Blueberry jam how to

Cafe Society
1

This may be a General Question, but because it involves cooking, and that is often a matter of opinion, I will place it here.

I have a bumper crop of blueberries here at my home in NW Oregon. The weather is hot and they are popping out ripe very fast. I am talking about gallons of them from 7 plants. I have made freezer jamb from several types of berries, including the blueberries, for many years and usually give most of it away. However, I also gave away my old chest freezer this year and haven’t obtained a new one yet. The freezer in the top of the fridge is full of razor clams and freezer jamb.

So I am going to attempt my first try at ‘cooked’ shelf stable jam.

I have a collander or fruit sieve to process or crush the berries. I understand that I will need a water bath canner. I have new jars and lids and I understand clean and sterile. I love to cook and this is just one more thing I want to master.

I will be using Certo Premium liquid pectin and understand the directions. Calls for 2 cups crushed berries, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 4 cups sugar, 1 pouch of Certo liquid per batch.

Before I procede with how I think it should be done, how do you make your own jam? Tips and advice appreciated.

2

Follow the directions in the pectin package exactly if you want properly solidified jam.

You need a long handled wooden spoon for stirring.
You need a canning jar lifter.
You need a jar funnel.
Tip one do not hold the jars in a position where if they shatter when handled they can spill on you.

Tip two don’t double a batch or it will not work.

Tip three the cooking pot needs to be at least four times larger than the liquid, because when Jam or jelly hits the boiling point it foams up a lot.

Tip four the the rim surface against the lid seal really does need to be free of jam to seal. Wiping off any spill before putting on the lids is really important.

Tip four leave the proper air space as directed by the instructions or the seal might fail.

Tip five do not tighten the rim down hard before the water bath. The air needs to escape during sterilization, and the jar could explode if you torque it down.
Do not make jam with anybody else home especially children. Remember the jam will be sticky and can cause severe burns if it gets on you.

Label jars only on the lid that is thrown away. Labels on a jar are almost impossible to remove and you will regret any label you put on the jar.

3

You need the Ball “Blue Book” the only book a beginner needs. Follow their instructions to the letter and you will be fine. It often comes included with a canning rig starter set.

I believe in there is a recipe in there for Blueberry-lime jam which you should follow.

4

Thank you both, I do have a ‘hot jar grabber thingy’ Harmonious. And I will look for the Ball blue book when I buy my water bath canner tomorrow, Hello Again.

I appreciate you input.

5

I’m going to move this to Cafe Society, which has a lot of foodies who might be interested in this thread.

Lynn

6

Thank you, Lynn.

7

The actual title is the Ball Blue Book of Preserving.

Copies are available online – price is from about $8-$15. It’s also quite possible that your local library has a copy you can borrow.

8

The Ball book is very good and I highly recommend it if you want to do more. For now, just go by some packs of Sure-Jell (or equivalent), a lot of sugar and some jars. They have all the information you need right in the Sure-Jell pack, for either jam or jelly.

My Mom has made jam for as long as I can remember but she is getting on in years. A few years ago I asked for her secret, because she does make the best jam and I wanted to capture the secret before it was lost. She told me to go get some Sure-Jell and follow the directions - that’s it. Kind of disappointing at the time but in the end it is true.

BTW, I prefer the powdered pectin, inspite of the fact that the liquid says “premium”. The recipes inside are actually different and I think the liquid uses a higher sugar to fruit ratio.

9

I guess I didn’t read the OP all the way! You have all that stuff. OK, advice…

A funnel and ladle are critical. My first few batches I didn’t have the funnel and there was a lot of mess.

Gloves - thick rubber or even work glove, because the jars will be hot when you try to screw down the lid.

Independent testing - Send me some jelly to make sure it is safe - it’s the only way. 2-3 jars, just to be on the safe side.

10

I just finished making 48 half-pint jars of blueberry-habanero jam.

