Making Pie Filling with Perma Flo

As you know, I've been doing a lot of experimenting with Perma Flo in my quest to make pie filling that I can can and will stay shelf stable for a long time.  

Note: Perma Flo and Therm Flo are the same thing [as far as I've been told.  Correct me if you know better.].  These directions will work for either product.

Experiment 1 is here. I followed their directions to add the dry Perma Flo to the boiling fruit mix. I didn't like that it clumped hard immediately in the pot.  Left some clumps in final pie.

Experiment 2 is here. Runny.  [Hey, I had to start somewhere.  If you're going to make a masterpiece, you've got to give yourself permission to make some duds.   This was definitely dud material.  But it was great over chocolate cake!]

Experiment 3 is here.  Still gloopy.  Left some clumps in final pie.

Experiment 4 is here.  Good!  But got thick super fast. 

Yeah, it's been a real journey.   I'm thorough.

I am happy to report that my final experiment with Perma Flo was a complete success.   I decided to see what would happen if you added the Perma Flo slurry to the cold fruit goo before you boiled it.

It worked!

This is my favorite way to use Perma Flo.  It works with either macerated or fresh fruit and gives a terrific product.   One quart of pie filling makes one pie. 

UPDATE 7/2015:  After a couple more years of playing with this I've refined the recipe and method so that it's more consistent and easier. Multiply this recipe by the number of quarts of pie filling you want.  Your batch can be as big as your pot can handle, but I like doing batches of no more than 1 packed gallon of fruit, which makes about 5-6 quarts of filling.   

Making Pie Filling with Perma Flo:  for 1 pie. 
www.rurification.com

3/4 cup sugar  [1 1/2 cup sugar for sour cherries]
1/4 cup Perma Flo [1/3-1/2 cup for sour cherries or very juicy fruit]
4-6 cups fruit [fresh or frozen]
1/4 cup water [1/2 cup for less juicy, fresh fruit]

Mix the Perma Flo and sugar in a bowl and set it aside.  Put the fruit and water in a large pot and add the sugar/perma flo mix.   Mix well.   Heat to boil,  stirring constantly.   When it reaches a boil, the Perma Flo will thicken and become clear. 

Ladle into jars.  Cover with clean lids and rings.  Process quarts 30 minutes.  

Perma-Flo Experiment #3: Peach Plum Raspberry Pie Filling

The pie filling experiments with Perma Flo continue.    Both because I'm curious about this stuff and more than a little OCD. 

That's CDO for you guys who like to see things alphabetized.

Experiment 1 is here.  Good, but gloopy.
Experiment 2 is here.  Runny.

In this batch of pie filling I decided to see what would happen if I macerated the fruit with sugar overnight to bring out the juices so I wouldn't have to add any extra water.

We dumped enough fruit [4 cups per pie] for 3 pies in a big bowl with 3/4 cup sugar per pie [2 1/4 cups total] and let it sit overnight.  The next day the juices were flowing and I put the fruit-sugar mix in the pot and heated it to boiling.   Then I added 1/4 cup Perma Flo per pie [3/4 cup total] and stirred like crazy.   As soon as it got thick I turned off the heat.   It made beautiful pie filling at just the right consistency. 

One problem:   As soon as you add the dry Perma Flo, it clumps.   That makes it hard to stir in completely and in the finished pie, you get the occasional gloopy gluey lump.   It's not a deal breaker, but surely there's a better way.

Stay tuned for Experiment #4.  

Cherry Pie Filling Experiments with Perma Flo

My blackberry pie filling [see yesterday's post] was so easy and so successful that I immediately started making plans to use up some of the fruit in the freezer in shelf stable canned pie filling.   Seriously, the freezer was so full the kids were starting to threaten me any time I talked about getting more fresh fruit.

Mom.  MOM!  There's no room in the freezer.

NO ROOM.   None.   It's full to bursting.   Really.

So I told them to pull out 4 bags of cherries and I'd make cherry pie filling with a gallon of cherries I just got from Freedom Country Store the same way I'd made pie filling with a gallon of blackberries.

I did exactly the same thing only used twice as much sugar since they were sour cherries.  It didn't go as well as I thought.

Cherry Pie Filling Syrup with Perma Flo
www.rurification.com

1 gallon frozen cherries
3 quarts water
1 cup rounded Perma Flo
6 cups sugar  

Step 1.  Bring the liquid to a boil.   I put 3 quarts of water in a pot and 1 quart of the cherries and brought that to a boil.   I mashed the cherries while I was at it to release the juices.

Step 2.  Whisk in the Perma Flo.   I used 1/4 cup per quart of fruit.   1 gallon of cherries needed 1 cup of Perma Flo. I rounded the cup. 

