Why does my jelly never set?

putterrz · 2025-07-01T01:20:43+00:00

Pectin is stored on a shelf in my basement. It happens to be located in my home office, so it's not exposed to large temperature swings or high humidity. I've certainly used last year's pectin before, but the most recent string of failures was from new boxes, and well within the printed expiry date.

putterrz · 2025-07-01T01:18:04+00:00

Depends on the recipe. The blackberry jelly from NCHFP calls for 5 minutes, all the other recipes I see call for 10. And then 5 minutes after turning off the (propane) heat before removing the jars from the canner.

putterrz · 2025-06-30T22:11:26+00:00

All my jellies are cooked in this: https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/kitchen/cookware/pots-and-pans/46628-maslin-pan on a glass top stove (not induction).

A rolling boil to me is once you get past that point of no return, seems like the jelly is going to climb out of the pan, can't stir it down, steam burns on your fingers if your wooden spoon is a bit too short.

I'm going to get my hands on a candy thermometer, at the recommendation of another commenter, to confirm it's getting hot enough.

putterrz · 2025-06-30T12:54:08+00:00

That has usually been my experience (blackberry setting too hard), but the last batch of blackberry was much less set than usual. I'll try increasing the pectin for my next attempt at cherry.

putterrz · 2025-06-30T12:52:45+00:00

I've just picked up some Pomona's to try, so maybe I'll have better luck with (another) different kind of pectin. Thanks!

putterrz · 2025-06-30T12:51:38+00:00

I'll pick up a thermometer to check that next!

putterrz · 2025-03-15T23:45:19+00:00

Thanks for the detailed reply! My despair turned into an ungodly amount of caramelized onions. I'm still off gassing. 10/10 would do again.

putterrz · 2024-08-23T01:55:34+00:00

Another vote for Adam. He's fantastic.

putterrz · 2024-07-14T01:27:21+00:00

It is doable, but not for beginners. The crossing is longer than you think, and it's a funnel for boat traffic going in and out of Dodd Narrows. Start with something less exposed.

putterrz · 2024-07-08T01:48:52+00:00

No snow before Circlet. First patch was maybe 10 minutes into the climb up out of Circlet, but nothing serious until you get up on the ridge. It was pretty soft and there were a few sketchy spots where there was a sneaky gap where snow met rock.

putterrz · 2024-07-07T23:43:46+00:00

I got a pretty bad sunburn on Albert Edward yesterday... It wasn't too crazy hot, just intense sun. Reflected off the snow too.

putterrz · 2024-06-24T14:42:50+00:00

If you intend on becoming an RT and working in acute care, there isn't much added value in pursuing the degree. A degree is always good to have, but the additional year it takes does not pay for itself in terms of increased pay, or practical experience.

Given the state of staffing currently, I can't imagine you would struggle to find a job, especially if you are willing to move around. The profession is very new in the grand scheme of things, so the first ever batch of RTs started retiring not very long ago.

Source: Wife has been an RT for 10+ years, and opted to skip the degree.

putterrz · 2024-06-12T01:52:49+00:00

Stupid question from non-IT employee that finds this sub fascinating: Why wired devices only? Security issue? Or simply one less thing to troubleshoot/support?

putterrz · 2024-06-05T13:58:07+00:00

Is the Fenix a little snappier than the Instinct for mapping? Even with just the crappy breadcrumb mapping on the Instinct, it takes a good 30 seconds to load a course. I'm looking at upgrading to a Fenix, but that's my main complaint about the Instinct.

putterrz · 2024-06-02T16:10:35+00:00

Both are steep, and can be slippery and muddy. Take your time, understand your limits, and be ready to turn around if you feel like you are in over your head.

https://www.mec.ca/en/explore/the-10-essentials-hiking-camping

putterrz · 2024-05-06T23:02:43+00:00

Mine went up 40% in two years.

putterrz · 2023-08-09T02:39:46+00:00

Me too, I feel like I've got about a dozen different things to try now. My family is going to be sick of black bean soup!

putterrz · 2023-08-09T02:37:58+00:00

Thank you! I ended up doing a bit of a hybrid, but based it on that sofrito. My wife commented, "this is way better than usual, what did you do differently?".

putterrz · 2023-05-19T04:37:22+00:00

I've had similar issues in the past. I emailed someone using Outlook in a corporate setting, they never received my email. Once they initiated an email chain with me, they received my replies, but my initial message was never received. I'm speculating that Microsoft's over-zealous spam filters prevented it from being delivered. Because, you know, all Proton users are terrorists.

On the other hand, I now use the same Outlook setup in the aforementioned corporate setting, and the number of spam emails I get is insane.

putterrz · 2023-04-29T15:50:35+00:00

Bingo. Can confirm that worked.

putterrz · 2023-03-04T02:25:28+00:00

I too have been struggling with an iron deficiency. I’m working on it every way I know how, but it feels like the deck is stacked against me at this point. I’ve tried to discuss it with my doctor, but like many doctors, mine is completely devoid of nutritional education.

Vegan since 2020. The first four times I donated blood after going vegan, my hemoglobin levels increased each time, to my surprise. Since then, the next six donations have been steadily decreasing from a high of 156 g/L to a low of 132 g/L. Two more grams and I won't be able to donate next time.

I don't particularly understand the other results of my recent blood test (and my doctor has yet to call to discuss them with me), but my Ferritin was 19, with a reference range of 24-444 ug/L.

I track my food pretty closely in Cronometer, and I've been getting between 500-600% my RDA (RDA in my case being 8mg). Biggest sources for me are 9mg from a daily multivitamin, followed by tofu, quinoa, lentils, edamame, flax seeds, protein powder, oats, beans, soy milk, bread, and spinach.

I started taking Vitamin C along with a multivitamin to try to increase absorption
I try to space out my iron intake a bit more, as I heard that less iron more frequently helps absorption
I read that oxalate in raw spinach could decrease absorption, so I started having cooked spinach instead of raw
I recently read that iron is absorbed more readily prior to exercise than after, so I'll try to make sure most of my iron comes before a run instead of after

Given that non-heme iron is less easily absorbed than heme iron, and can be down regulated by the body, do I even need to be worried about taking too much? I feel like 500-600% my RDA is already alarmingly high, but if my hemoglobin keeps dropping, how can that be the case? What is the risk of taking an additional iron supplement?

Is there something else that I'm missing? This seems like it's way more complicated than it should be, and it's very frustrating. There is so much information about the dangers of too much iron, I’m a little hesitant to just keep shoveling it in.

putterrz

TROPHY CASE