Sunday, July 27, 2008

Wild Blueberry Jam


I went blueberry picking while on vacation in Rhode Island thinkig I would make some jam. Yesterday I went to Sussman's Blueberry Farm in West Granville, MA where I go each year and buy 20-40lbs of blueberries. So today was the day to make blueberry jam. My problem was that I couldn't decide to make the jam out of wild blueberries or domestic. So when I googled it in for some advice I once again came across the http://scribbit.blogspot.com. I've run in to Michelle's blog several times and love it! Take a hop on over for lots of things to do and read about.
Anyway, Michelle had a recipe that she uses half domestic and half wild blueberries. Sounded good to me. I used most of her recipe but changed it just a tinch. Where she used Certo Fruit Pectin (2 packets), I used Sure-Jell (1 packet). I think it's just packaged differently but is pretty much the same thing. The other change I made is she didn't process her jam where I did. So following is Michelle's recipe (although I worded it a bit shorter...hers is more precise)that I used and I'll 'pencil in' my changes:

Blueberry Jam
4-1/2 cups prepared fruit
2 TBS fresh lemon juice (I used bottled - hope it's O.K)
7 cups sugar, measured into a seperate bowl
1/2 tsp. butter
2 pouches Certo Fruit Pectin (I used 1 pouch Sure-Jell)

Crush blueberries with masher in saucepan to measure exactly 4-1/2 cups. Stir in lemon juice.

Stir sugar into mashed blueberries in saucepan. Add butter to reduce foaming. Bring to full rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in pectin. Return to full boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.

Ladle jam immediately into prepared jars (see insert on pectin box), to within
1/8" of tops. Wipe jars and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly.
*Michelle inverted jars on top of a towel for five minutes then tip right side up once again. This causes the jam to seal properly.

*I brought jars to canner and processed for 10 minutes for jam. If you want jelly instead, then process for 5 minutes. Remove from canner and let stand.

2 comments:

Scribbit said...

Hey so long as it set up properly tweaking it is just fine right? And even if it doesn't set up it just means you've got yourself some tasty homemade syrup.

Amy E Ekblad said...

Oh I'm so jealous of the yummy jam and of the talent it takes to make it! How fun!! I may send my girls to live with you for a summer to learn to sew and cook ;)