Looking at the recipe, it mentions 'calcium water'. This is ONLY used with Pomona pectin. You can make jelly out of virtally any juice. Once cooked, no matter what you use, ALL juices will change in taste after they are heated. You MUST heat them to boiling to get any kind of pectin to be liqufied and incorporated into any jelly. Pasturizing will heat the juice, and kill off possible spores and bacteria, but you still need to get the juice heated to a higher temperature for it to get to the pectin dissolving stage. Not sure about the rosemary, but if you like that combo, go for it. Most all supermarkets have sprigs (branches) of rosemary. Some comes boxed in clear plastic in the fresh produce section. You can also grow your own rosemary from primed seeds. The rosemary may not survive in your planting zone. I lose mine every year to freezing in winter, and I am in Z6.

I Have not tried this recipie yet, which is why I asked about the orange juice. I was just wondering if it would taste ok if I used the juice with calcium in it. Or if I should just go ahead and buy oranges.
I also wondered if it tasted ok without the rosemary, since I have looked numerous places and cannot find fresh. None of the grocery stores in my area carry much for fresh herbs. (small town USA) I know it would NOT survive our harsh winters!

Jenny P

Dried rosemary leaves are the next option. The calcium added to orange juice is nutritional only. It would not affect the setting up or jelling of regular pectins. Its use in Pomona pectin is for setting up the jelly. I see the mention of spoonfulls of 'calcium water', and so the only kind of pectin I know of that uses that is the Pomona brand, which is dirived from citrus fruits. I drink lactaid milk and I dislike the the type with calcium added. It seems to give the no fat milk a thicker consistancy. Some might notice a chalky taste. If you start rosemary seeds in small pots indoors in February, and then bring them outdoors for the summer, you can get some decent plants with stems about 10-14 inches long. Then, you can harvest or dry them.

Hi there! I'm the one came up with the recipe...Ken is right about the calcium water-- to be used with Pomona pectin ONLY. I haven't tried to recipe with purchased juice, so can't say about the flavor/effect of pasteurized juice on the jelly, but the pectin in the store-bought juice would NOT help the jelly set. You specifically need Pomona's calcium powder for that. I haven't tried adapting the recipe to use with any other pectin, and I'm not sure it would be as good (Pomona's allows for low sugar, which helps keep the jelly nice and tart)

About the rosemary, I just have a thing with herbs, and like to throw a little of some unexpected herb into just about everything (lavender with blueberry, thyme with peach, etc). If you don't have rosemary, I wouldn't worry--it'll be good without it. It's just a little extra something for those who know they love rosemary. I wouldn't go with dried rosemary, personally, because I think it would be difficult to get all the separate leaves out of the jelly. With a sprig, it's easy to pull the whole thing out.

I keep my rosemary in a pot and haul it in every winter. It can be tricky to keep it from drying out, but so far, so good (current plant is alomst 10 years old! I'm taking cuttings from it now because I'm not sure how much longer it's got).

Tarragon with pickled stringbeans, another combo worth trying.