  1. Wash berries. My recipe was 2 cups of berries + 2 cups of chopped hot peppers, 3/4 cup of white vinegar and 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 7 cups of sugar, and one packet of liquid pectin (Certo). That made about 7.5 jars per batch. As a previous poster said, do not double your recipe, just do one batch at a time. Canning sucks because there’s no time shortcuts.

  2. I find the key is sterilize, sterilize, sterilize. Anything you will use: the potato masher for crushing berries, the jar grabber thingy, the jars, a spoon for stirring the jam while cooking, ladle, canning jar funnel, EVERYTHING should be run through the dishwasher and then use the Heat Dry function to sterilize. Put on rubber gloves before you take everything out of the dishwasher. Don’t touch anything with your hands after you’ve sterilized or you’ve contaminated the jam. That could mean botulism, or the jars just don’t seal.

Do not run the lids or rings through the dishwasher. The seals may not seal after being exposed to heat and the rings may warp. Wash those by hand (everything by hand if you don’t have a dishwasher) with warm soapy water. Always buy an extra pack of lids. For some reason, sometimes you get a bum lid and it never seals, so it’s handy to have spares lying around.

  1. Lay out some clean, sterilized kitchen towels and put all your sterile jars on them. All your tools too.

  2. Throw your berries in a cooking pot with the vinegar/lemon juice/water (whatever liquid you are using). I stewed mine with the peppers for about 15 minutes to get all that burning hot fire flavor into the berries. Bring the berries to a boil and then hit 'em with the potato smasher. For “jam” there’s no need to strain. If you want “jelly” (all the skins and bits strained out), you’ll want to strain. I think life is too short to strain, so I leave all the bits in there. I also leave pepper seeds in there so every few bites, you get an extra kick of fire. I’m trying to melt earwax with my jam, YMMV.

  3. While you are doing all this, your water canner should be full of water and working on coming up to a full boil. Don’t drop the jars in until the water is at a full rolling boil. I leave the lid closed so that happens a little faster. You want enough water in there so that all the jars are completely submerged when they are in there. I fill mine (a monstrous Menudo pot I found at Wal Mart) about 3/4 full – it takes quite a long time to bring that much water to a boil. You may want to get the fire on under that pot before you do anything else.

  4. Slowly, add about 1/2 cup of sugar at a time, whisking to make sure it’s fully dissolved.

  5. When all the sugar is molten lava, then bring it to a low/slow boil. Cut the heat back just a little and add the entire packet of pectin. Stir at a full boil for exactly one minute and then cut the heat off completely. Let the molten lava jam cool just a little – if the jars have cooled too much and the jam is still molten lava temp, the jars could shatter when you try to ladle the molten jam in. Safety is no accident: this is the time for caution!

  6. With your sterile ladle, load up your sterile jars using your handy dandy sterile funnel thingy they make especially for canning jars.

  7. Before you put the lids on, use a lint-free kitchen towel to wipe the tops of the jars and the threads where the ring screws on. Make sure there are no jelly drips and the jar rims and the rubber ring on the bottom of the lid is perfectly sterile, pristine clean and dry. That part is mission-critical. Don’t use paper towels because they leave tiny filaments in your jam – I learned that the hard way. Pop the lids on, screw the rings on – but do not tighten them down as previously mentioned – and you’re ready to go.

  8. Lower your jars into the water with the jar grabber thingy, slowly, so you don’t splash boiling water all over you, and set a timer for five minutes. Add a minute for every 1,000 feet above sea level. I happen to live at approximately 85 feet above sea level, so five minutes will do it for me.

  9. When your five minutes are up, use the jar grabber thingy again and set the jars to cool on the kitchen towels. Do not touch them until you hear the “ping” which is the sound of the jar sealing. The air escapes because of the change in temp (pulling jar out of boiling water into room temp) and creates a vacuum, which is how your jar seals. If you don’t hear a pop, and you can move the center of the lid with your finger, the jar hasn’t sealed. You can remove the lid and ring, clean everything off again, and re-process. If the jelly never sets as it cools, you can re-process it all over again. You can also try to just stick the hot jar in the fridge – sometimes that temp change is enough to make the vacuum and seal the jar, but be careful with that. You could make a little blueberry jam bomb.

