Ingredients
- Blueberries – 10 cups, or 2.25 liters, about 3.5 lbs, almost 1.75 kg) preferably fresh, but frozen (without syrup works, too)
- Lemon juice – either fresh squeezed or bottled. 1/4 cup.
- Water – 1/2 cup
- Sugar – See step 6. My favorite approach is to use the no-sugar needed pectin, but still add about 4.5 cups of dry, granulated (table) sugar. It is possible to make low-sugar, fruit juice-sweetened, or Stevia (or if you prefer, Splenda)-sweetened blueberry jam; I’ll point out the differences below.
- Pectin (it’s a natural product, made from apples and available at grocery stores (season – spring through late summer) and local “big box” stores. It usually goes for about $2.00 to $2.50 per box. You’ll get best results with no-sugar needed pectin, whether you choose to add sugar or not! See here for more information about how to choose the type of pectin to use.
Equipment
- Jar funnel ($2 at Target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online – see this page) or order it as part of the kit with the jar grabber.
- Jar grabber (to pick up the hot jars)- Big box stores and grocery stores sometimes carry them; and it is available online – see this page. It’s a tremendously useful to put jars in the canner and take the hot jars out (without scalding yourself!). The kit sold below has everything you need, and at a pretty good price:
- At least 1 large pot; I prefer 16 to 20 quart Teflon lined pots for easy cleanup.
- Large spoons and ladles
- 1 Canner (a huge pot to sanitize the jars after filling (about $30 to $35 at mall kitchen stores, sometimes at big box stores and grocery stores.).
- Ball jars (Grocery stores, like Publix, Kroger, Safeway carry them, as do some big box stores – about $7 per dozen 8 ounce jars including the lids and rings)
- Lids – thin, flat, round metal lids with a gum binder that seals them against the top of the jar. They may only be used once.
- Rings – metal bands that secure the lids to the jars. They may be reused many times.
Optional stuff:
- Foley Food Mill ($25) – not necessary; useful if you want to remove seeds (from blackberries) or make applesauce.
- Lid lifter (has a magnet to pick the lids out of the boiling water where you sanitize them. ($2 at big box stores or it comes in the kit at left)
Blueberry Jam-making Directions
This example shows you how to make blueberry jam! The yield from this recipe is about 10 eight-ounce jars (which is the same as 5 pints).
Step 1 – Pick the blueberries! (or buy them already picked)
It’s fun to go pick your own and you can obviously get better quality ones!
I prefer to grow my own; which is really easy – but that does take some space and time.
As mentioned in the Ingredients section; you may use frozen blueberries (those without syrup or added sugar); which is especially useful if you want to make some jam in December to give away at Christmas!
Step 2 – How much fruit?
Jam can ONLY be made in rather small batches – about 6 cups of prepared berries at a time – like the directions on the pectin say, DO NOT increase the recipes or the jam won’t “set” (jell, thicken). It takes about 9 or 10 cups of raw, unprepared blueberries per batch.
Step 3 – Wash the jars and lids
Now’s a good time to get the jars ready, so you won’t be rushed later. The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a “sanitize” cycle, the water bath processing will sanitize them as well as the contents! If you don’t have a dishwasher with a sanitize cycle, you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, then sanitize the jars by boiling them 10 minutes, and keep the jars in hot water until they are used.
NOTE: If unsanitized jars are used, the product should be processed for 5 more minutes. However, since this additional processing can result in a poor set (runny jam), it’s better to sanitize the jars.
Put the lids into a pan of hot, but not quite boiling water (that’s what the manufacturer’s recommend) for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic “lid lifter wand” to pull them out.
Leave the jars in the dishwasher on “heated dry” until you are ready to use them. Keeping them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with the hot jam.
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Lids: put the very hot (but not quite boiling; around 180 F, steaming water is fine)
water for at least several minutes; to soften up the gummed surface and clean the lids. I just leave them in there, with the heat on very low, until I need them!
Step 4 -Wash the berries and sort!
I’m sure you can figure out how to wash the fruit in a colander of plain cold water.
Then you need to pick out and remove any bits of stems, leaves and soft or mushy berries. It is easiest to do this in a large bowl of water and gently run your hands through the berries as they float. With your fingers slightly apart, you will easily feel any soft or mushy berries get caught in your fingers.
Then just drain off the water!
Step 5 – Crush the berries
You can go wild, be a conquering Genghis Khan crushing the peasants.. watch them flee. Well, if they’re not fleeing, the berries sure do manage to roll everywhere. You won’t find them until the next time you clean behind your refrigerator!
Anyway, to crush them, you can either do one layer at a time in a pan or bowl, using a potato masher..
OR you can be lazy like me and use the slice mode on your food processor.
