Jam Making Novice - advice please!

[LIZS]

Just made apple jelly and while the first couple of jars are nicely clear, the second pair seem to contain sugar crystals. What went wrong ? Was I too slow to fill them, not thorough enough with skimming or overcook ? Assume they are still perfectly edible if a little unsightly.

Crystals usually mean that the sugar hadn't properly dissolved into the liquid before you started upping the temperature. Next time, tip the sugar in and give it a nice long time on a low heat with lots of gentle stirring until there are no gritty sounds from the bottom of the pan and everything is completely clear.

Cloudy jelly (you don't mention it but it's another common problem) happens if you squeeze the bag containing the fruit mush rather than letting it drip through.