PJ has done it again. She put together the other concentrate recipe from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving for Sunshine Rhubarb Juice Concentrate. I was so excited that again she would share with me the picture and comments on the recipe. Thank you Pj for taking the time to put this recipe together and for doing a great review of the flavor.
From Pj: I used the frozen rhubarb I had, so it broke down more than I think fresh would. I let it drain overnight with the cheesecloth. I couldn’t find a jelly bag anywhere in town-they must not think it ‘in season’ yet.
I was thinking that the concentrate was going to turn out that baby poo grey-green, and there was no way we’d ever use it, but when i checked it in the morning, I was surprised that it was such a rosey pink. The recipe said it would make 4 pints, but i got 3 1/2. I processed 3 and made up the 1/2 pint.
The taste is a bit different. There’s a slight veggie aftertaste, but that may just be the rhubarb, or the fact that I always dilute down our juices, even store bought (which I’m hoping I won’t have to buy this year). =) This might be one that you have to play with how dilute you make it, and I think that if you diluted it with gingerale it would be really good, but since the hubs drank all that I couldn’t try it.”
Sunshine Rhubarb Juice Concentrate
Ingredients
- 12 cups sliced rhubarb
- 4 cups water
- Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
- Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
Instructions
- In large pot, combine rhubarb, water, lemon & orange zests and bring to a boil.
- Stir constantly over medium high heat. Reduce heat, cover and boil gently until rhubarb is soft, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and orange juice.
- Pour into dampened jelly bag or strainer lined with several layers of cheesecloth set over a deep bowl. Let drip for at least 2 hours, undisturbed.
- In clean, large pot combine rhubarb juice and sugar. Heat to 190° F. Stir to dissolve sugar, but do not boil. Remove from heat and skim off foam.
- Ladle into hot jars, leave ¼-inch headspace, clean rim, place lids and screw bands.
- Place jars in prepared canner, with jars completely under water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to maintain gentle boil and process for 20 minutes*.
- Turn off heat and remove canner lid. Allow jars to sit in canner for 5 minutes before removing.
- Set jars on rack or towel out of drafts and allow to cool. Remove screw band, label and store.
4 Comments
Tom
Posted on: February 22, 2020Haven’t rated due to not having made this yet…but it looks promising!!
A friend and I made something similar last week but it wasn’t very rhubarby!!
LOL
This recipe calls for a much greater quantity of rhubarb vs fluid, so I’m looking forward to how this one will turn out!
First question…did you wring out the final pulp in the cheesecloth (when it was cool enough to handle) to extract the remaining juice that didn’t passively drip out? (that might explain the missing 1/2 pint?!) …or would that extract unwanted flavors?
Second… if this yeilds 4 pints = 8 cups = 64 oz = 40 servings, then each “serving” would be 1.6 oz.
I see you mentioned, “This might be one that you have to play with how dilute you make it”, but what is original poster’s suggested dilution rate, and with what? water? Sprite? etc.?
Thanks! And have a fabulous summer!!
Tom
Kristi
Posted on: February 22, 2020I love this so much! I am buying another 10 pounds of rhubarb to make as much of this as I can! I have shared it with several friends, and now I’m greedily hoarding the rest.
Sandy
Posted on: February 22, 2020Hello, I’ve made it without the sugar. Can I still can it now? Thank you!
Linda j Phillips
Posted on: February 22, 2020How much do you dilute it, 1:1?