Gelling Sugar is special sugar for making preserves from fruit.
Gelling Sugar contains pectin in it, so you don’t need to buy additional pectin. The ingredients in the sugar are white sugar, pectin, and citric acid. Some brands may also include sodium benzoate as a preservative.
There are different “strengths” of Gelling Sugar. The stronger the Gelling Sugar, the more you can cut back on the amount of sugar you use, allowing you to make less sugary, more fruit-tasting preserves.
- 1:1 Gelling Sugars. Use for jellies and jams. You use equal weights of fruit and Gelling Sugar;
- 2:1 Gelling Sugars. Use for preserves that you don’t want to come out as sweet. Use twice as much fruit in weight as you do Gelling Sugar in weight;
- 3:1 Gelling Sugars. Use for preserves that you really want to maximum fruit taste to come out with. Best with fully ripe, sweet fruits. Use three times as much fruit in weight as you do Gelling Sugar in weight.