It's my day for cooking adventures. Hey eichin!

[cjsmith]

While the aforementioned chicken marinade was in the oven, I read kitiara's post about canning. She mentioned Mountain Dew jelly.

Yes folks, it's made from Mountain Dew.

This I had to try. As soon as the chicken was safely out of the oven I ran to the grocery store for the things I didn't have: Mountain Dew, sugar in case I didn't have enough, pectin, and jelly jars.

No, I've never made any kind of jelly before, nor canned anything at all, in my life. Funny you should ask. I spent some time stuck on the idea that I needed three really big pots. kitiara graciously told me I could do a lot of this in shifts.

Step 1: Sterilize the jars by boiling, then keep them hot until ready to use. I decided that my kitchen sink filled with almost-boiling water would make a fairly good heatmass. Finally all the jars were sitting in hot water, along with their lids, and the rims with the screw-threads were sitting on the countertop to dry. No, my countertop is not sterile. Quit asking distracting questions.

Step 2: Make the GOOOOOO. I had no idea Mountain Dew could dissolve more than its own volume of granulated sugar. I am now deeply disturbed by this knowledge.

Step 3: Into the jars! Yes, the jars that are sitting in water so hot I don't want to stick my hand in. I must have messed up somewhere along the line. I barely got five jars of jelly, while I think kitiara got twelve. I tasted the drippings. Lemony!

Step 4: Boil the jars again. I think this propitiates the gods of lid-sealing. I bowed to the pot a few times just to be sure.

Step 5: Use telekinesis to get the jars out of the boiling water and onto a towel to cool. I cheated and used oven gloves with plastic grocery bags around them.

So now I have pretty yellow jelly - caffeinated jelly, no less! - and a whole bunch of extra Mountain Dew I get to drink.

Comments

Re: Wow. Just... Wow.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

They almost glow without any blacklight. They're a... very interesting electric yellow color.

Five eight-ounce jars. The sugar bloops out the volume considerably.

I wonder if caffeine breaks down at a full boil. I suppose if it does, it's not fast, otherwise all coffee would be pretty wimpy.

If I knew where to ship one, you'd get one. (I could use the jar back some day, but it's no biggie.) Send me an address in e-mail?

Re: Wow. Just... Wow.

[ambar.livejournal.com]

From the Merck Index, by way of the caffeine FAQ:

Hexagonal prisms by sublimation, mp 238 C. Sublimes 178 C. Fast sublimation is obtained at 160-165 C under 1mm press. at 5 mm distance. d 1.23. Kb at 19 C: 0.7 x 10^(-14). Ka at 25 C: <1.0 x 10^(-14). pH of 1% soln 6.9. Aq solns of caffeine salts dissociate quickly. Absorption spectrum: Hartley, J. Chem. Soc. 87, 1802 (1905). One gram dissolves in 46 ml water, 5.5 ml water at 80 C, 1.5 ml boiling water, 66 ml alcohol, 22 ml alcohol at 60 C, 50 ml acetone, 5.5 ml chloroform, 530 ml ether, 100 ml benzene, 22 ml boiling benzene. Freely sol in pyrrole; in tetrahydrofuran contg about 4% water; also sol in ethyl acetate; slightly in petr ether. Soly in water is increased by alkali benzoates, cinnamates, citrates, or salicylates.

I translate this to suggest that mere 100C H2O isn't going to cause it to break down.

Re: Wow. Just... Wow.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Most excellent! Thank you! 8-)

Re: Wow. Just... Wow.

[eichin.livejournal.com]

Well, it doesn't breakdown in tea at boiling (if anything higher water temperatures bring it into solution faster), though some quick googling doesn't find a breakdown or denaturing temperature. An old chemical reference claims "when heated to 100° C. (212° F.), caffeine loses its water of crystallization, and at 229° C. (444.2° F.) it melts, forming a colorless liquid" - implying that it *doesn't* get damaged at even that temperature, it just liquifies. (Presence of other chemicals might cause other reactions though - but it isn't *simple* decomposition, not from heat alone.)

(address: sent. thanks!)

Re: Wow. Just... Wow.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Cool info - thanks! I'm sure presence of other chemicals does schtuff, otherwise caffeine would have no effect on our chilly little 98.6F bodies. But this is good enough for my inner armchair-kitchen-chemist.

(address received! post office run tomorrow. Caveat: dunno if this stuff has even set yet. Dunno if it will. It's a 'speriment.)