Perfect Redcurrant Jelly - jewel clear and delicious

[@martinhansen5317]

Jam time again here in Norway. This is the third year I’m watching this video as I’m making jam - best recipe I’ve found and very nice people to follow. Thank you for your all your videos 👍🙋🏻‍♂️

[@EnglishCountryLife]

That's so lovely to hear - thank you Martin 😊

[@tdelphia1]

Thank you! The recipe using ratios is so helpful for my first home harvests!

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@tdelphia1 First harvests are so exciting!

[@gillianheinrichs2171]

Sounds good. I'll give it a try for sure.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

It's both delicious and easy 😋

[@angelotartanian6396]

Wonderful stuff. I love your approach. Simple, based entirely on weights, with practical advice to ensure a quality product and avoid pitfalls. I followed your recipe and now have a bounty of crystal clear crimson jelly from our home picked redcurrants. A big thank you from Woodhaven (my father-in-law's home) for sharing your knowledge and techniques! It has been a long family tradition in my wife's family to pick the currants from that property and make jelly, but the recipe for beautiful clear jelly had been lost a generation ago and we've been struggling to achieve a clear jelly that properly sets. You've brought Papa Forster's jelly back to us! I'll be sharing this video with the folks in my life who love to make preserves.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thank you so much for your kind comment Angelo - Merry Christmas to you & your family! 🎄⛄

[@annettesargeant2690]

Best instructions for redcurrant jelly

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thanks Annette!

[@petebaker5369]

Hey just wanted to say I’m currently making my second batch of redcurrant jelly using this recipe! The first one tasted really good, thanks for making it simple for a beginner (only 21 years old haha!)

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Fantastic! Well done for giving it a go. I'm glad you like it so much 👍

[@KuzcoEmp]

grew up with this . ty for the detailed video. love form Romania

[@EnglishCountryLife]

So glad that you enjoyed it!

[@jdelder9028]

Thank you for the clear instructions! I loved it... Roxsann Elder (JD's wife)

[@EnglishCountryLife]

I'm delighted! It's a forgotten classic that's really worth making in my view. Hugh

[@geraldineneale6200]

About to try making it!

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Do let is know what you think?

[@oscar6487]

Nice

[@martinhansen2430]

Thank you for sharing 🙋‍♂

[@EnglishCountryLife]

You're very welcome 🙂

[@martinhansen5317]

Really appreciate your videos, @@EnglishCountryLife . This is now my 6.or 7. time making this jelly, and I'm very grateful for your information and inspiration. All the best to you from Norway 🙋‍♂

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@martinhansen5317 Thanks so much Martin. Gledelig Jul 🎄

[@kyleblackburn88]

Brilliant! My Granny always made red current jelly like this, and I have been trying to find a recipe to get the crystal-clear, no bits jelly. I am making this this week. :)

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Excellent - let me know how you get on?

[@kyleblackburn88]

@@EnglishCountryLife turned out great

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@kyleblackburn88 Excellent 👍. Merry Christmas ⛄

[@dianamay6017]

Just thought I’d let you know I’ve made three yummy jars of red current jelly using your video. Not too hard to do and the lemon really added a lovely flavour. Thank you

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Sounds great!

[@nigelkthomas9501]

I have a plethora of red currants in my front garden! I’ll be making some of this for sure! Thanks very much for this video! 👍🏻

[@EnglishCountryLife]

So glad it was useful - enjoy the jelly!

[@nigelkthomas9501]

@@EnglishCountryLife I fully intend to!

[@lindavenditti1017]

On my second batch Turned out perfectly! Thanks from Canada!

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Oh that's great to hear Linda - thanks for letting us know!

[@christinedribin9931]

Thank you!!!

[@EnglishCountryLife]

You're welcome!

[@besttunes8613]

Many thanks for such clear instructions.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

You are welcome!

[@oscar6487]

True zingy

[@andrewpiper2880]

I've just made the recipe you suggested and it worked a treat!! I'll be stripping the rest of our currents tomorrow as the birds are gorging themselves on my crop. They are at their very best right now here in New Zealand. Thanks again and very kind regards, Andrew

[@EnglishCountryLife]

I'm so glad Andrew- enjoy!

