Sunday, September 30, 2012

Corn Cob Jelly Recipe

     Corn Cob Jelly is a food that has been around for a long, long time.  Our ancestors knew how to use and reuse so many items that we just throw away.  One of these items was the corn cob.  Once you get through with eating a piece of corn-on-the-cob, save the cob next time.  We freeze ours in a baggie until I have enough to make some corn cob jelly.  Try it sometime and you will become a fan also!

 
Corn Cob Jelly

12 corn cobs
3 qts. water
2 T. lemon juice
1 box Sure-Jell powdered pectin
sugar
1 T. butter 

    As you can tell by my photo, the cobs do not have to be picked clean to use.  After we eat the corn, I just  stick them in the baggie in the freezer.  When I am ready to make the jelly, I just pull them out, break them in half (so they will all fit in my pot) and start cooking!  

      Put the cobs in a pot, add the water and turn it on high to boil.  Once it begins to boil, let it boil (a hard boil) for 30 minutes.  At this point, prepare your jars by either running them through the heat cycle of your dishwasher; boiling them for 10 minutes; or putting them in a warm oven for 15 minutes.  Also, put on a pot of water to boil for processing. 
 
      Once the cobs have hard boiled for 30 minutes,  place a colander or strainer over another pot and strain the cobs and water.  The water that is now in the bottom pot will be used (prepared liquid).  Set the strainer/colander of cobs aside.  Measure the liquid.  I usually have 4 cups of prepared liquid at this point.  After measuring, pour the liquid back into either pot and add in the lemon juice, butter and pectin.  Turn on the stove to medium-high and bring the liquid to a boil.  Stir occasionally.  As it is cooking, measure out the sugar.  You will match sugar-to-liquid equally.  If you had 4 cups of prepared liquid than use exactly 4 cups of sugar.  OK?  
 
     Once the mixture is boiling, stir in the sugar.  Stir constantly.  Let it come back to a full boil and boil for exactly one minute and remove from heat.  Begin ladling the hot jelly into jelly jars, seal and process in water bath for 10 minutes.  
 
    Here is what it looks like when done.  Isn't it pretty?


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   I think the most surprising thing about Corn Cob Jelly is the taste.  It is nice and sweet and tastes a lot like honey.  Seriously, it does!  Even my 8 year old, who is a truly picky eater likes it.  Of course, I did not tell him what it was before I made him try it but....  :-)
 
      Now for the corn cobs we set aside earlier, I just leave them out and let them dry out and then store them until I am ready to do a campfire and use them for kindling.  They burn nicely!

This will make 6 half-pint jars.  

      This Corn Cob Jelly tastes great on my potato biscuits.  

SIDE NOTE:  These were made for our family's consumption.  If you are making them to give as gifts, cut the kernels from the cobs before eating them and use cobs that have not been "bit" on.  :-)

    If you would like to learn more about canning, click here to go to my Dehydrating & Canning page.


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22 comments:

  1. Wow, this is a great way to avoid waste and it tastes good too. This is completely new to me. I am not sure about doing it with cobs that we have gnawed on but I often cut the kernels off so will collect up those cobs from now on to give this a go! Thanks, you have made my day!

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    1. Carole, I just went and edited the post to list that if you are giving these away or you do not like the idea of eating the corn off the cob, you can always cut off the kernels. Thanks for pointing this out. :-)

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  2. Melody, thanks for linking in to our "jam" session! Cheers

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    1. Carole, I appreciate you allowing me to link up with you all. It was my pleasure!

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  3. When I was a boy I remember my mother making this but she used dried field corn cobs we got when dad shelled corn.

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    1. That is another great idea to do it too. We really enjoy the taste of it and I like reusing and repurposing things too!

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  4. Hello
    I just seen a recipe on one other site and then could not find it and now that I have I am anxious to try it because I just bought 4 doz cobs to cut off and freeze. I was wondering could I add viniger to this and make it like a relish.

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    1. Laura, I have never tried to add vinegar and make a relish like this. If you try it, I'd be interested in hearing how it turns out though.

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  5. Hello,
    I did try it with 4 cups of corn water, a box of the less sugar certo, 1 cup of vineger, 1/2 cup chopped red pepper and 1/2 cup red onion, 1/2 cup corn that I cut of the cobs. Oh I also added a few chili pepper flakes,to all that I added 4 cups sugar. I gave some to a friend and she tried it with pork chops and said it was great. The next batch I made was with more chili pepper flakes. I like things a bit hot, I also added a few drops of yellow food coloring. This resembled something like habenaro gold jelly.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for letting me know how you made this. I think I'll give it a shot soon!

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  6. I have a bunch of cobs that dried out before we picked them, so the kernels are dried to the cob. Do you think I can just boil the cobs as is, or should I try to remove the dried kernels first?

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    Replies
    1. Kelli, either way will work. You will probably get more flavor if you leave the dried kernels on since they are dried out. Just strain the juice first. Good luck.

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  7. Can you make without sure gell ?

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    Replies
    1. Amber, we have not tried making it without sure-jell. It does not have enough natural pectin in it to gel properly I believe.

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  8. I can't wait to try this. No more scavenging for enough dandelions to make a single pint!

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  9. I really like the idea of not wasting food and I will definitely be trying this soon. However, me and my coworkers were wondering what you would put it on. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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    1. Thomas, it is delicious on biscuits, toast, bread, bagels, etc. Like I mentioned in the post, it tastes a LOT like honey so just use it as you would honey or any other jelly. :-)

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  10. I would have never guessed you could make this from corn! Thanks for sharing. PS, I like the tip that says scrape off bitten pieces of you are making for someone else. ;)

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  11. I love this and can't wait for next season to give it a try. It's great not to waste anything and to be also able to add a different flavor to my jam shelf.

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  12. It is corn season again. I will be doing this!

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