Google for recipes, equipment lists and supply ordering, troubleshooting, etc. No need for the Ball book – everything you need to know about canning you can find online. That’s how I know all this – I’m self taught from the Interwebs. Oh, and shop around – don’t immediately go buy one of those Ball canning kits with all the tools included. I saved about 50% on the price of that kit (it’s about $50) by picking things up piecemeal in Walmart, Target, etc. You can always re-use rings and jars, but you can never re-use the lids with the rubber rings on the insides.

Enjoy your jam!

11

A mention for jelly makers. Buy a Jelly bag and frame. It’s well worth the money spent.

12

I was going through some canning things in the back room, that my mom left here and as it turns out I have a copy of the Ball Blue Book 1974 edition, says it cost a dollar. A Kerr Home Canning book edition 1958, cost 25 cents. Both in perfect condition.

And a jar funnel. Bought a water bath canner today and I will be reading up and trying my first batch tomorrow.

13

Thank you Dogzilla for taking the time to write out all that, I appreciate it. Jam with peppers sounds interesting, I’ll bet it is quite a good combination, but I’m staying simple for this first go 'round.

14

I hope that I’m not too late to the party.

A few notes and comments:

I use Sure Jell (instead of Certo). It’s awhile since I’ve used Certo, but I seem to remember that the principal difference is that Sure Jell has you

-mix the fruit and pectin, bring to a boil and then add sugar,

whereas Certo has you

-mix the fruit and sugar, bring to a boil and then add the pectin.

In addition, Sure Jell has a “Lower Sugar” pectin (pink box instead of the yellow box) that allows more of the fruit taste to come through.

Either way, the full rolling boil is important so don’t ignore that.

You should definitely follow the recipe your first few times. However, once you get comfortable with canning you can experiment. For instance, they say not to double recipes but I have tripled them without any trouble. I like strawberry peach jam, so I freeze strawberries until peach season. Then I follow the recipe for each jam but in one pot. I’ve never had a problem. An easy way to tell if the jam/jelly will gel is to stir the boiling jam with your mixing spoon (don’t use a wooden spoon!) and then pull it out and let it cool. If it gels on the spoon, then it will gel in the jar. If it doesn’t seem to gel in the jar, don’t despair. I’ve had jams take up to a week to set up. And after having done this for 25 years, I still have trouble getting grape jelly to set.

A comment was made above about botulism. While this is certainly a possibility with some foods (such as potatoes and green beans), I think that there is far too much acid in fruits and berries for this to ever happen. However, ignoring sterility can allow mold to form in the jars (which can be safely scraped off). My approach is to prepare the day before canning by running jars and utensils through the dishwasher to take care of anything that have accumulated in storage. You won’t need to sterilize anything unless is comes in direct contact with the jam after it has been cooked. So, jars, ladles, lids, funnel all need to be sterilized. If you rest your utensils or lids in a dish, then try to use a glass dish and sterilize that too. I put my waiting jars upside down on a stainless rack, so I steam that over the canning bath before I let a clean jar come in contact. Make sure that your jars can make a tight seal with the lid. That means that lids cannot be reused, and any jars that may have got chipped on top should be tossed.

Good luck!

15

I would think you’d want to do this with someone else at home. Not kids, for sure, but a responsible adult. So when you start screaming, they can go call 911 for you. The responsible adult can, I suppose, be wearing a hazmat suit while you work, but at that point, if you’re that klutzy, maybe the cook should have one on, too. :stuck_out_tongue:

On the rare occasions I’m doing any cooking involving high amounts of sugar, Mr. Horseshoe always says the same thing. “The professional cooks don’t call it ‘liquid Napalm’ for nothing.” It’s a sobering reminder.

16

We’ve made some blueberry jam variants and have had great success, blueberries seem to complement most other flavors:

Blueberry with orange zest
…with cinammon
…with Ameretto
…with vanilla
…with rhubarb

17

I don’t care how you make it just send some to me :slight_smile: