Strawberry or Blueberry Jam

[peroxidepirate]

Note to self: get a fruit/dessert icon of some kind.

The jam set up fine, and is delicious! I used low sugar pectin, which is my new favorite canning supply because it's not too sweet and the fruit flavor came out really intense. (For comparison, a batch of traditional jam uses 7 cups of sugar to 5 cups of fruit. This one uses 2 1/2 cups of sugar to 7 cups of fruit.)

Warning, for anyone who's not already aware: don't fuck around with canning! Get a book that's been published in the past five years, read it, and do what it says. If you're not careful, you could create something dangerous or possibly deadly to consume. (But as long as you follow the instructions, it's perfectly safe and not scary at all. Promise.) The following recipe is taken from the back of the pectin jar, and I'm writing it here mainly as a reference for myself so I don't have to do the math for it next time.


Time Needed:

• 15 to 30 minutes to hull strawberries and clean/sanitize jars and supplies (2 times as long for a double batch; less for blueberries, obviously, since they don't require hulling)
• ~1 1/2 to 2 hours to make the jam, fill the jars, process them, and clean everything up (1 hour longer for a double batch)
• ~12 hours after that for the jam to cool and set

Ingredients (in US measurements):

• 1/2 jar low sugar pectin (4.7 oz jar, so 2.35 oz., or about 7 tablespoons)
• 3-4 quarts fresh strawberries
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 10 half pint (8 oz) jam jars or 20 quarter pint (4 oz) jars

ETA: For Blueberry Jam, start with about 6 pints fresh blueberries; add 1/3 cup lemon juice with the water.
Directions:

• Wash hulled berries, then crush them with a potato masher (I suppose pulsing in a food processor would also work).
• Measure out 7 cups of crushed berries and transfer to an 8-quart stock pot. Add water and pectin, and heat to boiling.
• Stir in sugar. Continue to stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil for one minute.
• Remove from heat and skim foam. (Set the foam aside and eat it over ice cream while the jars are processing if you like.)
• Ladle hot jam into 4 oz or 8 oz jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Cover and process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes (at sea level).
• Remove jars from canner. Jam will be very runny when hot, but will set as it cools.
• Note: Because of science, the pectin jar says making more than 5 pints of jam at a time will stop the pectin from setting. I haven't tested this myself. I just made 2 batches back to back.

Comments

[littlemissgriff.livejournal.com]

I'm jealous of your jammery goodness.

[peroxidepirate.livejournal.com]

It is goodness! I'm living on peanut butter & jam sandwiches and contemplating a career change to cottage industry jam-maker.