Canning without Cane Sugar or Pectin

This post contains affiliate links to help fund our homesteading efforts. Read the full disclosure.

Canned whole raspberries from the free ones we received from my local grandmother's freezer in their own juices ,instead of using a light syrup. I had four cups of juice left, so I decided to can some raspberry jelly as well. The whole raspberries canned, but one jar had the bottom just cleanly break off in the water bath canner, so I had to clean that up first and put fresh water in the canner to prevent a bigger mess.

After that was ready, I canned the jelly using a cup of stevia powder and a cup of honey vs 5 1/2 cups of sugar, and substituted four packets of gelatin powder vs a box of powdered pectin. We're not vegetarian and I believe there are a lot of health benefits from eating gelatin, so I'll keep using gelatin vs pectin. (See resources page for canning whole raspberries and original raspberry jelly recipe.)

Here is my raspberry jelly adaptation without cane sugar or pectin (Tends to be Runny and Become gelatin in the fridge, I will keep working on gelatin conversation and update once I get it.):

Makes approx. 3 half-pints

Ingredients

• 4 cups of raspberry juice (from frozen raspberries or 5 pints of raspberries)

• 1 cup stevia powder

• 1 cup honey

• 4 packets of gelatin

1. Wash berries; remove any stems and rotten berries. Drain.

1. Pour berries into a large, stainless steel stock pot, and heat over low just to warm. Crush berries to extract juice.
2. Ladle berries and juice into a jelly bag. Hang the bag to drain over a bowl for several hours, squeezing as necessary to remove the juices.
3. Measure the juice. You need 4 cups. Add water or another fruit juice as necessary to fill to this exact amount (you shouldn’t have to add much). Pour the juice back into the large stock pot.
4. Whisk in gelatin to the juice in the pot, and bring to a full rolling boil over high heat.
5. Quickly pour in the stevia powder and honey, and stir. Return to a full rolling boil, and allow to boil for 1 minute exactly. Remove from heat.
6. Ladle hot liquid into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/8″ headspace.
7. Wipe rims of jars with a wet rag, to remove any sticky residue.
8. Affix a previously simmered lid and ring.
9. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 5 min.
10. Remove from canner, and allow to cool on the counter for 18-24 hours before testing the seals on the lids.

Here are the sealed jars of whole raspberries in the back and raspberry jelly in the front:

Here's to better and better canning without sugar or pectin!

Little Urban Greenie