Freezing fresh Strawberries in Sugar is a great way to enjoy Strawberries throughout the year.  It’s really quick, easy and a great way to get started in the home preservation of fruits and vegetables.  Sadly, local Strawberries are only available for a few weeks each year so, freezing them insures you have a good supply to last for months to come.  Give it a try, you’ll love them.

How To Freeze Strawberries In Sugar:

Freezing Strawberries is a great introduction into home preservation of fruits and vegetables.  It’s so simple to do and the rewards are awesome because you can enjoy them for many months to come.  In this “How To” section, we’re adding some sugar to our berries for added sweetness and flavor.  You can certainly freeze the berries without sugar and, we have another “How To” on preserving them that way.

My first venture into Food Preservation was trying to make sweet pickles like my mom did years ago.  I always loved her sweet pickles and she used the juice from them in lots of her recipes.  The juice was more of what I was really after because it just makes so many dishes that much better.  Mama used the pickle juice in things like potato salad, deviled eggs, chicken salad and other things.  I always believed and, still do, that it was her “Secret Ingredient” for such great food.

Of course, the Sweet Pickles recipe was quite an adventure unto itself.  The entire process takes about 3 weeks overall, and then you water bath canned them to store and keep them throughout the year ahead.  We’re going to do that recipe later on this summer so be on the lookout for it.

Strawberries, on the other hand, are probably one of the things that got me more involved in home food preservation.  A friend shared a quick and easy recipe for Strawberry Freezer Jam and it was just super delicious.  That led to creating regular  Strawberry Jam and using the water bath method of preserving to “put up” some jars of jam.

If you’re interested at all in learning how to do some Canning and Freezing, let me suggest that you start with some Strawberries while we still have them available.  With freezing, you don’t need any special equipment other than freezer approved containers to store your berries in.  So, if you’re ready to give it a try….Let’s Get Cooking!!!

Freezing Strawberries in Sugar:  You’ll need these ingredients.

WOW….how much easier does it get?  Just fresh Strawberries and some Sugar are all you’ll need.  See…I told you this would be simple.

There are some things to consider before we start though.  First of all, fresh Strawberries are highly perishable and must be handled gently.  Whether you go out in the field and pick your own or, you buy some already picked, be sure to look for plump fresh looking berries with bright green caps..or hulls…as they’re called.  You want the freshest and best berries you can find.

Sadly, depending on your source, you might find lots of unripe berries at the bottom of the bucket or container if you’re not careful.  Older berries may be placed in the bottom of a container and then topped with fresher berries in order to make a sale.  Most reputable farms and produce stands don’t do that though.  Still, you’ll need to watch for them.  Look for any leakage around the bottom of the container.  If the bottom of the container looks wet or stained, it’s probably because the berries on the bottom are overly ripe, avoid those and, look for some that are better.

Strawberries do NOT get any sweeter once they are picked.  They will turn darker and get mushy but, they do NOT get any sweeter than they are when picked.  Keep that in mind when you make your purchase.  The hulls (caps) should be bright green in color.  If the caps are turning dark, it’s a sign the berries have been picked for a day or two.  Look for the ones that are bright green and fresh in appearance.

If at all possible, plan to pick up your Strawberries on the same day that you intend to freeze them.  Berries can be picked in the morning and worked with in the afternoon or evening.  You can get away with placing them in the refrigerator overnight but try to avoid that if you can.

DO NOT WASH the berries until you’re ready to work with them.  If the container is inside a plastic bag, remove the container, spread the berries out onto a sheet pan and give them breathing room before placing them in a refrigerator.  Try to keep them away from the fan area that would be blowing air directly on them.  I know it sounds like a hassle but, these few steps will assure you of a tasty finished product.

You might also want to seek more information about how to pick the best fruits by searching out the local Cooperative Extension Service in your area.  They will normally have pamphlets or material online that can assist you.  You’ll find them a great source of information for both canning and freezing….plus….many times they offer classes on how to do it.  So….let’s get started.

Normally, I’ll just place my fresh Strawberries in a clean sink along with my colander.  Strawberry juice can quickly stain your counter tops, cutting boards or any cloth they might come in contact with.  I avoid this situation by doing all the work right in a clean sink.

You can purchase a tool made specifically for removing the hulls or caps but, a simple paring knife will do the trick.  Just slip the blade under the hull and slice off a slight bit of the top of the berry along with the cap.

A Strawberry Huller can range in price from a dollar up to about ten dollars.  It inserts into the top of the berry and with a quick twist, it removes the hull.  If you’re a kitchen gadget fanatic, you might want to look into it.  I’ll just stick with the paring knife thank you.

I prefer to remove the caps BEFORE washing the berries.  Many sources suggest that you wash them first and then remove the hulls.  I just don’t think you get them as clean that way so I remove the cap first.  The sources say that removing the caps first allows more water to be absorbed into the berry.  They suggest that you wash the berries with the hulls still on them, remove the hulls and, then wash the berries lightly AGAIN to remove the stems and any pieces of stem.  That just sounds like more work to me but I think you’ll be safe either way.

Remove the caps from all of the Strawberries.  You’ll also want to remove any bruised or bad berries you might find.  Just toss the hulls and all into the trash or into your compost pile.

Yes, I wash each berry one at a time.  Push the berries aside in the sink so water isn’t running directly on them the whole time.  I did that after I snapped the picture above.  Just hold each berry under lightly running cold water and gently rub it with your fingers to remove any dirt, stems or pieces of hulls left on the berry.  Place them in the colander after each one is washed.

You don’t want to just fill the sink with water and wash the berries.  First of all, you don’t want them soaking in the water and secondly, from all that I’ve studied, it’s possible that one contaminated berry could contaminate all the others in the sink of water.  Now, I highly believe in and practice safe food handling to the best of my knowledge and ability so, any step that eliminates a problem is much needed.

Once you’ve washed each one, just let them sit in the colander for a few minutes to allow the excess water to drain off.  As you can see, I haven’t cut into the berry very deep.  A huller will dig a deeper hole into the berry to remove the cap.  I could see where using one of those might cause you to want to wash the berries before you remove the caps.  Just saying.

Now, take each berry and slice it up.  Smaller berries get sliced down the middle into halves.

Larger berries get sliced into quarters.  Just try to keep the pieces as uniform in size as possible.

Slice up all the berries.  Don’t they look good already?

I know that up to now, you’ve probably tasted more than one or two berries, you just can’t help it, they’re so inviting.  That’s OK….because you want to know how sweet they are.  Tasting will help determine how much sugar you need to add.  If the berries are sweet…you add less sugar.  If the berries are a bit tart you might want to add more sugar.

I used 3/4ths of a cup of sugar to each quart of berries.  I had three quarts, thus I added three scoops of sugar.  Just spread it out over the top of the strawberries in the pan.

In no time at all, the sugar will dissolve and start pulling juice out of the berries.  Gently stir the sugar into the berries using a large spoon.  Do it slowly so you don’t break up the berries.  You just want to make sure the sugar is fully dissolved and that you don’t have any sugar crystals remaining in the berries.  Oh yeah….now’s a good time to grab another taste.  I knew you were thinking of it.  Just don’t get carried away…it’s easy to do at this point.

Let the berries sit for a few minutes to make sure the sugar has dissolved.  Just don’t let them sit for more than five minutes if you can help it.

Gently spoon the sugared Strawberries into some plastic bags or storage containers that are approved for freezing purposes.  Not all bags and containers are designated as suitable for freezing so be sure to double check them before using them.

You’ll want to fill the containers up to about 1/2 inch from the top.  The remaining space is called “headspace.”  That’s a term you’ll see a lot in canning and freezing.  The amount of headspace needed will vary from one item to the next.

Wipe the tops of the containers to remove any syrup or pieces of Strawberries.  Any thing left on the container tops could prevent a good seal when you apply the lid.  Once they’re ready, place the lids on the container and make sure they are sealed correctly.  If you’re using plastic freezer bags, try to remove any air from them and then seal them securely.  Don’t over stuff the plastic bags so they will lay flat in your freezer.

Once you’ve sealed your containers….label them with the date they were packaged and it’s also a good idea to write what they are on the label as well.  Sometimes, it’s hard to tell exactly what’s in a package after it’s been in the freezer for awhile.  Once you’ve labeled them, get them in the freezer as quickly as possible.  That sugar is still pulling juice out of the berries and they don’t need to sit out any longer.

Strawberries can be stored in the freezer at Zero Degrees Fahrenheit for between 8-12 months.  While freezing them will make their texture much softer, you can substitute frozen strawberries for fresh in just about any recipe.  And of course, they are absolutely delicious spooned over some ice cream, pound cake or just enjoyed cold, straight out of the container.  Thaw them slightly before using.

I remember when mama would pull a carton of her frozen strawberries out of the freezer, she’d let them sit for just a little bit to start thawing out.  I’d grab a spoon and scrape a little of those softened berries off the top and eat them.  It was like eating Strawberry Popsicles.

See how easy it is to store up some fresh Strawberries to enjoy throughout the year?  And, by preserving and canning your own products at home, you know exactly what ingredients are in them….and….what chemicals and preservatives AREN’T in them.  I do hope you’ll give it a try and leave me a comment below to let me know how you did.  I will warn you though…you might just want to try something a little more intensive next.  That’s OK…you can do it.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, that dish of extra Strawberries up there in the picture is calling my name.  Want some?

ENJOY!!!    Now and for later

We’re canning and preserving Strawberry Jam today on Taste of Southern.  This recipe is one of the best ways to get started in the home canning and preservation of jams and jellies.  It’s really easy and produces a treat that the family can enjoy anytime of the year.  Only a few special tools are required and you’ll be on your way to making jams and jellies just like grandma did.

Recipe:  How To Make Strawberry Jam
How To:  Can Strawberry Jam

Strawberries pretty much got me started in the processes of Home Canning and Food Preservation.  And, I started pretty late in life with doing it.  But, since then, I’ve become an Award Winning Food Preservationist.  How cool is that?  Does that mean I know it all?  Absolutely not…and…I highly suggest that you read my little Disclaimer at the bottom of this post.

It does however mean that, I can at least maybe get you started or perhaps even offer a bit of a refresher on this fascinating world of making your own Homemade Jellies and Jams…..just like Grandma use to do…..maybe even better.

I was going to say that I wasn’t really sure what peaked my interest in home canning but, then I remembered exactly what it was.  For years I wanted to make sweet pickles just like my mother use to make.  I loved her sweet pickles.  I didn’t actually eat a lot of them but, they were just so good.  The best part was that I knew that those sweet pickles were pretty much the “Secret Ingredient” in many of the dishes that my mother prepared on a regular basis.  She used the juice of those pickles in her Chicken Salad, Deviled Eggs, Potato Salad, Cole Slaw and other such things.  They were just flat out awesome if I must say so myself.  Apparently it wasn’t just me either.  Everyone loved my moms cooking.  I just wished I’d paid better attention to what she did when she was with us.  Still, that’s what our Taste of Southern home on the Internet is all about, trying to save what little I DO know about not only mama’s cooking but, other family and friends as well.

So, a few years back, I finally gave it a try.  I made my first batch of sweet pickles based on her recipe.  It was a 3 week process overall and that sort of got me thinking about trying some other things.  Yep, the pickles turned out pretty good and certainly brought back a good number of memories for me.

I started reading about canning and preserving here on the Internet and, as I did, my interest peaked into giving some other things a try.

A longtime friend told me about some Strawberry Freezer Jam she had made and how simple it was.  She gave me the recipe.  (You can find the recipe all over the Internet it seems.)  I purchased my first bucket of Strawberries and gave it a try.  The Freezer Jam turned out to be really good and I was pretty proud of what I’d done.  But, in the back of my mind, I kept thinking about doing some actual canning with a canner and, that Water Bath Process I’d watch mama do and, that recently I’d been learning about.

Before long, I’d purchased my own canning pot, a few canning jars and the other needed ingredients.  I think I studied the process of how to make the jam for days before I actually got up the nerve to give it a try.  I made sure I had everything I needed then….I bought more Strawberries.

I sweated it out in the kitchen that day, working through the entire process, reading notes taped to the kitchen cabinet above the sink as I went.  Then, as I lifted the jars out of the Water Bath Process canner, I started hearing those familiar “PING…PING…PING” sounds that instantly took me back to days in the kitchen with mama.  I think I was totally hooked based just on hearing that sound of success.

As it turned out, I must have got lucky because my very first jars “set” properly.  I was SO PROUD.  Ha!!!  From there, I went on to making Fig Preserves..several times….and far more than I could ever use.  Amazingly, I got a little more comfortable with it and, it got just a little easier each time.

I could go on and on much longer but, you’re here to see how it’s done.  Again, I urge you to seek out more than just the information I’ve included here.  Learn as much as you can if you have no prior experience but DO….dive on in and give it a try.  Fortunately as it turns out, Strawberry Jam is one of the best recipes you could probably get started with.  I do hope you’ll give it a try and I also hope you’ll leave me a Comment below and share your thoughts, memories and, experiences with me and our readers here at Taste of Southern.

So….if you’re ready….Let’s Get Cooking!

Strawberry Jam:  You’ll need these ingredients and a few recommended pieces of equipment.

This is pretty much my typical stove setup for most of the items that I can and preserve.  On the back left side burner, I place a smaller pot for warming up the jar bands and lids.  On the front burners, I have a large pot to cook the jam in on the left side and,  on the right front burner, that’s my enameled canning pot.  The canning pot has a rack that fits inside to hold the jars and a lid.  It’s a fairly simple piece of equipment that can be found in the South in places like WalMart, some grocery stores or hardware stores.  You could also just use a large stockpot if that’s all you have.

Sometimes you might find one at a Yard Sale or Garage Sale.  If that’s the case, make sure the pot doesn’t have any holes or chips in the enamel surface.  The enamel can sometimes chip off and the pot could have started to rust or even rusted out long enough to form a hole.  Just check it carefully before you purchase it and , check it each year when you start canning your fruits and vegetables.

I begin by filling the canning pot about 3/4ths full of water.  Then, I’ll place it on my largest burner and turn the heat up to about medium and let the water start warming up.  I’m going to need a little time to prep the Strawberries so, I can just let the water heat up gradually for the time being.  Of course, you’ll want to make sure that the pot has been washed well in hot, soapy water and is as clean as you can get it.

I’ll be using this pot to sterilize my jars once the water gets up to boiling temperature.

I fill the smaller pot just under half full with water and place it on the lowest heat setting my stove has.  Then, I add the jar lids, placing them rubber side up and just let them gradually warm up.  The red ring is the rubber part of the lid, the rest is metal.  The rubber needs to be softened a bit in the warm water to insure a better seal.  When the lid is placed on the jar, the rubber part comes in contact with the top rim of the jar.  The band is then placed on top of the jar and screwed down finger tight.  This rubber ring is what seals the jars tight in the process and must always be handled with care.

Jar lids, pictured above, should NEVER be re-used to try and seal jars again during canning of something else.  They are a one use only product.  Of course, you’ll keep them to close up the jar as long as you have your jam or jelly, that’s OK…just remember you can’t use them again to seal jars.  You’ll need brand new one’s for that purpose.

While the water in the canning pot is heating up and, the bands and lids are slowly warming up, go ahead and place the canning jars you’ve selected in a sink of hot soapy water.  Canning jars are another part of the process that can be re-used from one year to the next.  Whether you’re using new jars or old jars, carefully inspect the tops and the entire jar for any chips or cracks.  Again, if in doubt, throw it out.  Better to err on the safe side.  Scrub each jar very well both inside and outside, making sure you remove any leftover jams or jellies etc., that might have been hiding in the bottom or around the rims of the jars.

You’ll also want to wash the jar BANDS that you’ll be using.  Jar bands CAN be re-used from one year to the next, as long as they are in good condition.  If using older bands, check them for rust and overall condition.  If in doubt, discard it.  You’ll want to wash them in hot soapy water before using them to make sure no food particles are on the inside of the band.  You should also wash any new bands you might be using.  Only takes a minute and worth the safety factor.

Once they’re good and clean, set them aside on a clean towel.  I didn’t have them all in the picture above during washing but, these are the jar lids and jars I’ve prepared.  I think it’s better to prepare more jars, bands and, lids than you think you might actually use.  It doesn’t hurt to have them handy and ready at least.

Once the water in the canner has got up good and warm, I use some tongs and carefully place each jar in the water.  You just want some warm water at this point.  Once all the jars are inside and fully covered with water you can increase the heat and bring the water and jars up to a rolling boil.  We need to let them boil for a good 10 minutes or longer to STERILIZE them prior to adding the cooked Strawberry Jam.

I put my bands right on top of my lids and let them warm up gradually right along with the lids.  You don’t want to boil the lids as this could severely damage the rubber seals on them.  Just get them warm and let them stay in the water until needed.

While the jars are warming up, you can go ahead and start the prep of the Strawberries.  I just place a colander in my sink and dump the Strawberries right along side of it.

Use a paring knife and carefully remove the green cap from the berries.  Cut right beneath the cap and try not to cut too deep into the berry.  You’ll also want to cut out any bruised spots you might find or, just discard any bruised or bad berries you might come across during this process.

Remove all the caps and throw them away.

I’ve said it before, YES, I wash each berry one at a time.  It’s quicker than you might think.  I just hold each one under lightly running cold water and gently scrub it between my fingers to remove any dirt or leftover caps and stems.  It’s also a great way to find any badly bruised spots that might need to be cut away.  Place the washed berries back in the clean colander.

Lightly rinse the whole thing once again and just let them drain for a few minutes.

While they drain, make sure the water temperature of the jars in the canning pot has come up to a gentle rolling boil.  Also, make sure ALL the jars are completely under water.  Add more hot water from your sink faucet if needed.  The jars will need to stay at this boiling point for at least 10 minutes or longer.  While that’s taking place, we’ll start cooking up the jam.

Place the berries in the pot you’re going to be cooking them in.  Make sure you’re using a large enough pot for the job.  A good rule of thumb is that the pot should be just about halfway full.  Now, lets get ready to mash up some berries…ready?

There are certainly more ways than one to mash up the berries.  You could do it with something like an old fashioned potato masher.  You could also place them in a food processor or blender and pulse them for a brief moment or two.  Even a large slotted spoon would probably work, anything to break up the berries.  Here, I’m using an Immersion Blender that I had recently purchased at a local auction I attend.  I got it new for just a dollar or two and it made quick work…very quick work….of mashing up the berries.  I may have even gone a bit too far with this…I was just having so much fun with it.  Seriously though, you don’t want to PUREE the berries, jams normally have some pieces of fruit in them.

Food Preservation Lesson:  Jam is described in the dictionary as “a preserve of whole fruit, slightly crushed and boiled with sugar.”  What it doesn’t say is that PECTIN is added to the sugar to aid in the proper set or gel of the fruit, in this case…Strawberries.

Pectin is a white carbohydrate that occurs in ripe fruit, especially apples.  Most of the powdered Pectin you’ll find at the grocery store is made from apples.  Thus, it’s a natural product that you’re adding to the berries.  It helps to thicken or “gel” the jam or jelly.

Jam is typically made with the fruit or berry being crushed and allowed to remain in the finished product along with it’s juices.  The degree to which the berry is crushed is up to you.  You may like some chunks of berries in your jam or you may not.  Jelly on the other hand, is normally made by straining out just the juice from the fruit or berry being used.  Jellies are free of any pulp of the fruit.

