12 cups ripe blueberries (thawed frozen berries can be used)
8 cups sugar
zest and juice from 2 lemons
2 - 3 oz liquid pectin pouches
2 pinches of cinnamon
1 tbs of butter
12 eight ounce mason jelly jars with lids and rings
Sterilize 12 eight ounce canning (mason jelly) jars with matching lids and rings. I sterilize mine in the dishwasher but you can also boil them and take them out to dry and place jars and lids on clean tea towels. Mash 3/4 of blueberries with a potato masher. Once I added the pectin many more of the blueberries were broken down, so if you like, you could mash only half of the blueberries.
It's easier to mash blueberries in a single layer in a non-reactive pan (stainless, ceramic, or glass). Put mashed and whole blueberries in a non reactive pot along with the zest and juice from lemons, sugar, and cinnamon. Stir well then turn stove top heat to medium high and slowly bring to a rolling boil while you keep stirring to incorporate the sugar. Add the tablespoon of butter. The butter keeps the mixture from creating too much foam (something I just learned). Once a rolling boil is reached and you cannot stir it down with a spoon, boil for one full minute. Add liquid pectin quickly and bring back up to a rolling boil, once again boil for one full minute.
Immediately ladle mixture into sterilized canning jars to within a quarter inch of the top. Place sterilized lids and rings on jars and tighten firmly. At this point you can let the jars cool and refrigerate. The refrigerated blueberry jam will keep for one month. Otherwise you can place blueberry jam jars into a water bath canning pot with one inch of water covering the lids and boil for 10 minutes. Jam which is processed in a canning pot can be kept in a cool dry place for up to a year or more This recipe makes 12 eight ounce jars with a little extra to serve with waffles, pancakes, or muffins the next day. I neglected to take a photo of all the filled jars of blueberry jam.
My friends if you lived close by I'd be delivering a jar of blueberry jam to your front door right now. I did give two jars to my neighbor and still have a few others to give a jar to. Stay safe and be well.
I made blueberry syrup for pancakes one year...had invited the whole family over, and couldn't find a recipe! So I just threw in a bunch of sugar and boiled it away...they loved it! You can't go wrong with blueberry anything. I actually thought I'd wake up and make blueberry pancakes today, but I slept late...maybe for dinner.
ReplyDeleteHi Barbara, thanks, oh syrup sounds delicious too, and pancakes are good for any meal.
DeleteI don't think I have ever had blueberry jam, much less made it.
ReplyDeleteYour jam looks and sounds delicious.
Hi Sue, thanks, anything homemade after fresh picking tastes much better than store bought. The jam is really good, some lucky neighbors and friends are enjoying it right now I bet.
DeleteLinda, I have never made blueberry jam... or any other type of jam. But I do like it as I had some the summer I was in Maine and it was delicious.
ReplyDeleteHi Rian, thanks, I had never grown blueberries till we moved here because other locations the weather wasn't conducive, but here it is perfect to grow them. This year we have tons and they have to be picked every day while producing. I think it's been about a month of picking now. We are down to half a pint a day now. I love homemade jam, when we lived in california I made fig jam and that was really good too. You've given me an idea I might make tomato jam when I get enough.
DeleteI love home-made jams. I used to make a lot a few years ago, and sell the jars from a stall out the front of this property on Sunday mornings...but I gave up doing it.
ReplyDelete