[@ulsterscotprotestant8431]

Fantastic instructions thank you. Just frozen 1.6kg of our own grown ones. Off on holiday and looking forward to doing this.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Excellent, do let me know how you get on! Hugh

[@mtlicq]

Tastes amazing spread on fresh bread and good cheddar, instead of butter. The two flavours really enhance each other; Together, better than the sum of the parts.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Totally agree! I do love baking - our local windmill keeps us in flour. Hugh

[@Baz64]

Just moved into a new house that has a redcurrant bush so have just picked them and now in my kitchen making redcurrant jelly following your video and hoping it works🤞

[@EnglishCountryLife]

It certainly should! Do let us know how you get on? Hugh

[@Baz64]

Hello Hugh the recipe was brilliant and the results are great, lovely and clear. it was well worth the time spent doing the skimming.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

I'm delighted that you are pleased Barry! Redcurrant jelly is one of my favourite things, delicious with cold meat, roast lamb or chicken. Its a forgotten country classic. Enjoy!

[@solmoz4170]

Great explanation! Looking forward to making it myself

[@EnglishCountryLife]

I really hope you like it!

[@btd3375]

Don't forget that you can make jam as well. Redcurrant jam would be a nice substitute for lingonberry jam, for those who like crepes. As a jelly, recurrants make an elegant jelly, and its colour is very festive for entertaining.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

I do enjoy sloe jelly too. Not palatable as a jelly as the fruit are bitter, but makes for a beautiful, deep purple, jelly

[@louiseberesford5203]

Thanks for a great explanation! I’ve got a few bags in the freezer from my allotment and so they are random weights which I plan to make the jelly with.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Great idea - its lovely with meat or on toast

[@louiseberesford5203]

@@EnglishCountryLife I am looking forward to trying it, planning on hopefully making enough to give as presents with some pickled beetroot also from my allotment. Do you have any tips for making it with frozen berries instead of fresh?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@louiseberesford5203 Frozen berries should not make any difference Louise, just use the same recipe 🙂

[@thomasoaustin]

Just made this. Its excellent, thanks !

[@EnglishCountryLife]

I'm so glad, it's a favourite of mine. Hugh

[@art4769]

Thank you, really clear (in every sense) and helpful.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

I'm glad it was useful! Hugh

[@dianamay6017]

We have just had a glut of gorgeous gleaming redcurrents, were in competition with the pigeons. Came across your channel. Thanks for posting

[@EnglishCountryLife]

I confess to jealously netting our fruit as we have a LOT of pigeons in the fens. Our currants are a way from ripe yet but Fiona is, as we speak, processing gooseberries, strawberries & raspberries!

[@staceem]

Wonderful. Thank you!!! :)

[@EnglishCountryLife]

I'm glad you liked it 😊

[@DeForestRanger]

Your videos are marvelously informative, even to someone who has been making pectin jams for years. I've recently added both gooseberries and red currants to my garden, and am looking at a nice harvest this year. While I would only have enough currants for a jar or two, your videos suggest that I could combine the two for a lovely gooseberry-red currant jam. Thank you!

[@EnglishCountryLife]

You certainly could. With both being sharp fruit the jam would be marvellous with lamb, duck or cold meats! Thanks for the kind words. Hugh

[@DeForestRanger]

@@EnglishCountryLife Thank you! My gooseberries are still hard as little rocks, but I'm picking currants daily and freezing them dry. I will come back and leave another comment after I've done my "jamming."

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Look forward to it 🙂

[@CynCopeland-TheAnswerIsMeat]

Proportions! You've cracked it ;-). International Man of

[@EnglishCountryLife]

I will invent a mystery recipe. Then I can be "International man of mystery" 😂

[@rustyknightjustme]

I literally just finished making my first batch of currant jelly. This stuff is so tasty! I currently have a small bush and froze all the berries until I had enough for a batch of jelly. I guess I need to propagate some more plants now. Thanks for the video.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

If you bend a branch over, scratch the bark where it touches the ground, then peg it down, it will root easily. Next year, cut the branch and transplant.

[@rustyknightjustme]

@@EnglishCountryLife I'll try that, I've already did that with my gooseberries.

[@reenpeen]

Amazing clarity in your style. Came here as I wanted a “zingy” one for my Linzer Cookies this Christmas. Thank you so much. Will try this out. May I use Dried Red currants as it’s not available in a hot tropical country like India ….

[@dawnbrookes8187]

Thanks for sharing am cooking up a few jars from the frozen berries I collected last year 😁

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Fantastic, do let us know how you get on! Hugh

[@dawnbrookes8187]

A few few jars of nice clear fab tasting jelly thanks Hugh 👍

[@EnglishCountryLife]

So glad you liked it Dawn!

[@jjpetunia3981]

I’m so enjoying your content. I’m working my way through them all because I just recently found you. Where I live I don’t have access to currants much but I did pick up some dried black currants I found at a specialty store. A bit silly since I’m not sure what to do with them. Any suggestions?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Blackcurrant wine is fabulous. They make a wonderful purple jelly or, mixed with apples, a great pie 🥧

[@simons8514]

Just followed your video, but used some White Currants that we harvested last year (2019) from our allotment instead. Skipped the lemon juice as white currants are more acidic than red currants. Came out great. Two 12oz jars full from 810g of fruit.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

White currants are such a wonderful fruit. We only have two white currant bushes but wish we had more. Love your idea - will have to steal it 😉. Hugh

[@wendyelliott5851]

Do I leave a gap at the top o the jars, do I need to Put a wax disc on & how long would it keep for, many thanks for your video & help 👍🏻

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Hi Wendy, a small gap (say 1cm) is useful. I've never used wax discs but they wouldn't do any harm. It lasts at least 3 years with no refrigeration

[@wendyelliott5851]

Perfect, many thanks, really helpful, I’m excited to use my redcurrants this year & not let the birds eat them all 👍🏻

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@wendyelliott5851 Absolutely - too good to waste!

[@nigelkthomas9501]

I’m on with this years crop of Redcurrants. Let’s hope I get a better result than last year. Quality wise last year was good, excellent in fact! I just wish I had more jelly to show for them amount of Redcurrants used.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Are more bushes an option? If you peg a few low branches down, they will root and can be separated into new bushes next year

[@nigelkthomas9501]

@@EnglishCountryLife I’ve got four bushes in total. One from 2019 (the biggest); two from 2020; and one I planted about three months ago. I picked approx 2kg in total.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@nigelkthomas9501 They'll get bigger for a few years yet then 🙂

[@nigelkthomas9501]

@@EnglishCountryLife Oh yes!

[@tonymatthews445]

How many bushes do you need to harvest that many currents all at once? Thanks for sharing, loving all your vids

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Very much depends on the bush size. We have four redcurrant bushes and this is certainly not all of them, but they are fairly mature now

[@heathermaclean7331]

I enjoyed your video very much. You simplified for me what seemed a very difficult task. Thank you. If it is of help to anyone who could not pick up clearly the amount of lemon juice to use what Hugh said was to add " the juice of a lemon for each 300 grammes or so of liquid " It was not easy for me up here in the North to pick it up the word 'each' and the subtitles got it very wrong.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thanks Heather! I try to minimise my accent but I do slip 😉

[@BagladyNH]

I enjoyed it, but would have liked to see the finish product, and how you finish it after you pour it in the jar. Do you just put a lid on it?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Hi Bev, That's a very good point and its what we should have done. This was an early video for us. You are spot on, just put the lid on and allow to cool. You can see in the thumbnail that it turns to a clear, ruby red, solid jelly. I promise that all our newer videos show the finished item 🙂. Hugh

[@kgoldsmith6104]

You don’t mention how to cap it etc. Do you then turn it upside down, waterbath, or keep in fridge etc? Thank you 😊

[@EnglishCountryLife]

None of those are necessary. Put the jelly in a warmed, sterilised jar and screw on the lid. No canning or refrigeration needed as the sugar preserves the jelly

[@annekoch2834]

Thanks so much for this video. Proportions are definitely the way to go when one picks their own from what is ripe and ready on the bush. I had a problem with a batch I made recently. We have our own red currant bush. I cooked down the juice from 3 lbs of ripe berries and let it drain through cheesecloth overnight. Next day I heated the juice and when I added the sugar I got lots of foam. The more I strained it the more foam appeared. Some of the foam even solidified into white jelly sheets. It tasted the same as the red jelly but it destroyed the clear look of the jelly. How can I fix that so it does not happen next time?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Hi Anne. Try a very small amount of butter (perhaps a teaspoon full) to prevent foaming. Hugh

[@annekoch2834]

@@EnglishCountryLife I took your advice and tried adding a little butter and it worked very well. I picked the last of the currants from the bush and got enough juice for a pint and a half of jelly and added about half a teaspoon of butter to the boiling juice and sugar and it cleared up the foam and white clumps. I ended up with beautifully clear red jelly. Thanks so much!

