Tuesday, June 03, 2008

A bit of Jam

I have been canning jam here lately. I canned six 1/2 pints of Strawberry/Gooseberry Jam one day along with 5 more 1/2 pints of Blackberry Jam. They are both delicious.
here is a pic of them here.
A close up of the Strawberry/Gooseberry Jam. I am definitely going to be making a lot more of this one...
I am not much of a recipe person but I will do my best to write one out for you for the Strawberry/Gooseberry jam...here goes.
6 cups of Strawberries, put through the blender
4 cups of Gooseberries, put through the blender
Put all the blended berries in a pan and heat on med heat till it is boiling.
Add 5 cups of sugar and start stirring...stir and watch closely till it comes back to a boil.
Once it is boiling, stir constantly and boil for at least 10 minutes to about 20 minutes (varies due to humidity and water content of berries) . At about 10 minutes of boiling watch for the sheeting on the spoon to determine if it is thick enough. I do not add commercial pectin, just the sugar. If you are not sure if it is thick enough, drop a few drops on a cool plate and let it sit for a minute...then touch it and see if it is thick enough...if not, continue to cook for a few minutes and check again, by dropping a few more drips onto the plate. I keep a plate in the frig to do this on when I make jelly/jam. After it is the "thickness" you want, (remember that it will thicken when it cools) then ladel it into clean sterilized 1/2 pint jars, wiping the jars rim, placing the flat onto the jar, and tighting the lids down. Process in a water bath for 15 minutes. take out and let cool. After 24 hours, take off the rings, clean the jar off and put in a cool dark place to store.
Now you have jam.
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