With Sharon Peterson
I decided to try something fun. Corn Cob Jelly, sounds weird but hey, if you add enough sugar even corn cobs can turn out tasty. :0)
We freeze corn every year…. we have LOTS of cobs we throw away every year!
Prepare:
Gather your canning supplies
- water bath canner
- canning jars
- canning lids and rings
- jar lifter and canning funnel
- large pot
- bowls
- large spoons
- sharp knife
- towels and dish cloths
- ladle
- cheesecloth or jelly bag
Ingredients
- 1 dozen corn cobs (Note: The original recipe from NCHFP says to use field corn, but I used sweet corn from our canning process.)
- Approximately 2 quarts water
- 1 3/4 ounces powdered pectin (1 package)
- 3 cups sugar
How to Make Corn Cob Jelly
Start by making a juice from your corn cobs. First blanch corn for 5 minutes. Then cut the kernels from the cobs. You can then use these kernels for canning, freezing or other recipes. The day I did this we had been freezing corn for the winter, and I just saved enough cobs to fill my stock pot.
Put 12 corncobs in about 2 quarts of water. Bring to a boil, and then boil for 35-40 minutes. Liquid will reduce…. that’s ok.
I did this out in my carport with my volcano grill. You’ll need 3.5 cups of liquid for each batch of jelly you want to make.
I had plenty! You might want just enough for one batch or two. I ended up making two batches of jelly here. For each batch of jelly, use about 12 cobs and 2 quarts of water.
Strain your juice through double cheesecloth, then measure out 3 cups of juice.
It is difficult to make double batches of jelly so what I do is separate pots cooking at the same time.
Stir in pectin. Bring to a boil, then stir in the sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Return to a boil and boil hard for 1 minute stirring constantly.
Skim foam.
Fill your jars with hot jelly, leaving a 1/4-inch headspace.
Wipe the rims clean carefully. You don’t want the stickiness to interfere with the seal. Place your lids and the jars are ready to process in a waterbath canner. If you need more instruction on the canner process see this –> How to use a water bath canner.
Process your corn cob jelly; both 1/2 pints or pints need 10 minutes in a water bath canner. Be sure to adjust for your altitude!
Altitude Adjustments
Altitude Adjustments for Boiling Water Bath Canner
Altitude in Feet – processing time
0-1,001- 10 minutes
1,001-6,000 – 15 minutes
6,001 and higher – 20 minutes
For more information on why this is important, see this altitude adjustments page.
More Ways to Preserve Corn
Source: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_07/corncob_jelly.html
Home › Jam or Jelly › Corn Cob Jelly
I didn’t think anyone else knew about corn cob jelly. My grandmother use to make this because she went through the great depression and they didn’t waste anything. I continued making it. It’s a nice change when you want a lite tasting jelly.
I grow a lot of peppers to make pepper jellies, which can be used in cream cheese, for glazes and as toppings. Aside from toast and a PB&J, what can you do with corn cob jelly? What does it go best with?
great question….. We just use them on crackers and pbjs. So I’m not much help. I would think it would be great as a glaze, or over ice cream too as you mentioned. I’m going to see what my FB clan says! 🙂
Does the corn cob Jelly have to be made the same day you cut the kernels off?
You could put them in the fridge for a day or two, I suppose, and then take them out to make the jelly. But I expect it would taste better the fresher you made it.
-Rachel (Sharon’s assistant)