patandchickens
Deeply Rooted
You don't have to be exact in jelly/jam-making if you don't USE store-bought pectin at all, except for liquid pectin used in 'emergencies' 
If you stick to things that mostly have enough pectin on their own (esp. when you include some unripe fruit), it is really quite easy, you just keep a-boilin' and a-testin' til you get a satisfactory gel test. (If it goes on too long and you decide to throw in the towel, that is where the pouch of liquid pectin comes in handy LOL) Although with a few delicate fruits like strawberries you lose a little bit of the proper taste if you boil it too long.
So, what kind of pectin DID you use in this recipe? Your pics look kind of like what happens when you go overboard using liquid pectin (e.g. the product had just about enough natural pectin already and you added most or all of a liquid pectin pouch on top of that) -- it gets sort of weird and "booger-y".
I have never seen quite that consistency from too much sugar -- it can be quite thickly syrupy or even sort of paste-y, but I've never had it come out hard to spread or fruit-leather-like from just too much sugar. I dunno.
I think my suggestion for this year would be the first paragraph of this post. Note that if you are just "some" short on the gel test (in particular, this is where it can be real useful to use the rubbing-alcohol method) you don't have to put in a *whole* pouch of liquid pectin, just half is sometimes better. The other half will keep for "a bit of a while" in the fridge, resealed.
Good luck, have fun,
Pat
If you stick to things that mostly have enough pectin on their own (esp. when you include some unripe fruit), it is really quite easy, you just keep a-boilin' and a-testin' til you get a satisfactory gel test. (If it goes on too long and you decide to throw in the towel, that is where the pouch of liquid pectin comes in handy LOL) Although with a few delicate fruits like strawberries you lose a little bit of the proper taste if you boil it too long.So, what kind of pectin DID you use in this recipe? Your pics look kind of like what happens when you go overboard using liquid pectin (e.g. the product had just about enough natural pectin already and you added most or all of a liquid pectin pouch on top of that) -- it gets sort of weird and "booger-y".
I have never seen quite that consistency from too much sugar -- it can be quite thickly syrupy or even sort of paste-y, but I've never had it come out hard to spread or fruit-leather-like from just too much sugar. I dunno.
I think my suggestion for this year would be the first paragraph of this post. Note that if you are just "some" short on the gel test (in particular, this is where it can be real useful to use the rubbing-alcohol method) you don't have to put in a *whole* pouch of liquid pectin, just half is sometimes better. The other half will keep for "a bit of a while" in the fridge, resealed.
Good luck, have fun,
Pat