End of lesson.

Once the berries are crushed, you’ll need to measure the pulp to see how much sugar you’re going to need to make the jam.  Pour it into a measuring cup, make note of the amount and pour that into another container.  Do this until you have an accurate measurement of all of your fruit pulp.

Using the number of cups of fruit, measure out the proper amount of sugar that you need.  You’ll want to work with small batches of Strawberries as you make your jam, so use the ratio included in the pectin box recipe to determine how much sugar you will need based on how much crushed fruit you have.  I’m not listing an exact amount because what I made and what you will make might differ.  Use the info in the recipe and you’ll be fine.

NOTE:  Most boxes of Sure-Jell or any pectin you use will have a simple recipe on what proportions of sugar, fruit and pectin are needed.  Consult that information for making your jam.  I’m just trying to give you a visual idea of the process it takes.

Place the pulp back in your cooking pot and place it on medium heat on the stove top.  Keep a close watch on everything at this point.

From here on out, things are going to start happening quickly and need to be worked on as quick as possible.  The first time or two you can any type of things, it can start feeling a little hurried or rushed.  Just relax and follow the directions and you’ll have Strawberry Jam in no time.

Your jars should be boiling gently at this time with a timer counting down that they have been sterilized for a good 10 minutes or longer.  The bands and lids should be in warm water, not hot and ready and waiting to be used.

Your work area should be clear and setup with enough space to work with.  Towels should be handy, along with mitts, to handle the hot products.  Planning ahead for this moment will make things go a lot easier….trust me.  Just don’t let it get the best of you.  You Can Do It!!!!

Now, open the pack of pectin and slowly stir it into the berry mixture.  Add it slowly and stir it briskly to keep it from clumping up.  Sprinkle a little in at a time and stir it until it’s mixed or dissolved into the mixture.

Note:  It’s also possible to mix the pectin in with about a half cup of the sugar you’ll be using and slowly stir this in.  Some recipes on the pectin boxes might recommend that you do it this way.  They say it helps to keep the pectin from clumping.  I think you’ll be OK either way, as long as you just….keep stirring away.

Raise the heat just a little above medium and keep stirring.  You’re going to bring the berry pulp up to a full boil, one that can’t be stirred away.  I use a wooden spoon so I can safely scrape the bottom of the pot and keep anything from sticking or burning.

Please note that the pectin can easily be overcooked and lose it’s ability to thicken…according to the experts.  I’ll take their word for it.  Again, pectin is a naturally concentrated apple product and some jams, jellies or preserves can be prepared without even using it.  If you left it out, you’d have to cook the berries longer to reduce the liquid down to a thick mixture.  The longer it’s cooked, the more flavor and vitamins are lost in the process.  Adding the pectin reduces the cooking time needed.  It’s sort of like adding flour or cornstarch to your gravies to thicken them up.

We could go on and on about pectin it seems.  You’ll find it in both powdered and liquid versions.  You’ll also find some that says No-Sugar-Needed or like what we’re using here….with sugar.  Pectin can help reduce the amount of sugar you use.  Thus, you could use the No-Sugar-Needed version if you’d like to make it as sugar free as possible.

You’ll find lots of information on canning and freezing here on the Internet and through the local Cooperative Extension Agency in your area.  I highly suggest that you read up and learn more about the whole process, using a reliable source for your information.  Many local Cooperative Extension Services offer classes in canning, jam and jelly making and other home food preservation.  Check your phone book or the internet for the office nearest you.  You may also find restaurants or chef’s in your area that offer classes.  They’re fun, plus they’re a great way to learn and share with others.  It’s not necessary that you take a class but it IS necessary that you follow all the suggested guidelines so you can SAFELY prepare and store your homemade goods.  You’ve gone through the process of making it….make sure it’s safe and will have a good shelf life.

Once the pectin and fruit has come to a full rolling boil, ADD the Sugar.  Do it gradually, stirring it as you go…but at the same time…do it quickly.  (Does that even make sense?)  In other words, add a little sugar, stir it to let it dissolve or mix in then, add a little more and repeat.  Just keep stirring it as you go.  It’s fixing to start REALLY happening now.

Once ALL the sugar has been added in, bring the mixture back up to a hard boil.  Do this fairly slowly, over medium heat as opposed to a higher heat.  Working the heat up slowly helps to keep the mixture from foaming so much.  You’ll have some foam, that’s expected.  By bringing the heat back up to a rolling boil slowly, you should be able to reduce the amount of foam you’ll have though.

BOIL IT HARD FOR ONE MINUTE:  As you stir the sugar and all, the mixture will start coming back up to a good rolling boil.  Again, that’s a boil that you can’t stir away.  You’ll see it continue to boil as you stir.  At that point, start a countdown of 60 seconds and continue to let it boil as you stir it for ONE MINUTE.

Remove the jam from the heat and set it on your counter top where you intend to fill the jars.

FOAM:  I didn’t get any good pictures of it but, the foam will be easily visible in your jam.  It’s that lighter colored pink stuff you see in the picture above.  It’s not a problem and it is edible….it’s just air bubbles after all.  Most people prefer to skim off as much as possible just for appearance sake.  Use a ladle or large spoon and skim off as much as possible and place it on a plate or saucer.  It’s hot so don’t just toss it in the trash right away.  It’ll melt a plastic trashcan liner so just let it cool for now.  It’s time to start filling the jars.

By this time, the jars in the canner should have had plenty of time to boil and become sterilized.  Use some sterilized tongs (I just slip mine in the water for a few minutes with the jars) then, carefully lift the jars out of the boiling water.

Place them on a folded towel on your counter, near the area where you will fill them.  Go ahead and remove them all and sit them on the towel, then start the next step.

I like to sit my jar on a plate.  Strawberry juice and jam can be messy and hard to clean up.  Place the jar on a plate, then insert your funnel.  Funnels are relatively inexpensive and highly recommended for filling jars.  You can thank me later.

Use a ladle and carefully add the hot jam into the jar.  Being careful means making less of a mess.  Again, you can thank me later.  I haven’t even mentioned yet that this stuff is sticky now.  Try not to let it drip on your jars.

Headspace:  The space from the top of the jam in the jar…to the top of the jar….is called “Headspace.”  This space may vary depending on what type of jelly, jam, fruit or vegetable you’re working with.  Always consult your recipe for the proper amount needed for what you’re working on.  You can just “eyeball” it if you’re a pretty good judge of measuring.  Or, you can purchase a tool that you can measure it with.  As a matter of fact, you can purchase a canning “kit” that has a jar lifter, magnetic wand to lift the lids with and, a plastic measuring tool that will measure the amount of headspace.   I’m seriously considering making that purchase. (Smile)  Strawberry Jam normally calls for a Headspace of 1/4 inch.

You can easily see in this picture that my jam is fairly thick at this point.  The next step is to use a knife or skewer to remove any air bubbles that might be in the jar.  Just slip a butter knife in the jar…or in this case, the skewer….and slowly work it around the edges and middle of the jar.  This will allow any air bubbles trapped inside to rise to the surface.  A few bubbles aren’t going to hurt anything so not to worry about those.  Still, you wouldn’t want a LOT of them and it really depends again on what you’re making as to how many air bubbles you might encounter.  Some things seem to have more than others.  Just look for them as you’re working and try to work them up to the top so they can burst.

Use a clean damp cloth and carefully wipe the entire rim of the jar.  Work all around the very top part because that’s where the rubber seal in the lids needs to rest.  Any jam on the rim could keep the jar from sealing properly, which in turn, could result in the loss of that jar of jam.  You’ve worked too hard to do that so, wipe the jar until it’s good and clean….and not sticky.

Also, wipe the outside of the jar around the threads to remove any jam that might have dripped on them.  While any food particles on them might not affect the seal, it could cause the band to stick so tight you can’t hardly remove it.  Do your best now for best results later.

Carefully remove the warmed lid from the pot and water it’s been in.  They make a really neat tool called a wand that has a magnet on one end.  You just use the wand to pick up the lid.  Seriously, I’m saving up for one of those, I think it will be a nice investment.  OK….you got me.  I already HAVE all this stuff.  I was just moving a bit too quick to get a few pictures today and I don’t actually have one of me using it…OK?  They do work nicely though.  I used my tongs until I bought one…it came in that kit I mentioned.

Carefully center the lid on the jar, making sure it settles down on top nicely.

Use the same wand with the magnet to remove one of the jar bands from the pot of water.  Lower the band over the lid and make sure it’s seated correctly on all the threads.  Don’t force it….just work it gently until it feels right.  Then, use your fingers and snug it up.  They say to finger tighten the band and not use all your strength to tighten it.  You just want to snug it down…finger tight…then you’ll know everything is adjusted properly as we head into the water bath process of canning.

Place your rack in your canner.  The rack keeps the jars from sitting directly on the bottom of the pot, which could cause them to break from overheating.  The rack also is designed so you can hook the handles over the top of the canner until you get the jars all situated in the rack.  Then, you lift the rack handles and lower them all into the water at one time so they all process evenly.  How cool is that?

Place the sealed jars in the rack.  As you can see, they are only part way submerged at this point.  You can mix the sizes of the jars as long as the canner is big enough so that they are fully under water when you lower the rack.

Lift the handles and lower the rack down into the water.  The jars need to be fully submerged with at least TWO INCHES of water covering the tops of all jars.  Canning pots come in different sizes so make sure your pot is big enough for it’s intended purpose.

Be sure to check the package of pectin that you purchased for the proper amount of processing time you need.  For jam, it’s probably going to be at least 5 minutes or maybe longer.  I’m not including an exact time because the time will vary, strangely enough, depending on the altitude of where you live.  It will change from sea level to higher altitudes as to the number of minutes needed for processing during this water bath method.

WATER BATH:  The process we’re using to make our Strawberry Jam is called the Water Bath Method.  It’s fine for most jams and jellies.  Another process uses a Pressure Canner to can the jars under pressure.  For safety reasons, some produce and meats being canned require the Pressure Canner Method.  We could go into a lot more detail about it but, I suggest you seek more detailed info from your local Cooperative Extension Service or your local library…or hey…maybe here on the Internet using some reliable sources.  We’ll probably be doing some pressure canning later on during the summer for beans, tomatoes etc.  We’ll save the more detailed info on Pressure Canning for those recipes.

When the water gets back up to a rolling boil…cover the canner and start the timing process.  As I said, for our Strawberry Jam, the pectin box recipe suggests we go 5 minutes, based on our altitude.

Once the correct amount of time has passed in the water bath process, use some tongs or a couple of large spoons and grasp the canning rack handles.  Carefully lift the jars back up out of the water and hook the handles on the top of the canning pot.  Just let them sit here for a few minutes and rest.  You may or may not hear some of the jars ping as they seal at this point.  It’s OK if they do.

Prepare a spot on your counter where there is no draft or air conditioning vent nearby.  The jars need to sit for 24 hours undisturbed in a draft free location.  It’s best to NOT sit them directly on the counter, especially if you have marble or granite counter tops.  The jars are very hot and if you place one on a cold counter…it could break.  That wouldn’t be good.  Fold a towel into about 2 layers of thickness and just set the jars on top.  If you have some water on the tops, don’t worry about it, it want hurt anything.  I use a folded paper towel sometimes to carefully wick the water up off the lid but, it really want hurt the next step.

PING. PING. PING.  I love that sound.  I love it when I can count the number of pings that I hear as the jars complete their sealing process.  The “ping” is the sound made by the top center button of the lid being sucked down as air is pulled out of the jar.  It’s an awesome thing to hear them all as they happen.

RESIST the urge to press on the top of the jars for at least 24 hours.  If you press on the top, it could keep an unsealed jar from sealing.  After 24 hours you can safely press the center to see if the button in the middle of the lid is down.  If it is, you’re pretty much assured of having done it all right.  Shelf life for jams and jellies may vary but, they normally are safe and good for at least one year…maybe longer.

If after the 24 hours have past and, you happen to find a jar that did not seal, just go ahead and place that jar in your refrigerator and use it first.  It will be perfectly OK.  There could be any number of reasons as to why that one specific jar didn’t seal but don’t fret…just go ahead and enjoy it first.  All the other jars that have sealed properly can now be stored away in the cupboard or your pantry if you have one, until needed.

Congratulations….you’ve just made your very own Homemade Strawberry Jam.  Print yourself up some labels and mark the jars as to their contents and when they were processed.  They also make great gifts for family and friends.  You may not want to giveaway any from your first batch since you worked so hard on them but, you may just find yourself back at the Strawberry Farm…getting some more and doing it all over again.  I must warn you…home preservation of foods can become a little addictive.

See my label?  I printed up some, wrapped the tops of the jars with those little fancy cloth jar toppers, tied the labels on with string…and gave them to my family at Christmas.  I included several different jars of stuff I’d made last summer and tried to make them all look “gourmet fancy.”  Ha!

I can’t help but think during the process of canning, about all the stuff that my mom and dad prepared as I was growing up.  I’d be in and out of the kitchen and just catching glimpses of mama as she worked with her canner.  Sadly, I can’t say that I ever gave any real thought to how much time and effort she put into making all those great things for us to enjoy year round.  She did it because she loved us.

Having canned some items of my own, I quickly came to realize that if someone gives you something they have canned themselves….they must think you’re…very special.  There’s a good deal of time, effort and love inside those jars.

Again, canning is something that you’ll find gets easier the more you do it.  Just do your homework, use this recipe as a guide if you will…then go out and get some of the best, freshest Strawberries you can find.  You’ll be very happy to tell your friends that you did it yourself and, your family will enjoy your efforts for months to come.  There’s just something special about Homemade I think.

Let me know how it turns out if you give it a try.  I’ve got a section below just waiting for YOUR comments.

Enjoy!

You’ll be totally amazed at how much better homemade Pickled Beets taste as opposed to those you buy in the grocery store.  Here’s another way we’re “Saving Summer In A Jar,” with our canned pickled beets recipe.  Give them a try and taste the difference yourself.

Pickled Beets Recipe:

I’m not going to tell you that I’m a big fan of Pickled Beets and that I can’t wait to make them every summer.  Well at least I haven’t been in the past.  That may all have changed now though.

Some time past, I purchased a jar of Pickled Beets from the grocery store.  I’d stumbled across some information on the Internet about how good they were and how good they were for your body.  So, I thought I’d give them a try.  Big mistake for me.  I placed the jar in the refrigerator to let them get cold and a few days later I gave them a try.  Ughh….I hated them.  I have no idea what brand I bought but, they had no appeal for me what so ever.  They tasted more like DIRT than anything else.  I was highly disappointed and knew that I’d never eat any more so, I ended up just tossing them in the trash that very day.  Lesson learned.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I visited the roadside produce stand of my friends Flora and Bill.  They had just pulled some fresh beets and had them out for sale.  Through our conversation, I ended up telling them about my past adventure with Pickled Beets.  That’s when Flora, stepped inside her house and came back with a sample of some of HER pickled beets.  They were delicious.

So, from there, I told her I had to have the recipe.  She agreed and I told them that I’d come back the following week to get some beets because I wanted to make some of my own.

I cut Floras recipe in half because it made a few more jars than I thought I needed.  I ended up with 6 pints but, could have easily had 7 and you’ll read about that further down.  I must admit, they were a little more trying than I had anticipated.  I had problems with the skins of the beets not “slipping off” as expected.  Even though I had cooked them for the suggested amount of time, I may have let them cool longer than they should have.  I pretty much ended up having to peel the skins away which added a bit of more time and energy to the process.

Also, please consider that beets will STAIN your surfaces very quickly.  Be very careful of anything they may come into contact with.  I’d suggest using plastic cutting boards and that you wear gloves any time you’re working with them.  Use paper towels to clean up with as opposed to your kitchen towels…..unless you want to change their color to pink.

Let me know if you give them a try.  I’d love to hear how yours turn out.  Mine are sitting for a few weeks to achieve a better pickled flavor and I haven’t actually tried them yet.  You can leave us a comment in the section at the bottom of this post and you’ll also find a printable recipe at the bottom.  So…if you’re ready…..Let’s Get Cooking!

Pickled Beets Recipe:  You’ll need these ingredients.

We’ll begin by trimming off the tops of the beets.  Cut the leaves off, leaving about 2 inches of the stems and all of the roots intact.  We do this to prevent the beets color from draining and bleeding while we process the beets.  I was fortunate because the farm I bought the beets from cut the leaves away for me.  It was a step I didn’t have to do myself.

Place the beets in your sink and cover them with cool water.

Do NOT use a brush to clean the beets.

Just scrub each one gently with your fingers to remove any dirt.  The beets are a root vegetable….meaning the beets themselves grow beneath the ground.  Just rub them gently to remove any clumps of dirt and dust.  We’re going to eventually cut off the tops and the roots…plus….we’ll slip the skins off completely in the next few steps.

Drain off the dirty water, rinse them again under cool running water and place in a colander to drain.

Place a large sauce pot on the stove and fill it about half full with water.  Bring it to a low boil.

If you have various sizes of beets, you’ll need to sort them out by size as best as possible.  The smaller ones will cook much quicker than the larger ones of course and, you don’t want the baby one’s to overcook.

Here’s pretty much where my plan for cooking the beets went wrong.  After adding the larger beets, I quickly realized that THIS pot wasn’t going to be big enough.

I should have just poured the water into my canning pot and proceeded with the plan but…..that would have been too easy.  I would have needed to add more water and let it get up to boiling before proceeding.  It was a good idea but going ahead and adding them to the pot that was ALREADY boiling seemed even better.   Well…at least at THAT moment.

I had planned to start the larger beets cooking, then as time passed, I’d add the medium sized and when down to about 10-15 minutes, I would add the smaller ones.  I figured that way, I could cook them all at the same time and then not overcook the really smaller beets.  Only, it didn’t turn out that way.  I had to cook the larger ones, remove them, then cook the medium, remove them, then cook the smaller one’s.  Oh well….it was a good thought at least.  It was also probably the reason the skins didn’t slip off as anticipated.  We must learn from our mistakes…right?

When they have finished cooking as suggested, remove them from the pot with a slotted spoon.  I placed mine back in the colander.

Be sure to DISCARD THE WATER you’ve been cooking the beets in.

Let the beets cool for a little bit.  I placed them in my colander which was just sitting in the top of my canning pot.

Then, I just placed them all back in the sink.

Use a paring knife and cut off the top stems, the roots and, then peel away the skins.  Yeah right….not so fast on that peel away the skins part.

Prepare the onions next.  I had decided to go with red onions in mine.  I figured the color would just blend right in.  I also had a large white onion….just in case I needed it.

Looking at this picture brings tears to my eyes…how about you?

These onions had just come out of the garden and they really gave me a bit of a hard time as I sliced them up.  I didn’t want to use full onion rings in my jars so I decided to cut the onion in half then, into quarters.  After that, I cut the quarters into the slices you see here.  I wanted to use smaller pieces in each jar.  Try to keep the slices to about 1/4 inch in width.

Since you’re probably crying already….go ahead and take the extra time to fully separate the slices.  It will just make it easier to add them to the jars once we start filling the jars for the canner.

