It's blueberry season! Blueberries are great in the pacific northwest and I always look forward to when I can go and pick my own blueberries (a lot cheeper and I can eat for free :) This season has been especially good here and on our first picking of the year we ended up with almost 11 pounds in about 2 hours!
The first thing that I wanted to do with the excess of blueberries was to make some jam! In the past year I had made some fresh fruit butters but never a homemade jam, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity.
I had enough mason jars and new lids but was too lazy to go pick up my mom's supplies for canning. I figured I could improvise. Not a smart idea. While it is possible and I did end up with beautiful jars of jam that were sealed correctly, it was quite the battle.
Below is what I made in order for the jars not to rest on the bottom on my pot while in the hot water bath. Then I used a mixture of all sorts of utensils and oven mitts to try and lift the hot jars out. Do-able but definitely not recommended.
In the end, I added more blueberries than the recipe called for because it was a little sweet so in the future I would probably only add 5 or 6 cups of sugar to the berries. My recommendation would be to add 4 cups of sugar and then start tasting and then add sugar until you get the right taste you are looking for. I would probably add a little more than you think it will need because it does change a little after cooking and cooling.
INGREDIENTS:
4½ cups crushed blueberries
4 tablespoons lemon juice (I added lemon zest too!)
7 cups granulated sugar
2 (3-ounce) pouches liquid pectin
DIRECTIONS:
1. Prepare canner, jars and lids. Wash the jars, lids and screw bands in hot, soapy water. Rinse well and drain (you don't need to dry them). Place a rack in the bottom of a boiling-water canner, then place the required number of jars on the rack. Add water to the jars and the canner until it reaches the top of the jars. Cover the canner and bring the water to a simmer (180 degrees F) over medium heat. Do not boil the jars. Keep jars hot until you're ready to use them. Place the lids in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a simmer (180 degrees F) over medium heat. Again, do not boil the lids. Keep lids hot until you're ready to use them. Set the screw bands aside, they do not require heating.
2. In a large, deep stainless steel saucepan, combine crushed blueberries, lemon juice and sugar. Over high heat, stirring constantly, bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Stir in the pectin. Boil hard, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and skim off any foam.
3. Working with one jar at a time, remove a jar from the canner, pouring hot water back into the canner. Place the jar on a heat-protected work surface, such as a wooden cutting board or towel. Ladle the hot jam into hot jars, leaving ¼-inch headspace. Slide a nonmetallic utensil, such as a rubber spatula, down between the food and the inside of the jar two or three times to release air bubbles. Adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding more hot jam. With a clean damp cloth or paper towel, wipe jar rim and threads. Using a magnetic or nonmetallic utensil, lift a hot lid from the water and place it on the jar, centering the sealing compound on the rim of the jar. Place a screw band on the jar. With your fingers, screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight. (Do not use excessive force to tighten.) Return the jar to the rack in the hot water-filled canner. Repeat filling steps until all jars are filled.
4. When all of the jars are in the canner, adjust the water level in the canner so that it covers the jars by at least 1 inch. Cover the canner with a lid and bring the water to a full rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling hard and continuously, process (continue boiling) for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the lid and let sit for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove the jars, lifting them out of the hot water without tilting them. don't dry the lids or jars at this point. You don't want to disturb the lids while the seal is being formed. Place the jars upright on a towel in a draft-free place and let cool, undisturbed, for 24 hours.
5. When the processed jars have cooled for 24 hours, check the lids for seal. Remove the screw bands and with your fingers, press down on the center of each lid. Sealed lids will be concave (they'll curve downward) and will show no movement when pressed. Jars that have not sealed properly must be refrigerated immediately. Use unsealed refrigerated product within a few days. For the jars that have good seals, with a damp cloth, thoroughly wipe lids and jar surfaces to remove any water residue or food particles. Store the sealed jars of jam in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year.
Note: I found liquid pectin in my local grocery store, where they had a little display with jars, lids and canning accessories
(Recipe adapted from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving)
Recipe found on Brown Eyed Baker
This is how much this recipe made for me (3 little jam jars and 2 regular jars)
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