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@annekoch2834 Any time Anne 😁👍

[@Rachel-hx2xb]

Would it hurt the consistency to do a water-bath can after jarring it up? Or do you think it’s unnecessary?

[@Rachel-hx2xb]

I saw your comment below that it is unnecessary…..if I chose to do it would it hurt the jelly do you think?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Hi Rachel, if you want to water bath can, it won't hurt the jelly at all. Either way it ends up in a sealed, sterile jar with sugar as the primary preservative. I know water bath canning is felt to be important in some countries and it certainly won't hurt the jelly.

[@sheilaroscoe4024]

I presume sugar is caster? Love this recipe . Will be attempting at weekend as just picked my red currants 👍

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Hi Sheila, plain old granulated is just fine 🙂 Hugh

[@sheilaroscoe4024]

@@EnglishCountryLife Thankyou… is there anything you can do with the pulp??

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@sheilaroscoe4024 I imagine sweetened it would make a great pie filling 😁

[@sheilaroscoe4024]

@@EnglishCountryLife might have a taster and try !! Thanks for the recipe , very easy to follow! First attempt ever since moving into our cottage a year ago !

[@EnglishCountryLife]

So pleased you enjoyed it. Do let me know what you think of the jelly when you try it?

[@lorrainediamond2266]

I made this last year x omg it is so scummy .I'm making more this year .amazing

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Scummy? 😥 Or Scrummy 😂

[@daverees986]

Hi Both. Could you reduce the sugar for this recipe for diabetics? I have loads of red currants, now I've watched your video I wont leave them all for the birds.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Hi Dave, I'm sure that you could use a sugar substitute but the sugar is part of the preservation so you would need to refrigerate it & consume fairly quickly. They are delicious as a compote with yoghurt

[@daverees986]

@@EnglishCountryLife Thanks for the reply

[@tdelphia1]

I'm diabetic and make jams with splenda and Pomona's pectin. The shelf life is 1-2 years after a water bath to seal. I just have my first harvest of currants so haven't fine-tuned a recipe yet, but the use of a pectin to supplement the natural currant pectin should make this shelf stable.

[@jjdjj5392]

Dont you add pectin?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Redcurrants are naturally high in pectin so you don't need to add any 🙂

[@lorrainediamond2266]

Can someone please tell me what sugar to use x

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Hi Lorraine. White granulated sugar is fine

[@lorrainediamond2266]

@@EnglishCountryLife thank you very much x

[@oscar6487]

Argur is what you need or raeburn

[@EnglishCountryLife]

We have an Esse - better than Aga or Rayburn these days

[@alanmuddypaws3865]

I think that Redcurrant Jelly is a very fetching shade for a spoon! Seriously though, another very informative video. What foods would that jelly be a perfect accompaniment to?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

I love it with lamb, venison and cheese!

[@CynCopeland-TheAnswerIsMeat]

When I finally made the pilgrimage back to my grandmother's house, long after she'd headed to pastures greener, my uncle asked me if there was anything of hers I really wanted -- he seemed surprised that I chose her very, very old and very, very well used flour sifter. I said, this has HER in 'it' - I recall standing as a lass at her knee while she made bread. A 'used' utensil, if made with love (Alan!) or used with love, is a magic tool, which keeps the legacy and the learning alive.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

So true! Alan makes heirlooms!

[@hamidjavidi5262]

598 gram was weight of jelly plus pot !

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Excellent. How did it taste? Hugh

[@nigelkthomas9501]

I started with over kilogram of redcurrants yet I’ve only got 518g of juice! Makes no sense!

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Were the berries really ripe and soft? I would have expected about 750g of juice!

[@nigelkthomas9501]

@@EnglishCountryLife Probably not. I’ve got four, yes 4, redcurrant bushes in my relatively small garden. One from 2019, the biggest, two from 2020, and one I planted about six weeks ago. I literally can’t wait for them to ripen so I can make some more of this fantastic jelly. The bit I made last year was excellent!

[@benius42]

I never saw him put in pectin

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Redcurrants are naturally high in pectin Ben, there's no need to add any

[@benius42]

@@EnglishCountryLife awesome! Lol I watched the video back and forth twice thinking I missed something. Can’t wait to try it!

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@benius42 Its very simple, but I promise that it works well

[@oscar6487]

No hi fuel energy prices 😂😂

[@EnglishCountryLife]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rZulk6CmqJyJrtU

[@Anna-jt3xu]

That’s to much sugar

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@Anna-jt3xu no, it really isn't