Then, go ahead and prepare the Cinnamon Sticks and Cloves.  I used 2 of the Whole Cinnamon Sticks and about 12 Whole Cloves.  You’ll want to break up the Cinnamon Sticks.  They’re pretty hard so be careful as you try to break them.  Place the spices on a layer of Cheesecloth.

Bunch up the side pieces of the Cheesecloth and tie up the top.  This spice bag will be dropped into the vinegar solution we’re about to prepare and then later removed so we don’t have spices floating around in the jars.

Here, I’ve setup the stove for the canning process.

This has become my standard way of doing things.  The large canning pot is on the front right burner.  On the left front is the pot that I normally use to cook up the item being canned.  Back left is the pot I use to place my lids and bands in on low heat.  The larger pot on the right rear contains water that I heat up and keep ready to add to the canning pot as needed during the canning process.  This setup has worked pretty good for me over the years so why change?

Add the vinegar to the pot.  You must be sure you’re using a vinegar with 5% acidity.  It will tell you right on the bottle.  This is recommended for any type of pickling you will do.  I’m using the White Vinegar as opposed to Apple Cider Vinegar.

Now, add the water.  I know it looks just like the picture above but, this really is water I’m pouring into the pot.

Add the two cups of sugar.

Add the “Pickling Salt” to the pot.  This is not your ordinary table salt.  You can typically find Pickling Salt with the canning supplies of your favorite store…or…in the spice section of your favorite grocer.

While the vinegar mixture is heating up, go ahead and fill your sink with some hot soapy water to wash your jars.  Even new jars should be washed with detergent.  It’s a good time to closely check the jars…especially the top rims….to make sure they aren’t chipped or cracked.  I thought I was doing a pretty good job of doing that but, just as soon as I started to fill my jars, I found one that was chipped on the lip.  Be sure to check the jars carefully.

After you’ve washed and rinsed the jars….place them in your canning pot and bring the water to a boil.  The jars need to boil for 15 minutes.

NOTE:  It’s also acceptable to use your dishwasher to clean and sterilize the jars.  The newer dishwashers have a cycle just for such purposes.

You will ALWAYS use NEW LIDS when canning.  Bands may be re-used but, never try to can new products by using old lids.  Be sure to wash the bands and check them to make sure they aren’t bent.

Place the lids and the bands in a small pot of warm water.  I run hot tap water into my pot and then place it over the lowest heat setting on my stove.  You just need to warm them slightly to soften up the rubber around the underside edge of the lids to ensure a proper seal.  DO NOT boil the lids at any time.  Just let them continue to warm up while everything else is coming up to speed.

Keep a watch on the vinegar, water and sugar mixture.  Stir it frequently until the sugar has fully dissolved.

Once the sugar is fully dissolved…..drop in the tied bag of spices.

Things are about to get a little busy now.  It’s one of the fun parts of the process of canning as things start to all come together.

It can be a bit daunting the first couple of times around but, the more you do it, the easier it gets.  It’s always good to setup areas ahead of time so you know you have everything handy and at the ready as you will need them.  I’ve got the long towel at the back to set my hot jars on as they come out of the canner.  The hot pad is for my pot of beets once I remove them from the stove.  I’ve found that cleanup goes much easier if I sit my jars in a plate to fill them.  And, having the jar lifter and other tools ready just makes you that much more efficent.  It’s kind of like setting up an “operating room” I think.  I just needed someone to wipe the sweat from my brow at this point.  Ha!

Now it’s time to get cooking.  Grab some type of rubber glove and start placing the beets in the pot.  The vinegar and sugar mixture should have just started to reach the low boil point by now.

Add the sliced onions right on top of the beets.  Then, gently start to stir the onions and beets together.  You’ll probably need to increase the heat at this point as we want to bring the whole pot back up to a low boil.  Once they begin to boil, keep stirring gently and let them boil for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, remove the beets from the stove and sit them next to your jars.

I used a large slotted spoon to place the beets and onions into the jars.  The funnel really comes in handy at this point.  Fill the jar up to 1/2 inch of the top with the beets and onions.

Here, I’m using the back of a spoon to lightly pack down the beets and onions.  I even picked up the jar and shook them down a bit.  You wouldn’t do that with jams or jellies but, it will help in this case to get the beets to settle more evenly in the jars.

When the jar is properly packed with the beets and the onions…use a ladle to add the vinegar mixutre.  Pour it in slowly and fill the jar up to 1/2 inch of the top.

Always check the jar for proper headspace.  The recipe says we need 1/2 inch of headspace in our pickled beets.  Headspace is the amount of space between the top of the beets and liquid and, the top of the jar itself.  Recipes vary on the proper amount of headspace needed so, be sure to follow the directions carefully for whatever you might be canning.

I’ve mentioned in some of my other canning recipes about using these wooden skewers.  I find them to be a perfect little tool to run around the inside edges of the jar to help remove any air bubbles.  Gently rotate the jars and look for the bubbles and just push the skewer into the bubble….it will usually just follow the skewer up to the top and burst.  Get out as many of the air bubbles as you can see.

Use a clean damp cloth and carefully wipe off the top rim of the jar and around the edges where the band will go.  You need to be sure to remove any food particles that might be on the very top of the rim and any juices around the top and outside.  We want this area perfectly clean in order for the lids to seat properly and create a proper seal.

Use your magnetic wand and remove a lid from the warm water.  Just shake off the lid and carefully center it on to the top of the jar.  Try not to touch the red rubber ring on the underside of the lid.

Using the magnetic wand again….remove a band from the warm water and center it over the lid.  Make sure it’s going on straight and don’t force it.  Screw the band down and just slightly tighten it.  Don’t use any force at this point…you just need to get it “finger tight.”

Once all the jars are filled and have their lids properly tightened….place them in the rack inside your canner.  The rack has handles that clip onto the outer top rim of the pot itself.  Hook the handles over the edge while you add the jars.  The jars are in the water at this point and you want to make sure they are sitting straight up.

As it turned out, I ended up with just enough beets to fill six jars.  I had already removed the one jar that I discovered had a chip on it.  It would have gone in the center area above but….didn’t need it any way.  Of course, I did pack my jars fairly tight with the beets and onions.  I plan to enter a jar into our local fairs so I pack them a little on the tight side.  And yes, I had a bit too much water in the canner.  Once I lowered the rack of jars, I scooped out a little of the water so it wouldn’t all boil over.

Use some oven mitts and lift the handles and rack up and off the top lip of the canner.  Gently lower the rack into the boiling water.  You’ll need about 2 inches of water over the top of the jars throughout the rest of the time they are going through this water bath process.

When the water has come back up to a boil, cover the canner with it’s lid.

You’ll need to check the recipe below for the proper length of time to process the beets in your area.  It will vary based on the ALTITUDE of where you live.  For me, I had to let them stay under water for 30 minutes.  You’ll need to check them a couple of times to be sure they stay fully submerged at all times.  The water can boil away pretty quickly.  This is why I keep that extra pot of hot water on the burner right behind the canning pot.  As I need it, I can just add hot water to the pot.  It just always seem to come in handy to keep that extra pot of hot water going.  Try it…you can thank me later.  (Smile)

After they have gone through the proper amount of time for the water bath, remove the canner lid and set it aside.  Then, use whatever you find handy to grab the handles and raise the rack back up out of the water.  Slip the handles back onto the top lip of the canning pot.  Grabbing the handles out of the water can be a bit tricky so be careful and don’t burn yourself….that water is still HOT.  Take my word for it.  Just saying!!!

Just let the jars rest here for about 5 minutes.  Then, use the jar lifter and carefully remove each one and sit it on a towel placed on your countertop.  This should be an area free of any drafts….especially out of a direct path with any air conditioning vents.

The jars need to sit in this spot for 24 hours without being moved or disturbed.

DO NOT PRESS the center parts of the lids on the jars at this point.  You should start to hear that sweet little “Ping” noise as the lids start to seal.  To me…that’s the best part of the entire process.  You’ve worked hard getting them to this point and that little ping as the air gets sucked out of the jar is a great reward in my book.  As the air is pulled out, the center of the lid gets pulled down and it makes that “ping.”  I love it!!!

After 24 hours, you will want to look closely at the tops to see if you can tell if they are properly sealed or not.  It’s OK at this point to press down on the lids.  If pressing on the lid doesn’t make any noise….you’re good.  But, if the center of the lid springs back up when pressed, for some reason, the jar did not seal.  It might have had some small food particle under the lid or something else that kept it from sealing correctly.

The beets would be OK to eat but, you need to go ahead and refrigerate them at this point to keep them safe.  Sealed jars can be stored in a draft free, cool and dark location for up to one year or longer.

The beets will also need a couple of weeks to properly “pickle” and get a good taste.  They will just get better over time so….try to be patient.  You’ve done good so I know you’ll want to enjoy some soon.  Congratulations…you’ve made your very own homemade “Pickled Beets.”

Enjoy!!!

We’re “Saving Summer In A Jar” with this recipe for Blueberry Jam.  Talk about easy to make…how about only 3 ingredients to make this quick and easy jam that is just bursting with flavor.  Seriously, home canning and food preservation just doesn’t get much easier than this.

Blueberry Jam Recipe

This is another quick and easy recipe to use for getting started in your home food preservation projects.  Seriously, all you really need are just Blueberries and Granulated Sugar.  No pectin is needed, nothing else, zip..zap…zadda….just TWO ingredients.  Of course, we did manage to complicate the recipe just a little by adding one more ingredient.  It’s just our way it seems.  I added a Tablespoon of freshly squeezed Lemon Juice to the batch.  It’s not needed at all but, its like adding a little Lemon zest to your other recipes….it just knocks it all up a punch.

Blueberries are so good for your health.  They come in numerous varieties from tart to sweet and are available from late May until late July or early August here in the South.  The only real problem is that it’s just usually so hot when it’s time to pick them.  We’ve seen some really hot days this year and have broken several records for the hottest days ever in our area.  Ouch.

Growing up as a kid, we often would find Blueberries growing in the wild along the edge of a dirt road or out in the edge of the woods.  They were so delicious to just stand there and pick them off the bushes and pop them into your mouth, eating them fresh off the bush.  Then, you’d run home to grab a bucket and go pick some more for mama.  You just knew that if you could gather enough of them, she would make a Blueberry Pie or Blueberry Cobbler.

It didn’t even matter…at the time…that you were probably going to be scratching little bumps for the next several days.  Somehow, we always seemed to forget that little part from one summer to the next.  Red-bugs…or chiggers, must love Blueberries as well.  In the wild, you almost always got “eat up” with red-bugs when picking fresh Blueberries.  They are very irritating and we’d scratch them for days trying to dig them…or whatever it was…out of our skin.  It makes me itch just thinking about.

These days however, you can find numerous Blueberry Farms with neat rows of bushes that make picking a lot more easier…and….pretty much red-bug free.  Gotta love that.  I get mine at a place not too far from home called Blueberry Hill U-Pick.  They are open from sun-up to sun-down Monday – Saturday and “after church” on Sundays from 1:00pm to 8:00pm.  That way, you can pick them late in the evening when the day begins to cool down.

Blueberry Hill U-Pick has 9 different varieties of berries and, they had their first small crop of Strawberries this year.  They also have a small retail center on-site that sells about anything Blueberry.  From Jams to Jellies, Salsa to 100% Blueberry Juice…you’ll find it available during the growing season.  I picked about 2 pints this past Friday and bought a few more to make this Blueberry Jam.  I also picked up my first loaf of Blueberry Bread that is made fresh for the retail store.  I couldn’t wait to spread on some of my homemade Blueberry Jam.  Talk about something good for breakfast, toast up a slice of bread and then spread it all over with a heavy layer of fresh Blueberry Jam.   You’ll start scratching right away……your head that is….wondering why you’ve waited so long to make your own Blueberry Jam.  Ready to give it a try?   Let’s Get Cooking!!!

Blueberry Jam Recipe:  You’ll need these ingredients.

This recipe is adapted from the Ball Blue Book Guide To Preserving.

We’ll begin by washing our canning jars and the jar bands in some hot soapy water.  You can reuse canning jars and the bands for the tops but, you can NOT reuse the lids.  Just place the jars and bands in your sink and give them a good scrubbing to make sure there aren’t any leftover food particles inside.  Also, be sure to check each jar…even new ones…for any cracks or chips.  Carefully inspect the top of the jars to be sure they haven’t been chipped anywhere.  After washing, rinse the jars and set them aside.

Setup your stove for the canning process.  We’ll start at the back left burner.  It’s hard to tell it from the photo but, that smaller sauce pan on the back left is where I place my bands and lids.  The larger sauce pan on the back right burner is where I keep extra water heating to add to the canning pot as needed.  The left FRONT burner is the pot where I’ll actually be cooking the blueberries for the jam..and…the large pot on the right FRONT burner is my enameled canning pot.  It’s already about 3/4ths of the way filled with water that is heating up to sterilize the jars.

The lids and bands are placed in warm water in a smaller sauce pan.  I keep this on my lowest heat setting for the stove top.  The lids only need to warm up a bit and should never be placed in very hot or boiling water.  I always set this up at the beginning and just leave them in water until I’m ready to place them on the filled jars.

As the water begins to heat up in the canner, carefully add the jars to the water.  I just lay the jars on their sides as I place them into the water.

The jars must be totally submerged at all times through the sterilization process.  Once the jars are under water, let the pot come on up to a boil and boil the jars for at least 15 minutes to sterilize them.  Just leave them in the canner until you’re ready to begin filling them with the jam mixture.  Keep a check on them throughout the next steps.  Add more of the water you’re keeping heated on the back burner as it’s needed.

Prepare the Blueberries: 

You’ll need to sort through your Blueberries and remove any bad berries, leaves, little stems or other objects.  I’d suggest you stop up your sink, place a bowl and a colander inside and just sort through them a handful at a time.  Or, you might place them on a cookie sheet that has a lip all around…otherwise….you’ll be playing pickup as berries roll off your counter top.  These little things can be amazing once they get in motion.  It may be weeks later before you find that one that got away.  Trust me on that one.

Now, you’ll need to lightly wash them.  I ran some cold water in the sink and just used my hands to swirl them around a bit.  Maybe I just like to play in water….I don’t know.  Of course, the fun part is collecting them and placing them back in the colander after you’ve washed them.  Not only can they roll across the counter top and across the floor…they can swim AWAY…just as easily.  Just have fun with them.  They like it too I think..

Once I’d “caught” them all and had them in the colander….I rinsed them again under cool running water.

Transfer the drained berries over to the pot you’re planning to cook them in.  Then, I used this potato masher to mash them up a bit.  You could run them through a food processor for just a second or two if you wanted.  It’s entirely up to you.  You just want to break up the berries to let the juice out.  A food processor will chop them up a little finer but, we want to retain some texture of the berries for our jam…so…don’t over process them.

Mash them up to the desired consistency.

Next, you’ll want to measure your crushed berries.  I scooped them out of the cooking pot into a 2 cup measuring cup and then poured them into another bowl.  My 5 one pint baskets of Blueberries yielded 6 cups of crushed berries.

Pour the berries back into the pot you want to cook them in and place it over medium heat on your stove top.

To the 6 cups of crushed berries, I’m going to add 4 cups of sugar.  You may need to adjust this a bit based on the final amount of crushed Blueberries you end up with.  Jam needs to be made in small batches for best results.

WOW…that’s a lot of sugar in that pot.  4 cups of sugar completely covered my berries when I added it all in.  But, just go ahead and add it all at one time.  The berries beneath the sugar are already starting to heat up and the sugar has started to dissolve around the back edge as you can see.

While the sugar is starting to melt, squeeze the lemon.  I’m adding 2 Tablespoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice to my recipe.  While it’s NOT required, I think it just gives a little “punch” to the flavor of the berries.

Add the lemon juice to the sauce pan.  Keep a close watch on the mixture and keep stirring down the sugar as it dissolves.

Prepare the area you’ll be using to fill the jars.

You just need a little space on your table or counter top to set everything up.  Once the berries have cooked, you’ll want to move as quickly as possible to fill the jars, add the lids and bands and get them ready for the water bath process.  The proper tools will also help make the job go a bit smoother.  I’ve got my jar lifter on the left, then my funnel, bubble remover and magnetic lid lifter all ready to go.  I also have found that placing my empty jar in a plate next to the cooked jam aides in clean up after I’m finished.  After canning a few items, you’ll find your own little way of doing things that will work best for you.  If you’re like me however, a little more SPACE in the kitchen would be very nice.

Once the sugar is fully dissolved, RAISE the heat on the sauce pan and cook them as quickly as possible.  You’ll need to be able to stay with them pretty much all the time at this point.  You’ll want to stir them often as they cook to prevent any sticking to the bottom and scorching.  They would also boil over the edge if you let them.  That’s one MESS you don’t want so, avoid the possibility of that ever happening and just stay with them from here on out.

We’re going to cook the syrup of the juice and sugar down to a “gel” point.  The time needed to do this will vary based on the amount of juice that came out of your berries and the temperature at which you’re cooking.  While a thermometer isn’t necessary, I clipped one onto the pot just to watch the process.  They only got up to about 205º on the candy thermometer.

Here they are at a pretty good rolling boil, one that can’t be stirred down.  You may need to adjust the heat back a bit to keep them from boiling over the top of the pan.

There are several ways to test the jam for proper “gel.”  I hope to do a more in-depth article on that one day that you can use for reference.  Here, I’m using a saucer that I had placed in the freezer of my refrigerator earlier so it could get cold.  I’m constantly lifting juice up with my stirring spoon to watch how it drips off the spoon.  As it begins to thicken, you can tell the difference and will learn to SEE that difference the more you make jams and jellies.  The purpose of the cold saucer is to drip a few drops of the hot liquid onto the cold surface.  Watch how it reacts after a few seconds as the jam begins to quickly cool down on the cold saucer.  After about 20 seconds or so, pull your finger through the juice.  If it leaves a trail and doesn’t quickly run back together….your jam is ready.  If it does run back together, you need to continue to let it cook.

I highly suggest that you search out some more information on this process of the making of any jam and jellies for now so that you’ll have a better understanding of what to watch for.

When the jam has reached the “gel point,” remove the pan from the stove and get ready to fill the jars.  I didn’t have any foam on my jam at this point.  Any foam should be removed though if you see it.  It will just make for a better presentation of the finished product.  Just use a spoon to scoop it off and discard it.

Just before I removed the jam from the stove, I removed my jars from the boiling water in the canner.  I set them on a clean towel and have them easily accessible for the filling process.  Here, I’ve placed one jar on a plate next to the pot of jam and, I’ve inserted my funnel.  Let’s fill some jars OK?

Stir the jam in the pot one more time.  Then, use a ladle or large spoon and begin filling the jar.  Careful….it’s HOT.

HEADSPACE:  As we’ve mentioned in our other posts about canning, headspace is the amount of space between the top of the product IN the jar and the TOP of the jar.  This neat little tool, that hard to see blue thing up there….has sections measured off to check the headspace.  For the Blueberry Jam, the recommended amount of headspace is 1/4 of an inch.  The headspace needed will vary from one canning project to the next so always check for the proper amount needed.  I was a bit short on this one and just took a Tablespoon and added a bit more until I had the proper amount in the jar.

