients so the work would go smoothly. It is a BAD idea NOT to do this.  Sometimes you are in the middle of a project and it turns out you are missing a crucial ingredient.  Not good.  We had everything.

4. Ingredients needed: 4 cups apple cider, 1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice (apple pie spice is very similar but I made a big batch of pumpkin pie spice last year and, surprisingly enough, have made not even one pumpkin pie since then. Now was the time to use it), a box Sure-Jell regular, not low sugar, 4 cups sugar, large pot, 4-5 half pint jars, lids, and rings, ladle, Instant Pot, food rack, wooden spoon, stainless steel teaspoon.

Process:

5. A. Put your glass jelly jars (without lids and rings. Put those on the counter near the rack where they will be used) into the oven on a cookie sheet at 250 degrees F. to heat up.  Leave them until the jelly is ready.

5. B.  Put 4 cups cider in large pot--I think ours in  4 quart size or maybe 6 quart size.  Over medium heat  bring the cider to a simmer.  Simmer a couple of minutes. At the same time put your teaspoon in the freezer to chill.  Yes.  Do it.

6. With the long-handled wooden spoon, stir in the whole package of Sure-Jell and stir until smooth and the Sure-Jell is dissolved.  Let simmer 2-3 minutes.

7. Add 1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Pie spice (or make your own spice going heavy on cinnamon, some ginger, some nutmeg, some cloves) and stir well.  **Next time I will mix the Sure-Jell and the powdered spice together before adding!

8. After the simmering of the cider and Sure-Jell, stir in the 4 cups sugar ONE CUP AT A TIME.  Bring the jelly to a  simmer again and simmer for 3-5 minutes stirring constantly.

9.  As the jelly begins to feel slightly thicker and darker, get out the freezing teaspoon and dip it into the jelly.  Lift it up and look to see if the jelly is coating the spoon a little bit.  If yes, shut off the heat and get ready to ladle the jelly into hot jars. If not, keep heating, but both batches I did were ready after about 5 minutes of simmering after adding the sugar.

10. Remove the jelly jars from the oven and put them on a cooling rack still on the cookie sheet.

11. Using a canning funnel and a ladle, carefully put the very hot jelly into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch space in the jar.  After filling each jar, using a damp cloth or paper towel carefully wipe around rim of each jar then put on the lid and ring.  Screw the lid on but only just.  Do not tighten it as tight as you can.  The smart people call it "tightening to finger tight".  I took their word for it the first time and since it worked, I did it this time, too.

12.  Put the hot filled jars into the Instant Pot which has the trivet in the bottom and 2 cups of HOT water in the Instant Pot also in the bottom.

13. Put on the lid and set to STEAM for 20 minutes.  I think you only need to steam 10 minutes but...well, I did it for 20 minutes just to be safe.

14. When the pressure goes down let the cooker reduce pressure naturally. It will probably take 20-25 minutes.  DO NOT REDUCE HEAT MANUALLY!  If you do, the change in pressure will make the jars eject all the jelly into the water and all will be lost.  DO NOT DO IT.

15.  If you have a jar lifter, use that to remove the jars from the pot and set them on the cooling rack for 12-24 hours to cool completely. That is really pretty much a crock, but do it anyway.  It will NOT take that long.

16. As the jelly and jars cool, you will hear a ping for every jar as the seals complete.  Do not help them seal. Just leave them alone.  (For 12-24 hours...!)

17. If a jar does not seal just put it in the refrigerator and eat it up.  You can also remove the ring and lid, clean off the rim of the jar and go through the whole process again but I would not do that.  There is nothing wrong with eating a little fresh jelly sooner rather than later.  This particular jelly tastes so good it is even good on Ritz crackers.

There was a little more jelly than would go in the five little jars I had so I put it into another jar and let it cool on the counter all by its little lonesome.  I told Dear One it was there.  He was not sure about it but tasted a tiny bit on a spoon THEN he made himself a piece of toast and spread it thickly with new jelly.  You can imagine my joy at this!