This morning, I made blackberry jam. From my 4+ cups of mashed berries, I got 1 pint size jar, and 13 - 4 oz. jars. Sam helped me mash the berries, while the girls did some kind of art project involving paper, scissors, and lots of tape, in the dinning room.
Every recipe I found called for nearly an equal ration of berries to sugar, which seemed insane -- 7 cups of sugar for 9 cups of berries, is that really necessary? At Walmart where I purchased the jelly jars, I found "No Sugar Needed Pectin." The sugar is what helps the berries set up, but this "no sugar needed pectin" is able to set up without sugar... but if you want you can add up to three cups of sugar.
Although I purchased the "no sugar needed" pectin, I chickened out and decided for that for my first batch of jam, I would follow the traditional recipe before experimenting with a less sugar method. The standard directions worked beautifully, but it is a little sweet, so I think the next time I make blackberry jam (and Bob tells me in the next day or so we'll have more berries to pick) I'll try using the new pectin with just a little bit of sugar.
As a side note... as kids one summer we made raspberry jam using raspberry's Grandmother Keller had picked and frozen. We made that jam in quart jars... quart jars. I batch makes 2 quarts of jam. It wasn't until this week that I realized how many batches of jam we made that summer, and how much work it was to produce as much as we did.
We made cases (12 qts/case) of jam that week ... one of the cousins got married while we were there, and Mom and Dad gave them a case as a wedding present, we gave each of Mom's sibblings a case of jam... Maybe Daddy can tell us how many quarts of jam we made that summer.
3 comments:
when i picked blackberries with the girls when you were gone, i was mauled by mosquitos- i think i counted 8 bites on my legs, big ones...and we were only out there for about 15 minutes.
i remember sitting in a chair at grandma's and stirring that raspberry jam mix for what seemed like hours. and i remember the finished product being good, but a little seedy for my taste.
They must really have liked jam for a quart bottle to get used before it went bad...
I've made strawberry jam since we got here, and I'd like to know how to do it without suregel. I can't get it to set.
Post a Comment