The other end of that notched tool can be used to remove any air bubbles from your jars.  I prefer to use these wooden skewers for that task.  You can buy them in packs of about 100 for just about a dollar.  They make great testers for cakes and I find them also very well suited for removing bubbles from my jars.  Just insert the skewer in the jar, run it around the edges and around through the middle a couple of times.  Any bubbles at the bottom of the jar, will follow the skewer up to the top and burst.  Work out as many bubbles as you can see.  It’s one of the things the judges look for at fairs and competitions so I try a little harder to eliminate them than most folks do I’m sure.

You’ll need a damp cloth for this part.  Use the cloth to carefully wipe around the top outside edges of the jars and the very top rim itself.  Any jam on the outside could affect the proper seal.  Any jam on the top rim could cause the rubber part of the lid to not make good contact and could also prevent a proper seal.  Make sure it’s good and clean.

Use your magnetic wand to lift one of the lids out of the warm water.  Gently shake off the water but, don’t try to wipe the lid clean.  Just place the lid on top of the jar and center it into position on the jar rim.

Use the magnetic wand again to retrieve one of the jar bands.  Gently lower it over the lid and make sure that it screws on without resistance.  Just use a gentle finger tight pressure to secure the band.  Don’t force it down tight.   Repeat these steps until all the jars are filled.

When the jars are filled, place them in the rack of your canner.  The racks are made so their handles will hang onto the top lip of the canner itself.  Place it in this position first and fill the rack with your jars.  Use the jar lifter to add them to the hot water and to keep them sitting up straight.  Try not to let them fall over as you do this but…don’t fret if it does.  It happens to me all the time it seems.  I think it’s the quality of the rack I’m using.  It only has one wire under the jar and they just don’t want to sit up correctly on that rack.  I’ve looked for a new one locally but haven’t found it.  Guess I’ll be ordering one off the Internet…about the time I’m finished needing one this season.  Wait…wasn’t I going to do that LAST year?  Yeah…I think I had intended to do so.

WATER BATH:  The process we’re using to make our Blueberry Jam is called the Water Bath Method.  It’s fine for most jams and jellies.  Another process uses a Pressure Canner to can the jars under pressure.  For safety reasons, some produce and meats being canned require the Pressure Canner Method.  We could go into a lot more detail about it but, I suggest you seek more info from your local Cooperative Extension Service or your local library…or hey…maybe here on the Internet using some reliable sources.

Carefully lift the handles and the rack and lower the jars into the canner.  The jars need to be covered by about 2 inches of water at all times.  That’s why I keep another pot of water heating on the back burner.  It only takes a few seconds to get back up to a rolling boil after adding more hot water.  I just keep filling up the smaller pot as I use up the hot water.  It boils away kind of quickly so keep a watch on it.

Once the water is back to a rolling boil, place the lid on the canner and start counting the time needed to process the jam.

This time will vary based on the Altitude of where you live.  I need 15 minutes for the water bath process and this jam.  You’ll need to adjust accordingly based on your location.

After the correct amount of time, remove the lid.  Use some oven mitts or tongs and CAREFULLY lift the rack up and hook the handles back onto the top lip of the canner.  It’s recommended that you let the jars REST here for about 5 minutes before removing them.  You may even hear one or two of them PING at this point as they seal.

Using the jar lifter again, remove the jars from the canner.  Set the jars on a towel spread over your counter top and in a location away from drafts.  You certainly wouldn’t want to set one of those hot jars on your bare Granite or Marble counter top.  The jar might burst open if you did so, make sure you have a towel handy to set them on.

NOTE:  The jars need to remain undisturbed in this location for 24 hours.  Do not pick them up or move them if at all possible during this time.  And, DO NOT press down on the top of the jar to see if it has sealed until 24 hours have passed.  When the time is up, you can press the middle top portion of the jar to make sure it’s properly sealed.  The top should already be down and not make any movement or noise when you press the center of the lid.  If it springs back up, the jar didn’t seal.  The product inside is still good but the jar will need to be refrigerated and used first.

Properly sealed jars may be wiped clean and moved to a dark cool area for storage of up to 12 months or possibly longer.

After I started my adventure into home food preservation, I quickly realized that any time someone shared a jar of their labors…they must really think a good deal about me.  It’s fun and rewarding to make your own products like this…not to mention that you know exactly what goes INSIDE each jar.  Still, it does take some time and effort to complete the process so, next time someone hands you a jar from their home pantry….give them a BIG HUG and say Thank You Very Much.

You can “Save Summer In A Jar” by making your own homemade Blueberry Jam.  These little jars make great gifts for any time of the year.  Decorate them with cloth or paper jar toppers, labels, etc. and show someone just how much you appreciate them.

Enjoy!!!

Enjoy the taste of fresh peaches all year long with our delicious Peach Jam recipe.  Our step-by-step photo instructions will show you just how easy it is to “save summer in a jar” with local peaches fresh from the orchard.  Spread this jam on a hot biscuit or some buttered toast and just step back into summer with every bite.  Canning jam is easier than you think, and this is a simple and easy recipe perfect for anyone to try.

Peach Jam Recipe:

Peach season has pretty much ended here in the South for this year.  But, we can still enjoy that delicious fresh peach taste all through the coming year with our peach preserves and peach jam that we’ve put up for the winter months ahead.  I don’t usually make a lot of each as I have a variety of other jams and jellies to enjoy as well, but I do like to have some peach jam in the pantry each year.

I have to travel about 35 miles to purchase peaches.  We don’t have any local peach orchards within our county, but they are available from some neighboring counties.  The Cand0r-West End area of the heart of North Carolina is well known for producing some great peaches.  They are also available at many local roadside stands and at the North Carolina State Farmers Market up in Raleigh during peak peach season.

I love spooning peach jam into a hot buttermilk biscuit for breakfast.  The sweet taste goes well with a piece of salty country ham, eggs cooked over medium, and a plate of grits or hash browns.  My oh My….it makes me hungry to just think about it.  It’s also good with some peanut butter for a bit of a different taste for those PB&J sandwiches.  Of course, what doesn’t taste good with homemade jam right?

This particular batch of jam is pectin free.  Pectin is used in most jams and jellies to help them “set” or firm up.  Some folks seem to think adding powdered or liquid pectin gives the jam a little different taste.  With this recipe, you’ll retain the full flavor of your fresh peaches without adding the pectin.  It will just need to cook a little longer to get it to firm up.  You’ll need to watch it closely to make sure it doesn’t burn as that would be bad.  The ingredients are simple, and it’s a quick and easy recipe for saving summer flavors in a jar.  Ready to give it a try?  Let’s Get Cooking!

Homemade Peach Jam Recipe:  You’ll need these ingredients.  Simple huh?

Let’s begin by getting everything ready and setup to process our jam.  Gather your jars and the bands for the tops of the jars.  Place them in the sink with some hot, soapy water, and give them a good scrubbing.  Jars and bands are reusable but you’ll always need new lids for anything you can.  Even if you’re using new jars, check them for chips and cracks, and make sure they are in good condition.  Wash them good inside and out.

Rinse the jars and bands and set them aside for the moment.

You’ll also need to setup your stove.  This is my typical setup as seen in most all of my “Canning 101” recipes.  On the back left is the smaller pot I use to warm up my lids and bands.  More on that later.  On the back right is a somewhat larger pot that I keep filled with just water.  I like to keep extra hot water in that pot so I can add it to the canning pot as needed.  On the front left is the pot that I normally use to cook my jams and jellies in.  Then, that big pot on the right is the canner itself.  My canner is enamelware, but any large stockpot will pretty much work.  I also have a rack to hold the jars that will fit inside.

I fill the canner pot about 3/4ths full of fresh water and will use this to sterilize my jars as we begin.

These are the NEW lids.  I place them with the rubber ring side up in a pot of warm water.  This is the pot that’s on my back left burner.  I turn the heat down to the lowest or next to lowest setting.  The lids just need to warm up a bit to soften that red rubber ring that’s on them.  You never boil the lids as it could damage the rubber ring and cause the jars not to seal.

There is a new product out that features reusable lids.  They cost a bit more upfront and I guess if you plan to continue canning for years to come, they could be a wise investment.  I’ve never used them myself.  As mentioned, you can reuse the jars and the bands but with our projects, you will ALWAYS need NEW lids for canning.

I place the bands right on top of the lids inside the same pot.  We’ll let them gently warm up as well.

Next, I place my washed and rinsed jars inside the canner pot.  This pot will hold seven jars at one time inside the rack.  I’ve scrubbed the canner already and filled it with cold water.  I just lay my jars on their side in the cold water and will sometimes have the smaller jars laying on top of each other.  Many sites suggest that you place a cloth towel inside for the jars to rest on so they aren’t touching the bottom of the pot.  The intense heat at the bottom could cause them to break once the canner starts to heat up.  So far, I’ve not had any problems with any breakage and I don’t use the towel method.  There’s always a first time though.  Since I start the jars in cold water and slowly heat them up to boiling, I think that’s the reason I’ve not had any problems thus far.

With all the jars in the canner, turn the heat up to almost High and let the jars start to come to a boil.  On my electric range, this takes a little time to reach the boiling point.  Once the jars reach a low boil, they need to continue to boil for 15 minutes to sterilize them.  Some of the newer dishwashers have a cycle for just this purpose, if you have that, go ahead and use it.

Lightly rinse the peaches under cold running water to remove any dirt of fuzz.

Heat up a pot of water in a large sauce pot.  Once it comes to a low rolling boil, drop in the peaches.  Let them stay in this hot water for about 2 minutes.

After about two minutes, remove the peaches from the hot water and drop them into some ice cold water in your sink.  Heating the peaches for a couple of minutes makes it a lot easier to remove the skins.  Depending on the peaches, the skins may just pretty much slip off right in your hand.  Or, take a paring knife and grab a piece of the skin and easily peel it away.  Remove the skin from all of the peaches.  Just drop them back in the water until you have them all peeled.

You’ll want to remove the skin from each peach.  Then, slice the peach in half.  You’ll see a wrinkle or indentation in the peach, just slip your knife into that section and run it all the way around the peach.  Pull the peach apart and remove the pit or as some folks call it the “stone.”  Then, slice the peach into quarters and then cut each slice into one or two chunks.

Place the cut peaches into a bowl and add the lemon juice.  This will help keep them from turning brown so quickly.

Take a spoon and gently toss the peaches around to coat them all with the lemon juice.

Place the peach pieces in a food processor if you have one.  If not, you could just mash them up a bit.

Use the pulse mode and pulse the peaches around a bit.  You want to leave some small bits of peach and not totally liquefy it.

Place a large sauce pot on your stove and turn the heat to the Medium heat setting.  Once it’s heated up a bit, add the water.

Add in the sugar and start stirring.

Continue to stir the water and sugar mixture until the sugar has pretty much dissolved.

Add the chopped peaches to the pot and keep stirring.  Since we aren’t going to add any pectin, the mixture will have to cook down until it thickens.  It’s really easy to walk away and let it burn.  I know you don’t want that to happen.  Just let it continue to cook and keep stirring until it starts to thicken.

While you’re stirring the peaches, it’s a good time to setup your work area.  Gather all your tools and be ready to start placing the jam in jars while it’s still hot.  The blue items above can be purchased as a kit online or at a large store like Walmart or something similar.  The items are not necessary but they make the process a lot easier in the long run.  I’ve got a funnel up above, a jar lifter to the right and on the plate is the magnetic wand for lifting the lids and bands out of the warm water.  The tool on the right is for removing air bubbles and also has the notches that are measured increments for making sure your jars of jam have the proper amount of headspace.  I like to sit my jars in a plate as I fill them.  I can get a bit messy with it and it just makes cleaning the sticky stuff up a lot easier for me.  You can thank me later.

There’s a lot that could be said at this point about making the jam.  You don’t want to scorch or burn it but, it does need to thicken up a good bit.  You can see this happen by lifting the spoon about 12 inches up out of the pot and letting the syrup drip off the spoon.  Start doing this when it thickens up a bit and continue to do it to watch the progress it’s making.  Soon, you’ll start to notice that it’s not running off the spoon as fast as when you first started.  When two drops of the jam sheet together as you drip it from the spoon, it’s ready to jar up.  If you scoop up a spoonful, it should also mound up a bit on your spoon.

Another way to test is by placing a saucer in your freezer when you start to cook the jam.  Pull this cold saucer out and drop a teaspoon or so onto the cold plate.  Tilt it sideways a bit and watch the mixture.  If it runs easily, it needs to cook some more.  If it runs slowly, the jam is ready.  You can also pull your finger through the jam on the saucer to see if it runs back together quickly.  You’ll want it to leave that open space separation that you just made.  Once that happens, the jam is ready to be placed in jars.   If you have any foam on the jam just take a spoon and skim it off and discard it.

Now comes the fun part….filling the jars.  Remove the peach jam from the stove, skim off any foam and discard it…if you have any.  Pull a plate up along side the sauce pot and place one of the warm jars from the canner in the plate.  Remember, the jars need to have boiled for 15 minutes to sterilize them.  Mine usually go a bit longer than that during the preparing the peach process but that’s OK.  Take the jam off the stove and use some tongs or the jar lifter to remove the jars from the boiling water in the canner.  It’s best to sit them on a towel when you take them out.  The jars are hot and sitting a hot jar on a cold counter top could cause the jar to break.  Place the funnel in the jar.

Use a ladle and spoon the jam into the jars.  Fill the jar to about 1/4 of an inch from the top and remove the funnel.  I normally just take the funnel out of this jar and place it right into the next jar to be filled.

Here, I’m using the notched end of my canning tool to check for the proper amount of headspace needed.  Headspace, is the amount of space left remaining in the jar after you’ve added the food product.  This amount of space will vary in canning, depending on what is being canned.  Always consult a tried and trusted recipe for the proper amount of headspace to leave.  This is very important to me as I can various items to be placed in our local and state fair competitions.  They check it carefully so I have to check it carefully.  Still, it’s a major factor in getting a proper seal on your jars once they go into the canner for processing.

I could use the other end of the notched tool to remove any air bubbles but, I’ve become accustomed to using these wooden skewers.  A butter knife will also do a good job.  Slip the skewer..or knife…into the jar and gently run it through the middle and around the sides of the jar.  The object is to remove any air bubbles that might be inside the jar.  You can watch them most of the time as they “climb” their way up along side of the knife and skewer to the top…where they burst.  Get out as many as you can.

Grab a clean damp cloth and carefully wipe off the thread area of the outside top of each jar.  Then, make sure you wipe carefully across the top of each jar.  You need to remove any food particles that might have dripped onto the jar as they could prevent a proper seal when the lid comes into contact with the jar surface.  Caution though…the jars are hot to the touch.

Use the magnetic wand and lift one of the lids out of it’s warm water.  Try not to touch the bottom part of the lid with the red rubber seal.  Don’t worry about any water left on it, that’s not a problem.  Carefully center the lid onto the top of the cleaned jar rim.  Hold the top with your finger and pull the magnetic wand away.

Use the magnetic wand to lift one of the jar bands out of it’s warm water.  Give it a little shake to remove excess water then, carefully center it over the top of the lid.  Screw it down lightly, making sure it’s going on straight and even.

Finger tight.   All the canning recipes say to tighten the band down just finger tight.  That means, just snug it down to the top without using any extra force.  Don’t give it all you’ve got to get it tight.  Just a gentle snug down and it’s good to go.

Repeat this process until all the jars are filled.  As I fill one jar, I sit it on another towel until I get them all filled.

When all the jars have been filled, use the jar lifter to lift them and place them in the rack inside the canner.  The canners come with a metal rack that fits inside.  It’s made with a hook in it’s handles that you might be able to pick out in the picture above.  You place the rack in the canner by hooking the handles over the edge of the canner first.  Then, you fill the rack with the jars, making sure they are sitting up straight as you go.  The rack is divided to give space between each jar.  You need them separated so water can flow evenly around them.

When all the jars are in the rack, you lift both handles up and off the rim of the canner.  Then, you lower the whole rack down into the canner until the jars are submerged.  I use tongs to carefully lower the rack as that steam is hot.  Be careful.  This is also where that extra pot of hot water boiling on the back can come in handy.  The jars need to be under 1 to 2 inches of water…again depending on what you’re canning…so be sure to check the recipe out.  If you don’t have enough water in the canner, once the jars are down inside, use that hot water from the other pot to fill the canner as needed.

With the jars lowered into the canner and, with the proper amount of water over them, watch for the water to come back to a rolling boil.  When it’s boiling, place the lid on the canner and start timing this water bath process.

The processing times will vary from one recipe to the next and ALSO by the ALTITUDE of where you live.  The higher the altitude, the longer the processing time required.  Again, the recipe usually includes this information.  For me, I’ll need 10 minutes to process these jars of jam.  Your’s might be a little longer based on where you live.

Once the jars have gone through the water bath process for the proper amount of time, turn the heat off and carefully remove the lid.  Remember to lift the lid AWAY from you as there will be hot steam underneath and it hurts….trust me on that one.  I still forget that part sometimes.  Seriously though, the steam can burn you pretty bad.  Keep the little one’s out of the way during this process.

Now, use your tongs and grab both handles once again.  Carefully lift the rack back up just enough to hook the handles back over the top rim of the canner.  The jars need to REST here for 5 minutes.  You may even start hearing some of them “ping” at this point.  That’s a good thing.

After five minutes, use the jar lifter and remove the jars one by one.  Sit them on your counter top in a draft free location.  Also, make sure you sit them on a folded towel.  The jars are super hot and placing them on a cold counter could cause them to burst.  The jars need to be away from any air vents so they can have time to rest and properly seal.

RESIST the temptation to press down on the center of the lid for at least 24 hours.  The lids have a slight “bubble” in the middle.  As the jars go through this water bath process, the contents inside will heat up.  When the jars are removed from the canner, the air inside of the jar gets sucked out and causes that bubble in the lid to pull down.  That’s the familiar ping that is so sweet to hear.  That’s the sound of a properly sealed jar.

Just let them set in this spot for 24 hours to cool.  After 24 hours, THEN you can press the tops of the jars to make sure they sealed.  If the center bubble spot bounces back up…the jar didn’t seal.  The jam inside is still good and you should just place that jar in the refrigerator and eat it first.  In the event several jars didn’t seal, the jam can be reheated and processed again.  Of course, you will need NEW lids once again to do this but, it could be a way to save your jam instead of throwing it away.  You’ll need a little more instruction on that process however that we’re not including here.

On the other hand, assuming you’ve followed all the directions and done everything properly, the center of the lid will be pulled down and sealed tightly.  At this point, I remove the bands from my jars and place them away for safe keeping.  The jars need to be placed in a cool dark place where they can be safely kept for a year or even longer.  It’s best to not sit another jar on top of them.  Even though the jar may be sealed at the present, sometimes, things happen that cause the lid to loosen and pop open.  If that should happen, you would see it and know NOT to use that jar.  Something has caused a problem and the food has spoiled and caused a build up of gasses that has popped the lid off.  Hopefully that never happens but you need to know about watching for such things.

So….wasn’t that pretty easy?  It gets easier each time you go through the process.  Well, at least it’s not as trying to your nerves after the first time or two.  The whole process is pretty much the same each time you make jams or jellies.  You’ll just build your confidence more as you continue to work with various fruits and recipes.  Then, when winter hits with snow on the ground, pop open a jar of your home made Peach Jam and enjoy a little bit of summer all over again.

