While my soup lays in wait for the All American, I have blueberries, grapes and more peaches to prepare!
So today, is blueberry jam...
Cleaning Blueberries
I have found over the years, that the easiest way to de-stem blueberries is to roll them over a clean white cloth. The stems show up fairly easily. So after picking, give them a quick rinse, and lay them out on a cloth to dry.
Once they are all dry, then do the stem roll...and scoop them into a colander (I am using a steamer, but so long as it has holes it is good)
Then rinse in Cold water...
Once they are clean, put them in a bowl or small pot, and mash them up...
Measure your mashed berries, and pour them into your big pot...
PREPARE Jars
Once the jars are ready, then we will add our sugar to the berries and begin cooking.
Ratios
Blueberries naturally have pectin, so there is no need to add more. Instead, they are cooked by gel point temperature, much like candy.
For each 1 1/2 C mashed blueberries, add 1 C sugar. (I have 10.5 C berries, so 7 C sugar)
Add all the sugar and mix it in cold.
Now I turn the heat on medium low, and once the sugar has fairly melted...yep, I add a pad of butter :)
You will need to check your altitude for the correct temp to bring your jam up to. Here at 9000 ft, it only needs to reach 200* F to reach gel stage.
Altitude is funny, because while I need to pressure cook at a much higher pressure, all things in regular cooking boil at a much lower temp, and quicker.
Use a thermometer for this. A stick candy thermometer works best, but for today this is the kind I have on hand...
I will not take a photo at 200*, because at that point I need two hands to stir and hold the thermometer.
Once it reaches gel temp, I usually let it roll for a minute, just because we like thick blueberry jam. If you like softer jam, then only let it roll a few seconds.
Next, turn the heat off, move the pot to your canning area, let it sit for about 30 seconds...Stir once and start filling your jars :)
Wipe the rims well...add lids and bands.
Processing
Blueberry jam is a water bath. Here it is 30 minutes for 1/2 pints...but check the time for your altitude. At sea level it is only about 11 minutes.
Once the jars are removed from the water bath...place them where they will not be disturbed. They need to sit for at least 12 hours to completely gel, and the lids can take a while to pop as jam holds heat for quite a while. Just leave them and in the morning they will be all finished.
Thank you for reading :)...I hope you enjoyed!
This is a {Steemit Original} All words and photos by Elew
To read my other Food Prep posts...
https://steemit.com/prepper/@elew/food-prep-canning-tomatoes-and-some-red-sauce-today
https://steemit.com/prepper/@elew/food-prep-basil-base-sauce-recipe
https://steemit.com/recipes/@elew/food-prep-basic-sweet-fruit-muffins-or-bread-recipes
https://steemit.com/prepper/@elew/food-prep-making-peach-tart-filling
https://steemit.com/prepper/@elew/food-prep-making-strawberry-jam
https://steemit.com/prepper/@elew/food-prep-making-onion-soup
https://steemit.com/prepper/@elew/food-prep-making-old-portuguese-kale-soup
https://steemit.com/prepper/@elew/food-prep-first-time-pressure-canning-at-9000-feet-o