Cranberry jelly: The ballistics gel of the berry universe.

Here is my very favorite recipe for cranberry jelly:
- Buy a can of cranberry jelly.
- Throw it in the trash and make something else.
I don’t like cranberry jelly. It’s just red wiggly stuff. Looks a lot more like ballistics gel than it does food.
Fresh cranberries, on the other hand? They’re ossim.
The large-batch recipe makes about 5 pints; the smaller one about half that.
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- Ingredients for large batch:
- 8 cups cranberries (about 2 lb.)
- 4 cups sugar
- 4 cups water
- 1⁄3 cup orange, lemon or lime juice
- 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 tsp. or more of something hot: Cayenne pepper, Sriracha, whatever you like. I like to put in a pinch of ghost pepper salt.
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- Ingredients for small batch:
- 12 oz. cranberries (about 3 cups)
- 1 1⁄2 cups sugar
- 1 1⁄2 cups water
- 6 tbsp. orange, lemon or lime juice
- 1⁄8 to 1⁄4 tsp. or more of something hot: Cayenne pepper, Sriracha, whatever you like. I like to put in a pinch of ghost pepper salt.
Combine sugar and water in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil hard for 5 minutes.
Add cranberries and return mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until all berries burst and liquid begins to sheet from a metal spoon; around 15 minutes.
Stir in the juice the last few minutes of cooking, plus any optional ingredients.
If You’re Canning:
Ladle hot cranberry sauce into hot jars, leaving 1⁄4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot cranberry sauce.
Wipe rim. Put lids and rings on your jars, fingertip tight.
Process jars in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude if necessary (see below). Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.
Altitude: | Increase Processing Time: |
---|---|
1,000 ft — 3,000 ft | 5 minutes |
3,000 ft — 6,000 ft | 10 minutes |
6,000 ft — 8,000 ft | 15 minutes |
8,000 ft — 10,000 ft | 20 minutes |