Enjoy!!!

Follow our step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions for this delicious Apple Butter Recipe.  This is just another in our Canning 101 series of recipes for preserving our heritage, one jar at a time.  Apple Butter is really easy to make despite the fact that it takes a little bit of time to slow cook it to perfection.  Your family will love it and, it makes a great gift item for those special folks on your gift giving list.

I love seeing a beautiful display of apples in baskets.  I’m not sure why that is but, it just makes the world look all that much better.  It also makes me want to just go up and pick up one apple from each basket and take a big bite out of it.  I have to resist that temptation though.

Visits to the State Farmers Market in Raleigh, here in North Carolina, always bring back lots of memories from my childhood.  Its about an hours drive from where I live but, I visit there as much as I can.  I may not buy a lot but I sure do enjoy walking through the open market area, talking with vendors and, trying a few of the samples they are always eager to share.

It was super cold this past week when I visited the market.  Although the vendors are under a long shelter, the market is open on both sides and there aren’t many days of “perfect” weather for them to enjoy.  It’s either way cold or sizzling hot but, many of them are there all the year around.

I saw lots of sweet potatoes, collard greens, turnip greens, some onions and other root vegetables.  Shelled pecans were abundant albeit a little pricey but, they were fresh and that made them worth their price I think.  I paid 9.00 for a one pound bag.  A few strawberries were available and of course… apples.

This basket really caught my attention.  They were reduced because of a few bad spots but, overall, they looked to be in pretty good shape to me and tasted great as well.  That got me to thinking about how I never made that Apple Butter I had wanted to make back in the fall so, I quickly purchased about 6lbs.  About the time I started going through this basket, the lady piled another bunch right on top and they looked even better.  I wish now I had bought more but, that’s the way it goes.

I could see the coldness in the ladies fingers as she handed me my change.  I have to admire those folks for all the hard work they do to bring all their goods to market.  Not only do they work hard in the orchards and fields, they have to fight the elements just to make a sale.  I hope you’ll support the local farmers in your area every chance you get.

She kept smiling though and even offered me a sample of the Apple Cider that was in the jugs you can see in the photo.  I thanked her for it but told her I’d have to wait on that until next time around.  It was delicious though.

As a child, my father worked several garden areas and sold produce from a roadside stand in front of our house.  I had it easy as he let me run the fruit stand most of the time and that meant I got to watch cartoons in between customers stopping by.  We didn’t grow apples but we did sell them.  Daddy bought them from trucks that came all the way from the mountains with fresh apples about once a week.  Yep, I ate my fair share of them as well.  Apples from the grocery store these days don’t even come close to what we had back then.  Today, they’re just suppose to look good and taste has to take a back seat to looks.  Sad but… true.

Apple Butter Recipe:

Most people suggest you use a couple of different varieties of apples when making Apple Butter.  I decided I’d just stick with the Jonagold variety that I found for .49 cents a pound.  I might be a bit frugal that way.

As it turns out, they made for some delicious Apple Butter and, I now I’m really wishing I had bought more.  Maybe I can find them again before the supply dwindles too far.  I used 5 pounds of raw apples and could have made 5 half pint jars of Apple Butter from this recipe.  I didn’t have the half pint jars on hand so, I went ahead and filled a couple of pint jars instead.

It may seem like a lot of work for 2-1/2 pints of Apple Butter but it really isn’t.  Had I had the half pint jars, I’d been able to make some for me and some to share.  I’ve been enjoying the open jar for the past couple of days and I’ll hang on to the pints for awhile longer.  Just in case I don’t get to make more, I’ll have two pints that I can enter into competition when our local and State Fair roll around.  I seriously doubt they will last until Fall so I guess I need to be on the look out for some more apples very soon.

I will point out that it took me about 6 hours to cook these down.  I did it over two days though so it wasn’t a problem.  Besides, your kitchen and your whole house will smell absolutely DELICIOUS for days afterwards.  I’d also like to point out that while I added the Lemon zest and juice of one whole lemon, the Apple Butter had a bit of a tart taste to it throughout much of the cooking process.  I was afraid it might have been too much but now that it’s been in the refrigerator for a few days, I like it all that much the better.  It pretty much blended right in.

While this isn’t a really in depth recipe for the canning process, I’ll show you how it’s done.  You can print out the full recipe at the bottom for making the Apple Butter.  It can also be frozen if you’d rather do that instead of  canning it.  Either way, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.  So, if you’re ready… Let’s Get Cooking.

Apple Butter Recipe:  You’ll need these ingredients.

I’m using 5 pounds of apples.  Its enough for a “small batch” of Apple Butter.  Begin by washing the apples very well under cool running water.

Slice the apples into quarters or, smaller size pieces if the apples are really large.  You don’t have to worry about peeling them or coring them.  You could of course but, why waste the flavor in the skins or the pectin in the core.  The Jonagold apples I’m using here were fairly soft, too soft in fact to peel with the Apple-Peeler-Corer-Slicer, made by Pampered Chef, that I picked up a few months back at a local auction for $4.00.  I’ll spare you that picture.

Grab a large sauce pot and add 3 cups of water.

Add the vinegar.

Place the sauce pot over Medium-High heat and bring the mixture to a slight rolling boil.

Toss the apples in.  As you can see, this amount filled my pot pretty good.

Cover the pot, reduce the heat to Medium and, let them simmer for about 30-45 minutes.  You’ll need to stir them down about every 10 minutes or so.  Just make sure they all get into the hot liquid at some point and, they will need to continue to cook until they’re soft enough to mash with a fork.

They will eventually break down and begin to look something like this.

You will need a food mill or a sieve to press the apples through.  I bought this one at the auction for 2.00 but it didn’t have the stand or the pestle.

In case you don’t have either of these, you can still make Apple Butter.  I’d suggest that you go ahead and peel and core the apples before cooking.  Place the peelings and the core pieces in some cheesecloth and toss it into the pot while the apples cook so you’ll still get the benefits from the flavor of those pieces.  Then, you can just toss them when the apples have cooked down.  At that point, you could use a food processor or Immersion Blender to continue to break down the cooked apples.  Just don’t liquefy it.  While it’s probably the simplest way of doing it, I just wanted to do it the hard way.  After All, I bought this seive to use for something and this seemed like a good something to use it for.

Spoon some of the apples into the sieve. Place it all over a big bowl because it can get a bit messy at this point.

I used the back of a wooden spoon to press the apples since I didn’t have the pestle that actually goes with the sieve.  It worked very well though and didn’t take very long to process the entire batch.

The holes seemed so small that, at first, I wondered if anything would go through.  It didn’t take long though before the bowl started filling up.

I ran all the apples through the sieve, including the juice that was left in the pot.  After about 10-15 minutes, if that long, I had pressed all of the apples through the sieve and had just a handful of apple peels and the cores remaining.  I tossed those away of course.

Measure the puree and make note of that amount.  I just placed it back in the sauce pot at this point.  And, I had 9 cups of puree.

I also had to improvise a bit with a couple of spices.  I didn’t have Ground Allspice or Ground Cloves but, I did have the Whole Allspice and Whole Cloves.  I took a small piece of cheesecloth and placed the whole spices on top of that.

Then, I tied up the spices to make a small spice bag.  The printable recipe calls for Ground Spices just so you will know.

Zest one small lemon.  Be sure to roll the lemon on your countertop a few times first.  You’re going to get the juice from it in the next steps.  A Microplane comes in very handy for zesting lemons.

Add 1/2 cup of Brown Sugar to the pot of apple puree.

Please note this step carefully.  The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of Sugar for every cup of puree.  I wanted to add some Brown Sugar so my first 1/2 cup is Brown Sugar and the remainder of what I needed will be White Sugar.  Make sense?  I had 9 cups of Apple puree and I’m going to use 4 cups of sugar to complete the recipe.  You could use even less sugar if desired… it’s up to you on this one.  More or less sugar will not affect the outcome of the Apple Butter other than how sweet it actually tastes.

Now, I’m adding 1/2 cup of White Sugar.  Thus far, that’s a total of ONE cup.

Add the remaining amount of sugar needed based on the actual amount of puree that you measured out previously.

Stir it around until the sugar dissolves.

Add the Cinnamon.  Stir it around until it’s well incorporated.  Scoop up from the bottom and mix it in that way, otherwise, it’ll just float on top.

Add the Lemon zest.  Did you know that lemon zest will eat holes in a Styrofoam plate if you let it sit for awhile?  Trust me on this one.

Add the juice from the lemon, being careful to not let any seeds slip in.

Add the Nutmeg.

Add the Vanilla Extract.

Add the Ground Allspice and the Ground Cloves or, in my case, I’m adding the spice bag I made.  I’ll take it out once it’s cooked down.

Add just a pinch of Salt.

Stir it all up really good.  Congratulations… you’ve just made Applesauce.

At this point, I opted to cover mine and refrigerate it over night.  Depending on the time of day, you could of course go ahead and start cooking it down instead.  Lots of people use a crock pot to cook the puree down.  That wasn’t my intentions though.  I have a crock pot, I just didn’t have one large enough to hold all of the puree.

I wrapped the sauce pot in plastic wrap, placed the cover back on top and refrigerated the applesauce puree until the next day.

Let’s begin cooking our Apple Butter.  As you can see, it is of the texture of Applesauce at this point.  It’s a bit thin and watery and we need to cook that liquid pretty much out.  After tasting it, I was a bit concerned that I had too much Lemon juice, it was pretty tart and, I was fearful I might have messed it up.  The suspense mounts!

Place the sauce pot on a very LOW setting on your stove top.  I was about two notches up from the lowest setting on my stove, yours may vary.  You just want to cook it low and slow to evaporate the water out.  This will take about 5-6 hours so plan your day accordingly.  I used a timer and stirred the pot about every 30 minutes for the first 4 hours and then about every 15 minutes for the next 2 hours.

Please Note:  Once the liquid starts to really cook out, the Apple Butter will start forming those volcanoes and can splatter EVERYWHERE.  It’s also very HOT when it hits your skin.  Just saying, not that I experienced any of this but, its my duty to tell you and warn you of such things as much ahead of time as I possibly can.  You can thank me later.

Also note that your kitchen, your house, your neighbors house… will smell absolutely DELICIOUS throughout this entire process.  I kept thinking I needed to go out and do some Christmas shopping or maybe sing some carols or something.  It really did smell good through the whole process.  Just keep stirring it so it doesn’t burn on the bottom, that would be terrible.  It would ruin that lovely aroma as well I’m sure.  Be sure to scrape the bottom each time so nothing is sticking as you go.

After about 3 hours, I placed a couple of wooden skewers across the top of the sauce pot and set the lid on top of that.  This allowed the apples to cook down and vent any steam away.  If you keep a tight lid on it, that just adds more moisture and prolongs the process.  Keep this in mind also if you’re using a crock pot.  You could do the same thing to prop open the lid a bit.  Not too much though, remember, it WILL bubble and splatter.

After about 6 hours of slow cooking, this is what I had.  It was getting late and again, I stopped for the day.  I let it cool, wrapped it in clear plastic wrap again and set it in the refrigerator over night.  Of course, depending on the time of day, you could move onto the next steps of canning if you desire to do that.  Once it’s cooked down sufficiently, you could also just let it cool, place it in freezer cartons and freeze it.  Your choice.

I’m going to can up mine even though its a small batch.  This is my typical setup for canning just about anything that can be canned using the water bath process.

This will not be a complete tutorial on How-T0-Can but will give you the basics for it.  If you have some canning experience it will be easy to follow but you’ll need to learn a few more things if this is your first attempt at canning.  I’ve got some other recipes that go into a bit more detail and I invite you to check those out for more information.

Here’s the setup:  On the front left side of the stove is my apple butter.  I’m going to let it cook down a bit more before I actually can it up.  The canning pot is filled with water and sits on the front right of the stove.  On the back left hand side is a small pot with WARM water in which I keep on very low heat.  This pot has my lids and bands in it.  The back right side burner is just a pot of extra water that I always keep hot so I can add it to the canner as needed.

I washed my jars and bands in warm soapy water, rinsed them and placed them inside the canner to sterilize them.  I’ll get this water up to a good rolling boil and let the jars stay in it for about 15 minutes to sterilize.  You may have a dishwasher that has a setting that can do the same but, be sure of that before you try to use it to sterilize your jars.

I leave the jars in the hot water until I’m ready to use them.  Just minutes before removing the Apple Butter from the burner, I use tongs to remove the jars and set them on a folded towel at my prep area.  Then, I turn the canner pot back up to get the water to a rolling boil once again.

I’ve let the Apple Butter cook down some more and it’s very hot at this point.  I’m having to stir it constantly because it’s making some large bubbles and yes, it’s hot when it hits your skin.  You don’t want it to cook down too much but just enough to make it a good spreadable butter.

You must ALWAYS use NEW lids when canning anything.  That’s the red and white, thin, flat part in the pot above.  NEVER try to re-use lids when canning.  The bands MAY be re-used many times however.  Just be sure to wash them well, in soapy water and rinse them.  As I stated, I place these in warm water and keep it on the lowest setting on my stove until ready to use.  This warm water helps to soften that red rubber band that you see so it will seal with the jar.  You should always check your jars and your bands for any chips in the glass or any dents in the bands that might prevent a proper seal.  Again, these are just some basics and not intended to be a full explanation of the canning process.

I also like to get all the other items I’ll need ready so that once the Apple Butter is ready to process, I can move quickly to get the jars filled.  I’ve got my jar lifter on the left, funnel, headspace measuring device, which also doubles as a unit to remove air bubbles… plus… the magnetic wand to lift lids and bands with.  The plate just makes cleanup a bit easier.

Before I got too far along, I placed a saucer in the freezer part of my refrigerator.  This is used to test the consistency of the Apple Butter and also is used as a way to test most jellies, jams and preserves.  Remove the saucer from the freezer, add a spoonful of the apple butter then, swipe your finger through it.  If it leaves a trail and doesn’t run back together, it’s a pretty sure bet that your butter is ready.  You can also see a little runoff of water from the butter towards the bottom of the photo.  It’s thick enough but needs to cook just a few minutes longer I think.  If you over cook it though, it will become like plastic inside the jar and doesn’t turn out to be a very good spreadable butter.

I think most folks that can jams and jellies will admit, if being honest, they have at one time or another had this to happen to them.  Its part of the learning process and even after years of canning, it can still happen.  It has happened to me so I learn a little more each time.  Just don’t be discouraged if it should happen.  The product is probably still edible but not something you’d like to give as a gift.  Just keep at it and next time will be better… I promise.

You’ll need a funnel for adding the butter into the jar.  I have two plastic ones but I just love this old metal one that I have.

Carefully ladle the apple butter into your jars.

The “Ball Blue Book guide to preserving,” says Apple Butter needs a 1/4 inch amount of headspace.  I’m using the tool that came with my canning kit to measure this as pictured above.

Next, I use a wooden skewer to remove any air bubbles that might be inside the jar.  I just run it around the inside of the edges of the jar to let any bubbles travel up the skewer to the top where they can burst.  I only saw one or two in the apple butter but sometimes, depending on what you’re working with, you can have a lot of them.  You need to work out as many as possible for a good seal and good presentation.

Use a clean, damp cloth, to wipe the top rim of each jar.  Also, carefully wipe around the outside top of the threads on the jar.  Make sure the top is totally clean so that there aren’t any food particles that might prevent the jar from sealing properly.

Use the magnetic lid lifter to remove one of the lids from the pot of warm water.  Shake it gently, without touching the bottom side and, place the lid on top of the jar.

Use the magnetic wand again to remove one of the bands from the pot of warm water.  Shake it gently to remove excess water and then center it over the lid on top of the jar.  Some water droplets on the band and lid will not be a problem, it’s best not to towel dry them.  Gently twist the band, making sure it’s going on correctly and tighten it just “finger tight,” on the jar.  Do not over tighten it.

Place the wire rack inside your canner, hanging it on the first notches to the outside rim of the canner.  This will support your jars mostly out of water as you load the canner.  Use the jar lifter to carefully lift each jar and place it in the rack.

Use some oven mitts or, as I do, some tongs and, lower the entire rack into the canner.  The jars need to be under at least one inch of water.  This is why I keep extra water heating up on my back burner.  After I’ve sterilized my jars, the water level has dropped.  I can use that hot water to quickly get the water back to a rolling boil inside the canner.

Place the cover on the canner and process the jars as directed.  Process times will vary depending on the Altitude of where you leave.  That’s ALTITUDE and not Attitude of how you feel that day.  (Smile)  Be sure to check with the Ball Blue Book guide to preserving or your local Agricultural Extension Office for proper times to process for your area on anything you might intend to can up.  For me, it was 10 minutes.  Start timing it once the jars are under the proper amount of water and the water has started boiling.

After the jars have finished their processing time, remove the lid and set it aside.  Using mitts or tongs again, carefully raise the handles of the rack and hook them back over the top of the canner pot.  The jars need to sit here for about 5 minutes before you remove them.

With such little headspace, my jars were “pinging” just about as soon as they came out of the water.  I’m not sure what it says about me but, I really do enjoy hearing those lids “ping” or, pop as the jars seal tight.  It’s like a pat on the back or something that you’ve done it right.  As a child, I remember waiting around in the kitchen when Mama took jars out of the canner.  She always wanted me to count the number of pings so we could be sure each jar had sealed properly.

After 5 minutes, use the jar lifter and carefully lift each jar from the canner.  Place the jars on a folded towel placed on your counter top.  Jars should be placed in a draft free area and allowed to sit, undisturbed, for 24 hours.  You need them on a folded towel because so many folks these days have Granite Counter tops.  Placing a hot jar on one of those cool counter tops is likely to cause the jars to burst.  It would be a shame to lose them now after all the work you’ve done.  Always be cautious when working with hot jars.

Resist the urge to press the tops of the jars if you don’t hear them ping right away.  After the 24 hours, you can press the center of the lid to see if it has stayed down.  If it has, you can safely store the Apple Butter for up to a year or longer in a cabinet or pantry.  If the jar doesn’t seal, place the product in you refrigerator and use it first.  It will still be safe to eat.  Congratulations… you’ve done good!

Apple Butter is delicious spread on toast, biscuits, English Muffins, pound cake, all kinds of things.  It can also be used in many recipes as well.  The taste is awesome and I think you’ll like this recipe if you’ll give it a try.  That lemon I was worried about cooked right out and left me with a delicious tasting Apple Butter.  I can’t wait to make some more.

Keep any opened jar in the refrigerator until it’s all consumed.  That may not take very long… its just that good.

Please consult your area Agriculture Extension Office for more information on canning.  I also highly recommend you take some classes in canning if they offer them.  They’re usually very economical and only last a couple of hours at the most.  The Ball Blue Book guide to preserving has some excellent recipes and instructions to help you along in your journey to canning, preserving and freezing.  You’ll be very happy you took the time to learn.

Enjoy!

Easy to follow, step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions on how to make and can Peach Butter.  This really simple recipe only calls for sugar and peaches, and is a great way of “Saving Summer In A Jar,” so you can enjoy the delicious taste of peaches all year around.  We show you how to make it, and then how to can it, using the water bath process.  Printable recipe included.

