My first attempt at making jam!
The strawberries at the farmers’ market are a great price right now and Whole Foods had a one day special on organic blueberries. Because I wanted to make a very mixed fruit jam, I decided to buy some raspberries and blackberries as well.
For more steps, see below…
My food mill made quick work of making the various fruit purées. I used the disk with the smallest holes to purée the blackberries and raspberries thereby getting a seedless fruit mixture. I used the coarsest disk for the strawberries and blueberries. I ended up with a total of 16 cups of fruit purée.
After doing the usual cooking steps I ladled the fruit into the jars. I made this jam in two batches because I had read that a larger batch might not set up well. I think the real reason to do it in smaller batches is that at a rolling boil it would really spatter unless you had an industrial size pot!
My finished product after time in the water bath canner. I love hearing the ping as they contract when cooling. I wonder if this will be enough jam for the year or if I should try it again.
My thought for proportions for the next time:
2 quarts of fruit
1 cup water
2-4 tablespoons of low sugar pectin
1-2 cups of sugar
Use less pectin if using more sugar.
I was printing off some more curriculum craft pages on stumbled upon your treasured site. I’d love to sample your jam before creating it in my kitchen!!