First time canning was a gel failure

SuperGreen

So DH and I got the Ball Canning Kit a few days ago.  We decided to try a simple recipe on Saturday.  We chose Apple Jelly, it's just apple juice, sugar, and lemon juice.  We used apple cider from the Farmer's Market (only ingredient is apples), and it didn't gel .  We just kept boiling and boiling it, and it never reached the gelling point.  We went ahead and canned it anyway for practice, and the canning part of the process worked.  We got a good seal and the lids went "ping."  So while we were depressed that we didn't get any jelly, at least it was, as DH said, "A gelling failure not a canning failure."

foundmylazybum

I know it's not the same, but a few times I tried to make divinity (a yummy type of candy) from scratch. I could never get it to the "Ball" stage. It was so disappointing, so I know how you feel. It's still fun to to try, but you get to the point where you are like, "What is WRONG here!? Why won't you BALL!" (or gel in your case). Then I just had to laugh cause I was saying "Ball" so much.  

SuperGreen

Exactly!  We were like "Gel DAMMNIT gel!"  We think it didn't work because the apple cider is pasturized, or just didn't have enough natural pectin to gel.  We're going to try a jam recipe that requires pectin, so hopefully that will work.

Alisha_A

Well, at least you got the 'ping'!

I looked around a bit on the net, and I think you're right about the pectin. I found a lot of people saying they'd never try to make apple jelly from juice again because it just doesn't have enough pectin, and that the recipes starting with cooking apples work much better.

CDMay2006

Apple cider has yeasts (naturally occuring) in it that apple juice does not, and it also has solids, which apple juice also does not.  You might have better success with a straight apple juice.