Old Fashioned, Homemade Peach Butter Recipe:

Saving summer in a jar doesn’t get much easier than making this delicious Peach Butter.  You only need two ingredients… fresh peaches and granulated sugar.  That’s it!

This is a great recipe to start learning how to can and preserve fresh fruits, and one that you will enjoy for many months after.  Of course, even if you have plenty of home canning experience, this is just another way to store up those fresh peaches while they are available.

I picked up a half bushel of peaches this week while travelling through Lilesville, North Carolina.  A couple of years ago, I made a special trip to Pee Dee Orchards just to get peaches and try out their Peach Ice Cream.  So, I had to stop once again since I was in the area and passing right by.  Pee Dee Orchards is located on Hwy. 74 in Anson County, just about a mile from Pee Dee River.

They were pretty busy on that hot Saturday afternoon and lots of folks were enjoying cool homemade Peach Ice Cream along with picking up some freshly picked peaches to take home.  They were selling them in 1/4 peck bags up to 1/2 bushel boxes and were keeping several employees busy as they tried to keep the shelf and table stocked.

I’ve sampled peaches several times this year but hadn’t really found one that had a good peach flavor until I bit into one of these from Pee Dee Orchards.  I also get good peaches from Auman’s Orchards over in West End but I’ve yet to make it up that way this year.  As it would turn out, the GPS system took a different return route home and I passed right by Auman’s Orchards coming back home.  I didn’t stop but I do hope that maybe I can get back up that way within a couple of weeks.

I think you’ll enjoy the Peach Butter if you’ll give it a try.  I’ll be looking for your comments in the section below so please let me know how it turns out for you.  Ready to store up some “summer in a jar?” Alright then… Let’s Get Cooking.

Old Fashioned Peach Butter:  You’ll only need two ingredients.

We’ll begin this recipe by washing our jars, and the bands for the jars, in hot soapy water.  While you’re doing this, be sure to take a close look at the jars, especially the tops, to see if there are any chips or cracks in them.  We’re also washing the bands that will hold the lids in place.  Bands are reuseable for many times but you MUST use new lids each time you can.  Wash the jars, rinse them and set aside until you’ve got them all clean.

I use my canning pot to sterilize my jars.  I fill it about 3/4ths full of water and bring this up to a boil.  As the water is heating up, carefully place your jars inside and make sure they are completely under water.  The jars need to boil for 10-15 minutes in order to sterilize them.  Some modern day dishwashers have a cycle that will do the same thing.  You can use it if you have it.

Let the jars go through this sterilization process while you prepare the peaches.  After they have boiled for 10-15 minutes, you can reduce the heat down and just keep them hot until you’re ready for them.  It’s going to take a little time to cook the peaches down, so the jars will probably be ready before you actually need them.  You just want to be sure they ARE ready when the peaches are ready.

Wash the peaches under cold running water to remove any dirt and the fuzz.  You’ll also want to remove any stems or leaves that might be attached.  If you have a large amount of peaches to work with, you could just fill the sink with water and wash them that way.

Use a sharp knife and cut a cross mark (+) in the stem end of each peach.  It needs to be about one inch long and try not to go too deep with the cut, just basically enough to cut just below the skin.  Cutting the peach this way will help you remove the peel in the next steps.

Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil on your stove top.  Once the water reaches a rolling boil, drop the peaches into the water.  Let them stay in this hot water for anywhere from 1 to 2 minutes until the skin softens.  It shouldn’t take long for most peaches.

Immediately remove the peaches from the hot water and plunge them in cold water.  I generally fill the sink and just place the peaches in the sink.  These are actually in water but it’s kind of hard to tell.  You could also add some ice to the water to make it colder.

The peaches need to stay in the cold water for about 2 minutes before you try to remove the peel.

After about two minutes, you should be able to very easily slip the skin off the peaches.  Lift one of the edges from that cross mark you made and peel the skin away from the peach.

Remove the skins from all of the peaches.  Those in the colander have had the skins removed.  I always try to keep them in water the entire time I’m working with them.  Peaches have a tendency to start turning dark once they are cut but we’re cooking these very shortly so it shouldn’t be a problem.

You’ll need to slice the peaches and remove the seed that is inside.  Discard the skins and pits.

Slice the peaches into small chunks for easier handling.

Drain the peaches and place them in a large stock pot.

Now, add 1/2 cup of clean water back to the peaches.  Place this on your stove top and let the peaches cook until tender.  This shouldn’t take but about 10 minutes.  Just keep stirring them every few minutes.  They’ll start producing more liquid in the pot so burning and sticking to the bottom shouldn’t be a concern.

After the peaches have cooked until they are soft, you can either place them in a food processor or use an immersion blender to chop them up.  You don’t want to overdo it and liquify them, just mush them up real good.

Make sure you get all the bigger lumps out and look for a consistency similar to that of applesauce.

Next, add in the sugar and stir it well.

Place the peaches on your stove top over Medium heat.

This is how I always set my stove up for canning.  I place my canning pot over the large burner on the right.  My food is on the left front, and right behind that is where I place a pot with the bands and lids.  The pot on the right back burner is just a pot of water that I keep very hot so I can add it to the canning pot as needed.

At this step, the jars are still in the canning pot but they have already been boiling for 10 minutes so I just reduce the heat under them and let them stay in the water while the peaches cook down.  Once the peaches start to thicken, you have to continually stir them and that doesn’t leave much time to be fiddling with jars and trying to get them ready.

This is a look at the lids and bands in the pot on the back left side of the stove.  The lids of course have the red rubber strip on the bottom side and the bands are the metal parts that secure the lids to the jar.  As mentioned above, the bands can be reused over and over until they wear out but you MUST use new lids each time you can a new jar of anything.

Please note that the lids and bands are NOT in boiling water.  I keep this pot on very low heat at all times.  The warm water serves to soften that red rubber compound so it can better seal when placed on the jar.  You do not want to boil them at any point.  I always prepare one or two jars with lids above and beyond what I think I might actually use.  If I don’t use a lid, I can still use it later after removing it from the water.  It’s OK to do this because it hasn’t been applied and sealed to a jar.  Just let it cool down and dry then store it away until you need it later.

I also go ahead and setup my counter area so that I’m ready once the peaches are ready.  I have a towel to place the sterilized jars on when I remove them from the hot water.  The plate is used to place a jar in while filling it and makes cleaning up a little easier.  I’ve got the magnetic wand to lift the lids and bands from the water, the tool to measure the proper amount of head space as called for, and the jar lifter on the right, is used to add and remove hot jars from the canning pot.  The pot holder on the left is for the hot pot of peaches and another towel to the far left is where I’ll set the jars once they are filled and waiting to go into the canning pot.

There’s much more to be said about cooking the peaches to proper consistency than I can type up all in one place here in the recipe.  This is a bit of a learned process as you grow in your canning and home preservation process.  Maybe one day we can go into more detail about it and I do in some of my other canning projects that are here on Taste of Southern.

The peaches need to be at a low simmer as they cook.  As mentioned, you’ll need to continually stir them as they begin to thicken.  I’m sure you’ve seen those little active volcano’s that can appear in thick soups as they cook.  The peaches will start to bubble and erupt all over the place if you don’t keep stirring them and it just gets worse the longer they cook.  You also certainly don’t want them to scorch or stick to the bottom of the pot so… stir and keep stirring.  This will take anywhere from 30-45 minutes on average but could take longer.  At least you know you have everything else ready for when the peaches are ready.

I test by the spoon/sheeting method as described here:  Spoon or Sheet Test

The link above goes into much more detail about how to test your jams, jellies and butters for the proper temperature to gel.  You’ll also find lots of other valuable information about canning and preserving foods at home, I suggest you check it out if you’re new to canning.

For the spoon test:  As you start out of course, the peach butter will be very runny.  The longer it cooks, the thicker it gets.  After awhile, you’ll start to see large drops as you dip into the mixture and hold the spoon above the pot.  Once the large drops start running together and forming a “sheet” as they fall off the spoon the butter is ready to jar up.  Remove the pot from the stove and place it on the pot holder or a folded towel.

Carefully remove your jars from the canning pot and set them up on the folded towel.  Place one jar in the plate next to the pot of peaches and insert a funnel into the jar.  Ladle the peach butter mixture into the jars and fill it up to within 1/4 inch of the top.  Now is also a good time to turn the heat back up under the empty canning pot and get that water back up to a low rolling boil.

Head space is the amount of space between the top of the peach butter in the jar and the actual top of the jar itself.  The Ball Blue Book recommends 1/4 inch head space for Peach Butter.  There are highly recommended guidelines for filling all of your jars of jelly, jams and other items that you should follow.  The tool above has various markings on it to help you find the right amount needed.  As you can see, I needed just a little more peach butter added to this jar.  These measurements are extremely important for food safety and just as important should you decide to place any of your canning projects into your local or state fair competitions.

Once you have the proper head space, you want to remove as many bubbles as you can that might be inside the jar.  You don’t have to go overboard with this but any large bubbles should be worked out if possible.  You could use the other end of the tool for measuring head space if you have one.  A butter knife works well also.  I like to use these wooden skewers to remove bubbles.   Just insert it into the jar, all the way to the bottom, and run it around the edge and through the middle a time or two.  Bubbles will follow it up to the top and burst or at least to where you can poke them and burst them.

You’ll also need to take a clean damp cloth and carefully wipe the outside threads on the jar and the very top of the jar itself.  You need to remove any food particles that may have dripped on the jar and clean the top so there isn’t anything that would prevent the jar from properly sealing once you apply the lid and band.  Besides, it’s kind of sticky.

Remove one lid from the water it’s been in.  You don’t have to remove all the water or dry it… just shake it gently.  Carefully center the lid on the top of the jar making sure it’s sitting flat on top.

Shake the water from the band as well and carefully place it over the top of the lid.  Don’t force the lid but make sure it’s going on straight and then tighten it just “finger tight.”  That means don’t use your full strength to tighten the lid.  Give it a little twist once it’s securely seated just to snug it up a bit on the jar.

Some folks place the closed jars in the water bath canning pot as they fill them.  I usually sit them on a folded towel until I get them all ready.  It doesn’t take long to fill the few jars that we’re making and then I load them all at the same time.  Either way seems to work.

While I’m loading the jars, I’ve got the canning RACK suspended on the top of the pot.  Canning racks are made with a curve in the handles for just this purpose.  It keeps the jars up out of the water until you have the rack loaded.  I’ve got 4 half pint jars and one pint jar in this batch.

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Once the rack is loaded, it’s time to drop the jars under water.  Use some gloves or tongs and carefully lift the entire rack and jars up just high enough to lift the handles away from the top of the canning pot.  Then, lower the rack with the jars into the boiling water.  Fold the handles down over the jars and make sure all your jars are sitting up as straight as possible.  The jars need to be under about 1-2 inches of water at this point.  This is why I like to keep some extra water simmering on the stove.  I can go ahead and fill the pot with as much water as needed and it heats right up to that boil and I don’t have to wait another 5 to 10 minutes for it to reach the boiling point.

Place the cover on the pot and start timing the process.

We’re using the Water Bath Method to process our Peach Butter.  Most jams and jellies are done this way while other things like vegetables must be processed in a special pressure canning pot.

Process time will vary in many instances based on the “altitude” of where you live.  You’ll need to look into this further before proceeding with any canning project.  The link I mentioned above will also provide lots of that type of information for you.

Here’s a better photo of how the canning rack hooks over the top of the canning pot.  I had to let the Peach Butter boil for 10 minutes before removing the lid and raising the rack back up.  Be very careful with the lid.  There is nothing but hot steam underneath when you go to lift it off the pot.  It’s too easy to burn your hand or arm if you aren’t careful.

After the 10 minutes, I used tongs to lift both handles and raise the jars out of the boiling water.  I turned the heat off and will let the jars sit in this position for about five minutes before I remove them.

Use the jar lifter and remove the jars from the rack.  Be sure you place the jars on a folded towel and in an area where they will be away from any air conditioning vents or drafts.  Place the jars about an inch or two apart so they have plenty of space between to cool evenly.  The jars need to be able to stay in this place for 24 hours before you move or disturb them at all.  DO NOT press the top of the lids or try to tighten or remove the bands at this point.

You don’t have to be concerned about any water that might be accumulated on the tops of the jars.  It will dry up and evaporate on it’s own.

Now comes the fun part.  You may have already started hearing the jars “ping” or “pop” as they begin to cool.  That’s about like music to my ears and brings back lots of memories of watching mama can and preserve stuff back when I was a child at home.

As the jars cool, the cool outside air pulls the hot inside air out of the jar.  This motion causes a vacuum inside the jar and pulls that rubber band around the lid down tight on the top of the jar to perform the sealing process.  It makes the pop or ping sound as the metal lid is pulled down once the air is pulled out.  Kind of cool isn’t it?  Just avoid the urge to press down on the center of the jar for 24 hours.

After 24 hours:  After time has passed, press down on the center of the lid and see if the lid pushes down.  It should already be down and will stay down at this point if the jar is properly sealed.  If it’s down, remove the band.  Gently try to lift the jar by placing your fingernails under the edge of the lid and lifting.  As long as the lid doesn’t pop off your jars should be properly sealed.

It’s also recommended that you leave the bands off the jars while they are in storage.  The jars should be placed in a cool, dry area and can be stored for about one year or somewhat longer as long as they remained sealed.  Do not sit your jars one on top of the other.  By leaving them in a single layer and by not placing the band back on them, you would be able to see if any of the jars ever lose their seal while in storage.  You’d probably smell it before too long if a lid loosened and the product inside started to spoil and seep out.

Home canning and preserving can be a great way of “saving summer in a jar,” as we like to call it, as long as you follow the safe and suggested methods of doing it.  I’ve just given you some guidelines here to show you how it’s done but I highly suggest you either attend classes or visit your local Agriculture Extension Agent office or website for more information.

I do hope you’ll give our Peach Butter recipe a try and I’ll look forward to hearing all about your canning adventures in the Comment Section below.

Be proud of yourself and… ENJOY!

Disclaimer:  The steps listed in our canning and freezing section are to be used as guidelines to help you learn these processes.  The Water Bath canning process has been around for a long time.  Times change, procedures for safety change.  This information is the best we can provide at the date it was first presented.  I highly suggest that if you have an interest in preserving foods for you, your friends and/or your family, that you seek out more information than just what we’ve presented here.  Stuff happens.  Things go wrong, errors are made, sometimes jams and jellies don’t set.  There’s more information available.  Seek it out and learn all that you can about safe and proper home preservation of foods.  More information, even classes, are readily available through your local Cooperative Extension Service location.  You’ll find one pretty close to just about anywhere you live.  Even though I’ve won some awards for my Food Preservation, I do not hesitate in encouraging you to learn all that you can and proceed with safety….knowing you’ve done all you can to protect anyone that you share your goodies with.  Thank you once again.

Follow step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions for making our Strawberry Syrup. We’ll also show you how to can it using a water bath canning process that’s simple, easy and fun. Saving Summer In A Jar is a great way to enjoy the great taste of Strawberries throughout the year. Use this syrup on pancakes, pound cake, or your favorite Ice Cream. You’re going to love it. Printable recipe included.

Strawberry Syrup Recipe:

Spring has finally arrived and things are getting busier at the North Carolina State Farmers Market in Raleigh.

The faithful few farmers that manage booths all year long, will soon be sharing the 30,000 square foot Farmer’s Building with more of their farming friends, and a larger variety of products to select from. And, the best part of all, is that all the items offered for sale in the Farmer’s Building must be grown right here in the state of North Carolina.

Shopping a local Farmer’s Market not only allows you to source the freshest fruits and vegetables, it also supports the many family farms, and new upcoming farms, that exist throughout the state. You’ll love your visit, I guarantee it. Many vendors offer free samples, and of course they are a wealth of knowledge and information on how to prepare and enjoy the items they sell.

Winter hasn’t wanted to let go this year, so it was still a pretty cool day when I made a return visit to the Raleigh market a few days back. Fresh winter greens still dominated the market, but some of my favorite sights of spring were on display. That would be Strawberries of course.

There’s just something about fresh local Strawberries that says, “Winter is finally over,” in my book. Even though I can’t get out in the pick-your-own fields and get them any longer, I know I’ll find all I need and then some, at the market. Just walking down the aisle and seeing those bright red berries on full display brings a big old smile to my face.

Most of the farmers will offer you free samples of the berries, as they’re all proud of what they’ve grown. There’s even an Official Strawberry Day held each year at the market with all kinds of samples, the Strawberry Queen, and much more. It’s always free to the public, and they offer many other special events as well, like Blueberry Day, Watermelon Day, and more. You’ll find a list of all the events at the Raleigh Farmers Market website if you’re interested and anywhere close by.

I’ve been seeing Strawberries at the market for some time, and was eager to pick some up for this recipe. Strawberry Syrup is really easy to make and a great way to “Save Summer In A Jar,” when you can and jar them at home. The syrup is great as a topping on Ice Cream, on pancakes and waffles, or drizzled over a big slice of pound cake. Stir some into a glass of club soda for a sparkling Strawberry beverage, or make your own Strawberry Milkshakes at home. You’ll find lots of great uses for it once you’ve made up a few jars.

You’ll find some of the nicest farmers around at our North Carolina markets. They’ve always been eager to share ideas on how to prepare the fruits and vegetables they sell, so don’t be shy when you visit. Many live and maintain farms that have been in their family for generations. They work hard at what they do, but you can always tell that they love it, and love sharing it with you the customer.

I’ll introduce you to a couple of just such folks in a moment. So, if you’re ready to kick off another year of canning and preserving, or just thinking about trying it for the very first time, I hope this recipe will help. Ready to get going?  Alright then… Let’s Get Cooking!

William and Helen Wise, of Wise Farms out of Mt. Olive North Carolina, readily share free samples of their homegrown Strawberries with a couple of customers visiting the North Carolina State Farmers Market in Raleigh. Many of the farmers hand out free samples throughout the year. Everything from Strawberries, Blueberries, Peaches, Apples, Cantaloupe, Watermelon, Salsa and more are available for tasting as you stroll through the market.

Here, Helen and William Wise, proudly display buckets of fresh ripe Strawberries available at their booth. Helen told me they had been selling Strawberries at market since October of last year from the “tunnel” type greenhouses they’re grown in. I was eager to turn one of these buckets of berries into some sweet Strawberry Syrup. Be sure to visit the Wise Farms booth when you shop the Farmers Market and online at www.wise-farms.com.  They’re just one of many farmers that sell throughout the year at the Raleigh Farmers Market. Ask them to show you the pictures of the family while you’re there.

I took this picture on Strawberry Day 2014 at the NC State Farmers Market. This was a week or two later than the pictures above of the Wise Farm booth and their strawberries.  As you can see, flowers, plants and shrubs were in abundance by now. I was there for the Strawberry Day Dessert Contest and entered one of the very jars from this batch of Strawberry Syrup.

I wanted to enter a Strawberry-Pecan Cake in the contest, but time just didn’t allow for me to get it ready. So, wanting to visit the market anyway, I decided to enter a jar of this Strawberry Syrup. If you look real hard, you can see my lonely little jar of syrup back behind some of the cakes and pies that had been entered.

When I saw all these gorgeous looking desserts, I almost turned around and left. I did manage to hold my head up high though as I entered my Strawberry Syrup in the contest. Then, I had to wait around for about two hours until the actual winners were announced. That was okay though, as it gave me plenty of time for a very nice breakfast at the State Farmer’s Market Restaurant.

