Cut the apples (skin on) into quarters and place them in a large pot. Pour in enough water to just float them. (You can also use apple peel and cores. See notes above about apples)

Cover and bring the pot to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat and allow to simmer gently for medium heat for roughly 1 4/5 minutes - 2 hours. Stir every 20 minutes or so just to make sure the apples arent sticking to the bottom of the pot.

How Will I Know My Homemade Pectin Is Ready to Come Off The Heat? After 2 hours it will have reduced down dramatically and the apples will be incredibly mushy, BUT also what will tell you it is ready is that it will have turned an amber color (like in the pictures). It is really important you achieve this color. It will happen over the simmering period.

Once done, line a colander with a clean piece of cheesecloth or tea towel and pour boiling water through it to sterilize the fabric. Place the colander over a large pot and carefully tip the apple mass and liquid through it. Do not press the pulp, or you’ll get cloudy pectin.

Leave the whole thing to drip for several hours at room temperature. When the liquid has completely drained through, give it a little extra squeeze to make sure you have all the pectin and remove the colander.

Return the pectin to the heat and bring to a simmer. You now need to reduce the pectin until it reaches the strength you require — as we don’t want it to set rocky hard, we normally just boil it a bit to make sure it’s all hot before we start canning.

How To Test if Your Pectin Is Ready: Pour a little pectin into a small bowl and put it in the fridge to cool (test won’t work if the pectin is hot). Pour some methylated spirits into another bowl, then tip the cold pectin into it. If you’ve made decent pectin, it will coagulate in the meths, and you should be able to lift it out as a jellied blob with a fork. Please – make sure no-one accidentally eats or drinks the contents of the bowl – it’s poisonous!

In order to store the pectin, you can either freeze it, or pour it into sterile glass jars, seal, and then process the jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

How To Use Homemade Pectin: Use about 1/4 cup apple pectin per cup of fruit for jams. For jellies, use 1/4 cup apple pectin per cup of fruit juice. Measure the combined pectin and juice and add an equal amount of sugar.