Step 3.  Stir until it starts to thicken.  It took a few minutes.

Step 4.  Add fruit [the rest of the gallon of cherries], sugar [6 cups] and return to boil.

Step 5.  Put in clean jars, wipe rims, top with clean lids and rings.

Step 6.  Process jars for 30 minutes.  The NCHFP recommends water bath canning.


I ended up with 7 quarts of thin pie filling.

In jars that were only 1/2 full of cherries.

Soooo, this batch of pie filling is not exactly my idea of a paragon of success.   [I used paragon to describe pie filling again.  How. Cool. Is. That?]

Apparently there is a lot more juice in frozen cherries than there is in fresh blackberries. I figured I'd have to open the jars and monkey with it to get it thicker, but I didn't want to because those cherries had clearly had enough.  Plus, it was hot.   Plus, I just didn't want to monkey with it any more.

Once the jars cooled, they thickened up just enough to be a nice syrup and I realized that sour cherry syrup is a great thing to have.

We served it over chocolate cake and ice cream.   To. Die. For.

Then the next day, I cut up 4 nice big fresh peaches into a greased casserole dish and poured a quart of the cherry syrup-pie-filling-goo over them and topped it with some fruit crisp topping and baked it all until brown and bubbling.

We had that for breakfast.  Because I'm the best mom in the world.  They told me so. 

So, proceeding with a positive attitude and a little creativity, I was able to snatch culinary victory out of the jaws of certain food preservation defeat.    Hah!

My point is, don't despair when your experiments turn out weird.  If they taste good [and this will!] and give you an opportunity to discover something new that you and your family will love.

In the meantime, if you want to actually make regular thick cherry pie filling with Perma Flo this is what I'd do:

Cherry Pie Filling with Perma Flo - the hypothetical version
www.rurification.com

1 gallon frozen cherries
1 quart water
1 rounded cup Perma Flo
6 cups sugar  

Step 1.  Bring the liquid to a boil. If you defrost the cherries completely before you start, then just use that juice and skip the water.

Step 2.  Whisk in the Perma Flo. 

Step 3.  Stir until it starts to thicken.  It takes a few minutes.

Step 4.  Add fruit and sugar and return to boil.

Step 5.  Put in clean jars, wipe rims, top with clean lids and rings.

Step 6.  Process jars for 30 minutes.  The NCHFP recommends water bath canning.

Yield:  5 quarts of cherry pie filling. Ish.

Experiments with Pie Filling and Perma Flo

I love having a few jars of pie filling in the pantry.   They're perfect for quick desserts and breakfasts.  Just open them up, sprinkle on a crisp-type topping and pop it in the oven.   I love that.

The past couple of years, I've made and canned pie filling with corn starch.   It worked fine - for a few months.  After about 6 months, the filling starts to separate and get a bit clumpy and watery.   It's fine when you stir it up, but it's not exactly a paragon of shelf stability. 

[I always wanted to use the word 'paragon' to describe pie filling and now I have.  I'm so glad I can check that off my bucket list.]

The National Center for Home Food Preservation doesn't recommend using corn starch in canned pie filling.  In case you wondered. 

They recommend Clear Gel.  Which is great, but we can't get that around here.   What we can get is Perma Flo, so I looked it up.    The NCHFP hasn't done any research on it and they categorically recommend against anything they themselves haven't researched.  

So, of course, I had to try it.  My local Amish place loves it and that's all they use.   Perma Flo is the same stuff as Therm Flo, so look/ask for both.   Your local place might have one or the other.

Basically, you whisk up the Perma Flo into the boiling liquid [water, juice, etc.], let it start getting thick and then add the fruit and sugar.   Bring it to a boil, put in jars and process quarts for 30 minutes. 

Blackberry Pie Filling with Perma Flo
www.rurification.com

1 gallon blackberries
3 quarts water
1 cup rounded Perma Flo
3 cups sugar  

Step 1.  Bring the liquid to a boil.   There was none in my gallon of berries, so I put 3 quarts of water in a pot and 1 quart of the berries and brought that to a boil.   I mashed the berries while I was at it to release the juices.

Step 2.  Whisk in the Perma Flo.   I used 1/4 cup per quart of fruit.   1 gallon of berries needed 1 cup of Perma Flo. I rounded the cup. 

Step 3.  Stir until it starts to thicken.  It took a few minutes.

Step 4.  Add fruit [the rest of the gallon of berries], sugar [3 cups] and return to boil.

Step 5.  Put in clean jars, wipe rims, top with clean lids and rings.

Step 6.  Process jars for 30 minutes.  The NCHFP recommends water bath canning.

Yield:  5.5 quarts of gorgeous blackberry pie filling.

It worked great!   Tomorrow I'll tell you about the cherry pie filling.