This is just a part of the folks that attended Strawberry Day at the market. It was a beautiful Spring day with folks enjoying free Strawberry Ice Cream, locally grown fresh Strawberries, free recipes, and a special appearance with Suzy the Strawberry, who just wasn’t looking my way at the time I snapped this photo.

This is where the officials came to announce the winners of the dessert contest. I was a bit surprised when they called my name out as a SECOND PLACE WINNER in the Dessert Contest. I think they had about 18-20 entries, all pies and cakes, but my little jar of syrup did me proud. I picked up $75.00 in cash, a State Farmers Market Tote Bag, and some other goodies. So, it turned out to be a really fun day.

Thank You to everyone that participated and to the event sponsors for their support.

OK, let’s get on with showing you how you can make your own Prize Winning Strawberry Syrup.

Award Winning Strawberry Syrup:  You’ll need these ingredients.

Start by gently rinsing the berries under cold running water. It’s best to rinse the Strawberries individually, lightly rubbing them between your fingers to remove any dirt and excess seeds, as opposed to just filling the sink with water and dumping them all together. The experts say any bacteria on the berries is transmitted more readily from one berry to another if they’re all floating in a sink of water together. It doesn’t take as long as you might think to rinse them separately.

You can find various kitchen gadgets made for removing the hulls and stems. I just pull the caps off after I’ve rinsed them.

Then, I take a paring knife and cut out the stems. Insert the knife into the berry at a slight angle, then just work it around the stem to remove it.

With the berries all cleaned, it’s time to get everything setup for the canning process.

Place the berries in a large bowl and chop them up a bit. These were a little too firm to just mash up, so a quick chop will help break them up.

Next, add the Lemon Juice. Strawberries, like most fruits, contain a good amount of natural acid on their own. Adding the Lemon Juice brings the level up enough to ensure you can safely can them in a water bath canner. It will also help enhance the flavor.

Stir the berries up really good.

Place the berries in a good size sauce pan, and place it over Medium-high heat on your stove top. Let the berries come to a slight boil, stirring constantly, to prevent them from sticking to the bottom, and scorching or burning. Once the berries have reached a light boil, REDUCE the heat and let them simmer until soft. This will take about 5 to 10 minutes on average.

Once the berries are softened, you can mash them a bit to release as much juice from them as possible.

You could use a jelly bag, if you have one, to strain the juice from the berries. Cheesecloth, or some type of sieve would also work. Here, I’m placing my colander over a medium size sauce pot, and I’ll use this to catch the juice.

A couple of layers of cheesecloth will work great, or just use a clean white cloth. This is a flour sack dish towel that I’m using. It’s draped over the colander and the sauce pot. The mesh of the cloth is a bit tight, but it will catch all of the seeds from the berries.

Place the berries in the cloth and just let them sit and drain while they cool. If you’re using cheesecloth, you’ll need a couple of layers folded together to try and catch most of the seeds. This is one of the older methods of straining the juice from the berries. If you have one, a juicer would probably yield a bit more juice than this process and would work just as well.

After they had cooled, I folded up the edges of the cloth around the berries and slowly began squeezing out as much juice as possible. I must admit, this took a little extra effort and was a bit tiring on the fingers. Just continue to work out as much juice as you can.

You’ll need to measure the amount of juice you get from the Strawberries. Regular season berries will probably yield more juice because the berries are allowed to ripen a bit more on the vine before they’re picked. I had acquired three cups of juice from three pints of Strawberries. It was a little less than I had expected, but the great thing about this type of recipe is that its pretty adjustable. You just need to know how much juice you have before you start adding sugar. Measure it carefully, make note of how much you have, then set the juice aside while you prepare the jars.

You’ll need to wash your jars in hot soapy water. You’ll also want to wash the bands, so throw them in the sink with the jars. You’ll be using NEW jar lids, so no need to wash those. You also need to check the jars at this time to be sure they don’t have any chips, nicks or cracks in them. Any jars that have chips should be set aside for other projects. A chip in the rim could prevent the jar from sealing properly, so don’t use those if you find any.

You should also wash your funnel and any other tools you’ll be working with. Once washed, rinse everything and sit it on a clean cloth or towel.

As mentioned, you MUST ALWAYS use NEW jar lids when canning. The bands and jars can be used over and over, but never try to seal a jar with a used lid.

Place the new jar lids, and the washed bands, in a small sauce pot about half full of water. I always try to spread the lids out on the bottom of the pan so they’re not stacking up on top of each other. This pot will be placed over the lowest heat setting on my stove top. The lids need to be warmed to help soften that red sealing material once it comes in contact with the rim of the jar. Lids should never be allowed to reach the boiling point as it could damage them. I always start them warming about the same time I start warming the water for sterilizing my jars.

This has become my “standard setup” for canning. The pot on the back-left burner holds the bands and lids while they are warming up. The larger pot on the back-right, is just filled with water that is being heated up. I can use this hot water as needed to refill the larger water bath canning pot you see on the front-right of the stove.  On the front-left is another large sauce pot where I keep the food product I’m preparing to can.

The canning pot itself, is made of enameled metal and comes in a couple of different sizes. This is a smaller one since I’m using half-pint jars today. I have a larger one for quart jars that is also deeper. The canning pot is filled with water almost to the top. I place the washed and rinsed jars in this pot and let them boil for at least 15 minutes to sterilize them.

You’ll also want to go ahead and setup the area where you will be filling the jars. I arrange mine this way, another standard I’ve become accustomed to working with. The folded towel at the top of the photo is where I’ll place my sterilized jars once I pull them out of the boiling water in the large canning pot. I have a pot holder on the left to place the pot with the juice once it’s ready. The plate is where I place my jars as I fill them, it just makes clean up easier. The jar lifter, bubble remover tool and lid lifter are all set and ready for when everything all starts happening at one time.

Now, measure out the amount of sugar you’ll need to make the Strawberry Syrup. This particular recipe will allow you to adjust the amount of sugar used depending on whether you want regular syrup or one with less sugar. The printed recipe includes a standard measurement for 4-1/2 to 5 cups of juice. Since I only had 3 cups of juice, I’m having to adjust the recipe to fit. I’m going with a ratio of one cup sugar to one cup juice plus 1/2 cup more sugar. I could cut the amount of sugar used in half if desired and still get a favorable result. All recipes are not this flexible, so keep that in mind if you’re just beginning to preserve foods at home.

Once the jars have boiled for 15 minutes, they’re ready to be filled. Just leave them in the boiling water while you prepare the juice and sugar. Stir the sugar into the juice and continue to stir the pot while it heats up to a rolling boil. You really can’t walk away from the pot at this point. Just keep stirring the pot so the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom, scorch, or burn.

Let the juice come to a rolling boil. Once it reaches the rolling boil, stop stirring and just let the mixture simmer for ONE minute. Immediately remove it from heat and place it on your hot pad. Let it sit for a minute or two, then remove any foam that might be on top.

Skimming off any foam will give you a much better presentation in the finished product. Use a spoon to skim off the foam and then discard it. This part can be a little tedious, but it’s well worth the effort and time to get as much of it as you can.

Remove one or two of the sterilized jars from the water in the canning pot. I slide the plate right up next to the juice pot to catch any spills while I fill the jars. Use the funnel and a ladle to place the syrup into the jar.

I will typically use a wooden skewer to try and remove any air bubbles from the jar. Most canning kits usually come with a tool that lets you check the head space in the jars with one end, and remove air bubbles with the other end. I’ll show you that in the next step below. Just run the tool around the inside edges of the jar and down through the middle. Any trapped air bubbles should ride the tool to the top of the jar where they will burst, or where you can burst them. While bubbles aren’t really a problem in this recipe, it can be a bigger issue in some other types of recipes. You need to remove as many of the air bubbles as you can.

The notched end of this tool lets you measure the proper amount of head space needed for this particular recipe. Head space is the amount of space between the top of the product in the jar and the top of the jar rim itself. The amount of space that should remain open will vary depending on the particular recipe used. Always consult the recipe for what is needed. Proper head space will allow the jar to seal properly. We’re leaving 1/4 inch in these jars, as indicated by the first notch on the tool.

When the jar is properly filled, take a damp cloth or towel and wipe any food particles from the top of the jar and the threads around the top of the jar. The top rim needs to be clear of any food particles that might keep the lid from fitting properly and resulting in it not sealing.

Use the magnetic tip of the lid lifter tool to remove one of the lids from the warm water. Center the lid on top of the jar. You don’t have to be concerned about any water on the lid at this point.

The lid lifter tool is also used to remove one of the bands from the water. Carefully apply the band and screw it down, making sure it’s going on properly. With the band on the jar, tighten the band “finger tight.” This means you’re just snugging the band to the jar without exerting any extra pressure to tighten it down on top.

As the jars are filled, place them back in the canning pot. If your pot is like mine, it has a rack that holds the jars. The rack has two handles that have curved sections in them. These sections are hooked over the top of the canning pot while you’re adding the jars. This particular rack will hold up to 7 jars at one time. Since I only have 4 jars, I placed them at opposite sides of the pot to balance out the pot as opposed to stacking them so close together.

Carefully lift up on the handles and lower the whole rack down into the pot. If a jar should tilt over, use the jar lifter, or some tongs, and sit it back upright. The jars need to be covered with about two inches of water. This is where that extra water that I’ve now got boiling on the back burner comes in handy. I can pour it into the canner and it will come back up to a boil pretty quickly.

When the water comes back up to a boil, cover the canning pot with its lid. Start timing the water bath process at this point.

The Strawberry Syrup needs to undergo a 10 minute water bath. The time starts once the water has come back up to a rolling boil and you’ve placed the lid on the canning point. Actual processing time for the water bath will vary depending on the Altitude of your location, see the chart below.

Adjust the amount of time needed to water bath process your Strawberry Syrup according to these times.

When the proper amount of time has gone by, raise the rack back up and hook it back on the rim of the canning pot. The jars need to just sit here for about 5 minutes before you remove them. I always use tongs to raise the rack. Just remember that water is HOT, so be careful. Again, if a jar tilts over, just sit it back up straight. You might even hear a jar “ping” as it seals during this time.

After 5 minutes, use the jar lifter and remove the jars from the rack and water. Keep the jar upright as you move it.

Place the jars on a folded towel in a draft free location. Do not place the jars directly on your counter top, especially a granite or marble type top. The jars are hot and placing them on a cold counter could cause them to burst. Give the jars plenty of space and just let them stay in this spot for 24 hours undisturbed. This is the fun part, as you start counting the “ping” sound the jars make as they seal. Resist the urge to press down on the center of the jar lid until the 24 hours have passed.

If you don’t hear all the jars make that ping sound, don’t fret it. The jars may still have sealed. Just wait the 24 hours then press down on the center of each lid. If the center button springs up and down, the jar is not sealed. You should place that jar in the refrigerator and use it first, it’s still good. If the button remains down, the jar is properly sealed and can be safely stored for up to one year in a dark and cool location.

It’s best to remove the band from the jar before you store them. This will prevent the bands from rusting and sticking, making them difficult to remove. Also, place the jars on one row and do not stack anything directly on top of them. Removing the bands can also help you later in finding any jars that might have lost their seal after a period of time. It happens occasionally, and that food will need to be disposed of properly. By removing the band, the lid can raise up if it loses it seal and you’ll be able to find it easily. The same thing applies by not sitting the jars on top of each other.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This is a basic guide for preserving with the water bath canning process. It’s intended only as a guide and should not be considered as everything you need to know about safe canning practices at home. Home Food Preservation can be a safe, fun and practical way of preparing and storing various fruits and vegetables for future use. Only certain items can be processed using the water bath canning process, others need to be prepared with a pressure canner to prevent the growth of bacteria in your food products that could possibly cause severe health reactions. Canning classes are available in most areas through your local Cooperative Extension Service. These classes are either free, or at a very reasonable price, and well worth the few hours of time involved. For more information on how to prepare and store foods at home, please consult the National Center for Home Food Preservation website at: http://nchfp.uga.edu/

REVIEW: Join us, as we try out, and write about, the Ball® FreshTECH Automatic Jam & Jelly Maker. We’ll put it through it’s paces as we make Strawberry Jam following the Ball Fresh Preserving Store recipe. Is it all that it claims to be? Worth it’s price? Will it save you time and effort in your home food preservation projects? Let’s take a look and see.

REVIEW: Ball® FreshTECH Automatic Jam & Jelly Maker

You Need To Know: Before we get started, you need to know that the Ball Corporation and Jarden Home Brands provided me with one of their Automatic Jam & Jelly Makers to try and review. All of the comments contained herein are totally mine and I have not received any money for writing this review. It is my purpose and intent to provide you with an accurate overview of this product and to give my personal opinions of this product. I didn’t just test this out one time, it was tested out numerous times, both by me, and by some friends from our local Cooperative Extension Service. I do hope you’ll read about it all the way through. We’ll look at the Pro’s and the Con’s of making the purchase. Thank You for listening.

Several weeks back, I was offered the opportunity to receive the Ball FreshTECH Automatic Jam & Jelly Maker to try out in my own kitchen. Jarden Home Brands, provided me with the Jam & Jelly Maker, a case of their new “green colored” jars, and several packages of their green colored bands and lids. The only requirement was that I would give an honest test and evaluation of the product, and write about it here on Taste of Southern. As you might imagine, I was thrilled with the opportunity, and I’m delighted to share that with you today.

It took a little longer than expected to actually receive the products. Maybe I was just getting excited and anxious, but after trading several emails with the public relations firm that was coordinating everything, the box finally arrived. And, a big box it was. Inside was the machine itself, the case of jars, and the packages of bands and lids. Now, I just needed to get started.

As it would happen, the cold weather of winter was hanging around a bit longer than usual this year. This was pushing Strawberry season a few weeks later than normal for our area, and I was waiting to get some fresh local Strawberries so I could make some jam with the new machine. Our North Carolina State Farmers Market was selling some “tunnel grown” berries, but I was holding out for the fresh local berries from some of our local farmers.

I had also learned that our local office of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service had scheduled a Strawberry Jam Making Class, and I went over to signup for it. I took several of their classes last year, and one of the first things they asked me was why was I going to take them again. I’ve been privileged to have known and worked with many of our local Extension Staff over the years, through my involvement with local TV and Radio, so it was all asked in fun, and I knew that.

As I paid my class fee and signed up, I mentioned that I had just received the Ball® FreshTECH Automatic Jam & Jelly Maker to test and review here on Taste of Southern. The staff said they had heard about it, but hadn’t seen or tried one. They were interested.

Susan, the Director of our local office, heard me mention it, and said that maybe I’d like to let her try it out. I told her that I hadn’t had the chance to test it myself yet, as I was waiting for local Strawberries first.

Susan said that she was already planning to make some jam ahead of the upcoming class, and that she would be in the kitchen at the Extension Office on Saturday of that week. She suggested that I bring the machine over, and we could both work with it at the same time. This sounded like a win-win situation to me, so I quickly agreed. Her added input would be great.

The following Saturday, I took the still unopened Jam & Jelly Maker box into the Extension kitchen area and sat it down on one of the counter tops.

It was beautifully packaged, with some very appealing photos of Strawberry Jam right on the box. Shipping weight for the package is about 13 pounds so it’s not overly large, but not really small either. Time to open it up and see what’s inside.

It was very well packaged between formed styrofoam pieces, and individual parts were wrapped in plastic.

The only assembly required is to attach the knob to the glass lid. A screw is provided to snug the knob down, but I only tightened it by hand. There are four main parts to the Jam & Jelly Maker.

BASE
POT
STIRRER
LID

An instruction book is included with information on assembly and use of the unit, plus a neat little cookbook of recipes for the machine.

BASE Unit: This is the base-heating-control unit for the Jam & Jelly Maker. I’m going to switch back and forth a bit between photos taken at the Extension Kitchen, and some I took later here in the Taste of Southern kitchen. I just ended up with some better pictures for you from here at home, so I’ll use those as needed.

The BASE unit has the very simple control panel for operating the Jam & Jelly Maker. It offers two choices, “JAM,” and “JELLY.” You can see those along the bottom of the control panel.

It has a digital timer in the center, along with CANCEL and ENTER buttons on the left side, and PLUS and MINUS signs on the right side. These last two buttons allow you to adjust the time up or down as might be required on some of the recipes.

The BASE unit appears to be very well made. It seemed sturdy without being heavy, and has rubber feet on the bottom to protect your counter top. One of the first things I noticed here at home, was the shorter cord on the unit. This could be a good thing, depending on how many, and how close, your outlets are around your counter top work area. For me though, I could have used one a little longer.

The black looking disc on top of the base unit is the heating plate. The center post is made to fit up inside the POT and is part of the motor that turns the STIRRER once it’s attached.

POT: This picture shows you the POT of the unit. It has a non-stick surface on the inside, is lightweight, and has two convenient handles. It looks like a very large Pound Cake Pan for the most part. The center unit you see sticking up is built into the pan and it slips right down on top of the locking unit and clicks into place. Simple enough.

STIRRER: This is the stirring paddle for the Jam & Jelly Maker. It’s plastic with the exception of the metal rod down the center shaft. The end of the shaft is milled flat in parts, so it slips into proper place and locks into position. You just place it over the center shaft of the POT and wiggle it a bit left or right until you’re sure it’s locked in place. Again, simple, quick and easy.

LID: As mentioned before, you will have to attach the knob to the glass lid prior to using it, but that was simple enough to do. It was really nice to have this full glass dome to watch everything once it starts cooking. If you’ll look closely, you can see some of the vent holes in the rim of the lid.

The glass part sits up a bit from the POT, and you just need to be sure you have it properly centered when you place it on the POT to start the cooking process. I kept getting the feeling the lip of the lid was suppose to fit down inside the POT, but it sort of balances on top.

We did wash the POT, STIRRER, and the LID prior to using the Jam & Jelly Maker. Once that was complete and the parts were dried, we were ready to get started with our first batch of Strawberry Jam.

Susan had already washed, stemmed, and crushed the berries. I’m not showing you that here, but I’m going to post a full step-by-step, photo illustrated recipe of how the whole process is done that will be here on Taste of Southern. I knew that I would be further testing it here at home, so I didn’t take a lot of photos on Saturday while we first tested the machine out.

So, if you’re ready for the next steps, let’s get started on making that jam.

Add the Pectin: I’ve plugged the machine up and we’ve got everything prepped and ready to begin.

The first thing you’ll do is add the Pectin. They of course recommend that you only use Ball brand pectin. You’ll need to consult each recipe for exactly how much and what type to use, as it will vary. We’re making regular Strawberry Jam, so we’re using the Ball® RealFruit Classic Pectin which comes in a bulk type container, and is readily available at most grocery stores here in the South. It can also be ordered online if needed.

You’ll just need to spread the pectin evenly around the bottom of the POT. This recipe calls for 3 Tablespoons of Pectin.

Add Fruit: Next, we added 2 and 2/3rd cups of mashed Strawberries, right on top of the pectin.

Add Butter: You’ll also need to add 1/2 teaspoon of Butter, to help reduce foaming.

DO IT! Make sure you add the Butter.