Either way, if you start with 10 cups of berries, you’ll end up with about 6 to 7 cups of crushed blueberries. Don’t go all anal-retentive and worry that you only had 6.2567 cups of crushed berries…. Just take your OCD meds and the jam will turn out fine!
Note: if you want to make a smooth blueberry spread; instead of mushing or crushing the blueberries, just run the blueberries through a blender until you get a smooth consistency.
Step 6 – Measure out the sweetener
Depending upon which type of jam you’re making (sugar, no-sugar, Stevia (or if you prefer, Splenda), mix of sugar and Stevia (or if you prefer, Splenda) or fruit juice) you will need to use a different amount of sugar and type of pectin. The precise measurements are found in directions inside each and every box of pectin sold (every brand, Ball, Kerr, Mrs. Wages, etc. has directions inside). I don’t recommend using Stevia (or if you prefer, Splenda) by itself – plain old sugar makes a big difference in the color and taste. Unless you’re diabetic, for best results, try the low or lower sugar formula below.
| Type of jam |
Type of pectin to buy |
Sweetener |
| regular | no-sugar or regular | 7 cups of sugar |
| low sugar | no-sugar | 4.5 cups of sugar |
| lower sugar | no-sugar | 2 cups sugar and 2 cups Splenda (or about 1/3 that if you use Stevia, which is my preference) |
| no sugar | no-sugar | 4 cups Splenda (or about 1/3 that if you use Stevia, which is my preference) |
| natural | no-sugar | 3 cups fruit juice (grape, peach, apple or mixed) |
Step 7 – Mix the dry pectin with about 1/4 cup of sugar or other sweetener
Keep this separate from the rest of the sugar. If you are not using sugar, you’ll just have to stir more vigorously to prevent the pectin from clumping.
Notes about pectin:I usually add about 20% more pectin (just open another pack and add a little) or else the jam is runnier than I like. With a little practice, you’ll find out exactly how much pectin to get the thickness you like.
Is your jam too runny? Pectin enables you to turn out perfectly set jam every time. Made from natural apples, there are also natural no-sugar pectins that allow you to reduce the sugar you add by half or even eliminate sugar!
Step 8 – Mix the blueberries with the pectin and cook to a full boil
Stir the pectin, lemon juice and water into the blueberries and put the mix in a big pot on the stove over medium to high heat (stir often enough to prevent burning). It should take about 5 to 10 minutes to get it to a full boil (the kind that cannot be stirred away).
Step 9 – Add the remaining sugar and bring to a boil
When the berry-pectin mix has reached a full boil, add the rest of the sugar (see step 6) or other sweetener, and then bring it back to a boil and boil hard for 1 minute.
Step 10 – Testing for “jell” (thickness)
I keep a metal tablespoon sitting in a glass of ice water, then take a half spoonful of the mix and let it cool to room temperature on the spoon. If it thickens up to the consistency I like, then I know the jam is ready. If not, I mix in a little more pectin (about 1/s to 1/2 of another package) and bring it to a boil again for 1 minute.
Step 10 – Fill the jars and put the lid and rings on
Fill them to within ¼-inch of the top, wipe any spilled jam off the top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them. Then put them into the boiling water canner!
This is where the jar tongs and lid lifter come in really handy!
Step 11 – Process the jars in the boiling water bath
Keep the jars covered with at least 2 inches of water. Keep the water boiling. In general, boil them for 5 minutes. I say “in general” because you have to process (boil) them longer at higher altitudes than sea level, or if you use larger jars, or if you did not sanitize the jars and lids right before using them. The directions inside every box of pectin will tell you exactly. The directions on the pectin tend to be pretty conservative. Clemson University says you only need to process them for 5 minutes. I usually hedge my bets and start pulling them out after 7 minutes, and the last jars were probably in for 10. I rarely have a jar spoil, so it must work.
Note: Some people don’t even boil the jars; they just ladle it hot into hot jars, put the lids and rings on and invert them, but putting the jars in the boiling water bath REALLY helps to reduce spoilage! To me, it makes little sense to put all the working into making the jam and then not to process the jars to be sure they don’t spoil!
Step 12 – Remove and cool the jars – Done!
Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight) You can then remove the rings if you like, but if you leave them on, at least loosen them quite a bit, so they don’t rust in place due to trapped moisture. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that’s a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it’s usually ok.
Once cooled, they’re ready to store. I find they last up to 12 months. But after about 6 to 8 months, they get darker in color and start to get runny. They still are safe to eat, but the flavor and texture aren’t as good. So eat them in the first 6 months after you prepare them!
Other Equipment:From left to right:
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This recipe is from : http://www.pickyourown.org/blueberryjam.htm