As you see, I highlighted that DO IT part. I’ll show you why a little further down as we made the second batch. Stay tuned.

Susan didn’t have any butter on hand. She did manage to come up with a couple of those small little cups of imitation, anything but Margarine – Margarine packs. You know, like the ones they give you at the drive through when you order pancakes for breakfast in the morning? It was the only thing she could find in the Extension kitchen’s refrigerator, and she admitted she just didn’t know how long it had been in there.

It was all we had, so we went ahead and used it. More on that later.

PRESS JAM BUTTON: With everything loaded into the POT, it was time to get the machine started. We pressed the JAM button on the control panel, and saw that the timer defaulted automatically to 21 minutes.

PRESS ENTER: Next we pressed the ENTER button, and watched excitedly as the STIRRER began to slowly move around inside the POT. We were cooking now.  We just had to let the unit heat up and wait about four minutes until we heard it beep.

WAIT: Once the STIRRER paddle started to turn, the heat started building up inside the POT. It didn’t take but just a minute or two before we could tell it was getting hot. This is a photo of our very first batch of Strawberry Jam, just as it was happening in the Extension Kitchen.

Susan had “chopped” the berries instead of using a potato masher as the Instruction Book had called for. We questioned if this was the reason for such a little amount of juice from the berries at this point. You could see bare spots, and some wisp of smoke coming up as the paddle turned. Are we going to have enough juice?

BEEP, BEEP: After 4 minutes, the unit was hot enough to move on to the next step.

Add the Sugar:  Once the timer beeped, it was time to start gradually adding the sugar. Susan had already measured out the 3 and 1/3 cups of Sugar that was needed. Once we sprinkled that across the top of the berries, it started to dissolve and increased the amount of liquid in the POT.

The Sugar melted and dissolved rather quickly. I hardly had it all in before reaching for the camera to snap this shot. Again, this is from our actual first batch over at the Extension Kitchen. Once we had the sugar in, it was time to cover the POT and let it do it’s thing.

Control Panel: Here’s a better look at the Control Panel on the unit. It’s showing 18 minutes here, just before it Beeped that it was time to add the sugar.

Making Strawberry Jam. Once the sugar was added, we quickly placed the LID on the POT, and sat back to watch the rest of the show. You can’t tell it from this photo, but the timer is still clocking down. I think it was at about 16 minutes, but the camera flash caused the timer image to reflect differently.

So, while the Jam & Jelly Maker stirred the jam, we got busy prepping for the actual canning process. Everything had gone very smoothly, even for our first batch. It was VERY NICE knowing that neither one of us had to stand over the stove and stir the pot until the berries had cooked and thickened. THAT is the whole point and purpose of the Ball FreshTECH Jam & Jelly Maker, it does the cooking for you. Go take a break.

21 Minutes Start-to-Finish:  Ball recommends that you not venture too far away from the Jam & Jelly Maker once it starts cooking. The timer will Beep again once the cooking process is finished, and you’ll need to be close by so you can hear it.

BEEP, BEEP: Once the unit beeped again, the cooking process had completed.

We heard the timer when it ended, but I personally would have liked it to have been a little louder. Ball knows this already, which is why they caution you to stay close at hand. If there had been some TV or Radio noise in the background, kids playing in another room, or just a couple of adults talking a little loud to each other, you might would actually miss it when it Beeped.

The instructions said we should press CANCEL on the Control Panel, then unplug the unit. The LID needs to be removed immediately and set aside.

We lifted the POT from the BASE and placed it on another work counter where we had prepared everything else needed to water-bath process the jam we were making.

REMOVE: The next step is to remove the STIRRER. I don’t think there was one single time, either at the Extension Kitchen, or here at home, that I didn’t start to scoop out the berries BEFORE I removed the STIRRER. I just couldn’t seem to remember that part. It’s just me.

Do remember that it will be hot, especially if you should get your fingertips into the cooked berries. Ball recommends that you use a pot holder to pull the STIRRER from the POT. Just sit it aside until you get the jam in the jars.

Don’t forget, I’ve got another full article on how to make this jam using the Jam & Jelly Maker, and how to water-bath can it, here on Taste of Southern. You can check out that story by clicking the link: Coming Soon.

Water-Bath Canning: Finally, we moved the filled jars with their bands and lids to the canning pot. The Strawberry Jam recipe called for 10 minutes in the canning pot, then we could remove the jars and let them sit undisturbed for 24 hours.

This recipe made just enough jam for four – 1/2 pint jars, with about two teaspoons left over. Just enough for Susan and I to get a taste of the finished product.

I tasted it first, and then asked Susan to taste it. I thought I was picking up on a little “off type” flavor that just didn’t seem right. I didn’t mention this to Susan, waiting to see if she would say anything.

Susan noticed it too, and we both came to the conclusion that it had to be the older margarine that we used from the refrigerator. It had been the only thing we had available, but it was giving the jam just a little bit of an off flavor. It wasn’t anything the machine had done, or the pectin, we were just using bad margarine in the first batch.

CLEAN UP: One of the things many folks might take issue with, is the fact that the Jam & Jelly Maker BASE must be allowed to cool for 30 minutes before you can use it again. That’s just the BASE UNIT. You can go ahead and clean the POT, STIRRER, and the LID, so it will be ready for another batch.

Output: The Jam & Jelly Maker only makes enough jam for 4 half pints (8oz.), or 2 pints (16oz.) at one time. If you intend to make small batches of jam and jelly at one time, this will work great. For those that typically make twice this much at one time, this is one point to consider before purchasing.

Now, about that SECOND BATCH.

After completing the first batch of jam in the new little machine, we cleaned the parts and waited a full 30 minutes for the BASE to cool as instructed. We didn’t really have but a few minutes to wait as the jars had to be removed from the water-bath canner, and we had to prep everything for the second round.

I offered to go get some Butter, but we decided we would just try making the second batch without either Margarine or Butter. That might have been a mistake.

This happened when we didn’t follow directions and add butter.

Susan had stepped out of the kitchen and I was seated at one of the work tables looking over more recipes in the book. I kept glancing over at the Jam & Jelly Maker, and at about 2 minutes before the time was complete, this is what I saw.

Foam had taken over the pot and some liquid was dripping out from under the lid. I didn’t know if I should raise the LID, or exactly what step to take, so I grabbed the camera. (Smile)

With less than one minute to go, I snapped this picture and proceeded to watch the little puddles of jam form on the counter top. Once the machine Beeped, I hit CANCEL, unplugged the unit, and carefully lifted the top. As soon as it lost power, the foam started settling back down into the jam.

You really MUST add the Butter. You can thank me later for going the extra step and testing this out for you. (Smile)

Some of the jam ran up under the BASE unit, but it didn’t cause any problems other than being a little hard to remove. It was a lesson quickly learned, and I’ll always, always remember that I need to add Butter. (I don’t use Margarine at all.)

All total, we made two batches of Strawberry Jam that Saturday morning. We completed 8 half pint jars and left them sitting on a folded towel when we left.

The second batch tasted much better than the first, and without that off flavor. It most certainly was the old margarine that caused it.

We cleaned everything up, and I told Susan that I would leave the Jam & Jelly Maker until after class the following Wednesday evening. If she wanted to use it, or if anyone else in her office wanted to use it, they were more than welcome to test it out.

With that, we called it a day.

Extension Office Strawberry Jam Making Class:

The following Wednesday, Susan conducted both an afternoon class, and an evening class on How To Make Strawberry Jam. I didn’t attend the afternoon class, but I did sit in on the evening class. There were 12 of us all total that took Susan’s class, and we made Strawberry Jam from start-to-finish the “old fashioned way.” Yep, we stood over the stove and took turns stirring while the jam cooked.

Once the jam was in the water-bath canning pot, everyone sat back down and Susan let me give a brief talk on the Ball FreshTECH Jam & Jelly Maker. I told the class about our test on Saturday, and talked about some of the likes and dislikes we had discussed about the unit.

That’s Susan in the red apron in the center of all the class participants. Everyone took home a jar of freshly made jam when class was over. Normally the jars would need to sit for 24 hours, but Susan let them take home a jar with instructions to let it cool then refrigerate it for use pretty soon thereafter.

Class was fun and I had the chance to meet some new folks and make friends. It was good to see a couple of “fellows” in the class and the younger folks as well. I guess by now, they’ve all had the chance to make some Strawberry Jam at home.

Susan had labeled the jars that we made on Saturday. She marked the ones with Margarine and the ones without. I asked if I could have one of the jars without Butter from Saturday instead of the one that I had made that night. She gave the okay, and I brought the jar on the left in the picture above (with the gold band) back home with me. I had a special plan for it.

Graphic: Property of Whisk

We have a fairly new “kitchenware” store nearby, over in Cary, North Carolina called “Whisk.” I had been following them on Twitter, and saw they were having a Canning Jubilee Day at the store, along with a canning contest for Jams, Jellies, Preserves, and Pickled Vegetables.

I took the jar of Strawberry Jam over to the store on Thursday and entered it into the contest. I had never been to the store before, and I joked with the owner that I was coming to win his canning contest. I entered the Strawberry Jam, and a jar of my mom’s recipe pickles.

Judging for the contest was held, and I’m happy to say that the little jar of Strawberry Jam that was made in the Jam & Jelly Maker WON FIRST PLACE in the Whisk Canning Contest. How about that? Dan, the owner, told me he thought they had about 42 entries in the contest.

I went back in on Monday to pick up my prize. I won a very nice Norpro Canning Pot and took home this really neat custom made Blue Ribbon for winning. How cool is that? Thank You Whisk!

They have a great store, with lots of stuff for the kitchen, and they offer lots of cooking classes as well. Check them out if you’re ever in the area, or visit them online for more information. The staff was super friendly and very, very helpful.

PROS and CONS:

I must admit that I really like this little machine. It does have some drawbacks for someone that has been canning in larger quantities over the past years. I’ll try to go over some other things in just a moment.

I left the Jam & Jelly Maker at the Extension Office for a few more days. There were two other friends from Susan’s office that wanted to try it out. I was more than happy for them to do so, because I knew it would offer more feedback for my review.

I was already delighted and honored to have Susan work with it, as she is the Director of our local Extension Office, and she has much more experience in home canning and food preservation than I have. I’ve taken several of her classes and learned a lot. Her office is always as close as the phone, or as close as an Email, should we ever have questions. I knew their advice would be great to have.

It was about a week later before I was able to return to the Extension Office to pick up the little machine. I had left it for about 10 days now, so I told them I was there to borrow “THEIR” Jam & Jelly Maker. I just hoped they would let me have it back.

As it turned out, two ladies from the office had worked with the Jam & Jelly Maker, and made two more batches of Strawberry Jam. Kay showed me the jars they had finished just a day or so before, and as she tilted the jar, the jam inside was a bit “runny.” It hadn’t gelled properly and she didn’t know why.

This led into some conversation about possible reasons, and the best we could possibly conclude, was that they used an Imitation type Margarine when making both batches. Is that really the problem? We just don’t know, but it was the only thing we could figure out that might have caused it.

Susan picked on me during class about using Butter instead of the cheaper Margarine’s. I’ve certainly used my share in the past, but several years ago I started buying and using Butter in everything I cooked and baked, and I just can’t go back to Margarine’s. I can taste a difference, and I think the Butter is much better for you. In proper amounts of course.

I highly suggest you only use Butter if and when you work with the Jam & Jelly Maker.

More in-depth testing here at home:

Last Saturday, I bought TEN Pounds of fresh Strawberries, and I made 4 more batches of Strawberry Jam here at home with the Jam & Jelly Maker. I only used Butter, never had any issues with it foaming, never had to skim anything from the top once it was cooked. I’ve added the full step-by-step of the entire process, from washing berries, to water-bath canning the jars. You can read about it: COMING SOON

I ended up with NINE of the half-pint jars, and FIVE of the pint jars. I also had 2 full cups of juice leftover, so that’s in the freezer for later. All of my jam appears to have set up perfectly, and I can’t wait to go back over to the Extension Office and rub it in, let them know that it turned out fine. (Smile) I’ll just have to suggest that they should have taken Susan’s class.

As for all that Strawberry Jam… guess what my family is getting for Christmas? Shh… don’t tell. (Smile)

In Conclusion:

PROS:
1. – This sure beats standing over a hot stove and stirring berries for 30-45 minutes in hopes they’ll come out right. LOTS better!
2. – The Jam & Jelly Maker would be great for folks that have problems standing for periods at a time, or great for someone with kids that wants to teach them about canning, but is afraid for them to be around a hot open pot and possibly getting splattered.
3.- It’s very simple and easy to use. Great for experienced cooks, or great for beginners. Anyone could use it. Would I buy it? YES.

CONS:
1. – As Kay said, “If that machine could make more than four jars at a time, I’d buy one today.” Really, the only bad part is that it’s just a bit too small. We all agreed on this one. Kay told me she put up about 56 half-pint jars of Strawberry Jam last year. It took awhile she said, but she was able to make 7-8 jars at a time using the older methods of processing everything. I wonder if it would be possible for the Ball Corporation to just make a little larger POT for this unit. Hopefully something they might consider if the machine is popular enough.

2.- The current retail price is around $99.95 for this unit. A little bit pricey for it’s working capacity in my book. If it could produce more jam at one time, it would be a better value.

3.- Made In China. What’s that all about? The fact that this little machine was made in China as opposed to the good old USA, is definitely worth some points off. Ball Jars are a Southern tradition. I have a nice little collection of the older jars here at Taste of Southern. I can’t resist them at auctions I attend. I have the older colored jars with the zinc lids, and I have the older jars that have the wire bales to hold the glass lids in place. I have many on display, and just as many stashed away. I just like them. In fact, last year, Ball came out with a BLUE colored jar in their Heritage Collection. My brother, knowing how much I enjoy canning, gave me a case of them for Christmas. What does that tell you?

Most Asked Questions: Some of the things people I’ve talked with are asking most.

Q.- Can I use my own recipes?
A.- According to Ball®, you should only use the recipes they provide with the unit. They include a recipe book, and have a 100+ recipes, and growing, online that are perfected for using the Jam & Jelly Maker.

Q.– Does it can the jars also?
A.- No. This is the one I was asked most. This unit only stirs and cooks the jam. Once completed, the jam may be used right away, frozen for later use, or canned using the water bath canning process. Water bath canning provides longer storage life for the jam. However, Ball does have another piece of equipment that cans the finished jam using a slightly different style of water-bath canning. It looks interesting, but I haven’t seen one or tried one out. You can read more about it here: The Ball® FreshTECH Automatic Home Canner. 

Q.- How much jam or jelly does it make at one time?
A.- It will normally make enough for four 1/2 pint (8oz,) jars, or 2 pint size jars (16oz.) I did make one batch, following their recipe, that produced 5 half pints. Not sure why.

I really do want to say Thank You to Lauren with the public relations company that worked everything out for me to be able to receive, test, and review the Ball® FreshTECH Jam & Jelly Maker. I appreciate all your efforts and your help. I’m very well pleased. Thank You also to Jarden Home Brands and Ball Corporation for exploring the possibilities of making home canning easier and more feasible for the next generation. I hope you’ll keep up the good work, and that more and more folks become aware of just how much fun, and how much healthier, home food preservation can be.

I hope I’ll be around long enough to see the larger version of the Jam & Jelly Maker, and that you’ll keep me in mind for testing it out. I can’t wait.

I appreciate your confidence and trust in me to provide a simple, straight forward, honest, evaluation of your products. I appreciate you not placing any restrictions on the offer, and for accepting everything here as my personal opinion and results. I wish you well, and do KEEP UP the great work. I hope we can work together again… real soon.

Thank You to Susan, Kay, Rhonda, and everyone in the Strawberry Jam Class for your help, patience, and input. It’s greatly appreciated.

Thank YOU, for taking the time to read all of this. It’s greatly appreciated, and if you’ve read this far, you’ll be among the first to know that we’re going to be giving one of these Jam & Jelly Makers away in just a few days. Good News huh? I hope you win.

..

Your Comments:  I’ll be happy to try and answer any questions you as a reader of Taste of Southern might have about the Jam & Jelly Maker and my results. I can only speak for my own tests, but I’ll be more than happy to respond.  Just post your question or comments in the section below and I’ll do my best. Please know that all comments are moderated. That means that I read each and every one of them before they are approved for our family friendly home here on the Internet. Your comment or question will not appear immediately, but I’ll post it and respond to if just as soon as I can. Thank You in advance.

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Be Blessed!!!
Steve

Follow, step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions for making Strawberry Jam with the Ball FreshTECH Automatic Jam & Jelly Maker. We love to save summer in a jar, and Strawberries are one of our favorites. We’ll show you just how easy it is to make fresh Strawberry Jam with the Ball Automatic Jam & Jelly Maker in less than 30 minutes, then show you how to water bath process the jars so you can enjoy homemade jam, all year long. Printable recipe included.

Ball FreshTECH Strawberry Jam Recipe:

Strawberry season is quickly coming to an end here in my neck of the woods. We’ve had a pretty good crop of berries around where I live, and all of the local farms have already ended their season. I did manage to pick up one more quart of berries, grown within the state, on a recent trip down to Kinston, NC this past Friday.

Sadly, those berries just didn’t taste very sweet at all. My older brother and I have purchased berries from several areas across the state during our travels, and we keep coming up with the same thoughts. Strawberries just don’t seem to have the flavor and sweetness that we remember from years past. Of course, it’s not just Strawberries, we’ve experienced it with other produce items and fruits as well. Perhaps our taste buds are just changing.

I’ll miss the berries though. Ever since I got hooked on canning, I’ve eagerly looked forward to Spring and the return of fresh local Strawberries. I’d eagerly await their arrival, and looked forward to getting out the canning pot and supplies and heating up the kitchen.

If you follow Taste of Southern on a regular basis, you’ll already know about the Ball FreshTECH Automatic Jam & Jelly Maker. I was honored to be asked by the Ball Corporation and Jarden Home Brands to test out this neat little machine, and to write a review about it here on Taste of Southern. They also provided an extra unit that we used in a Giveaway along with some of their Heritage Collection jars, and bands and lids.

I wrote a Review about it a few weeks back when I took the unit over to our local North Carolina Cooperative Extension Office. Along with our local Director of Extension Services, we made a couple of batches of Strawberry Jam to try out the Jam & Jelly Maker. I left it at the office and a couple of the other agents tried it out as well.

A few days later, I went to a local farm and picked up about 10 pounds of Strawberries. I wanted to give this unit a good test, and ended up making the equivalent of 19 half pint jars of homemade Strawberry Jam. That’s what today’s recipe is all about.

I’m using the Strawberry Jam recipe that is included in the book that came with the maker. All of their recipes, for use with this unit, are posted on their website at this link: Jam & Jelly Maker Recipes. Take a look around and see what you would like to make with one of these in your own kitchen.

The really nice thing about the Jam & Jelly Maker, is that it stirs the berries for you while it cooks them down to perfection. No more standing over a hot stove, stirring a pot, waiting for your jam to get to the proper consistency. And, from what I’ve experienced thus far, no more OVER cooking your jams and having something so thick and gummy you can hardly eat it. Trust me, I’ve done that a time or two myself. It’s not any fun to find your batch of jam over cooked. I haven’t that happen with the jam’s I’ve made with this little unit.

So, if you’re ready to learn more about the Jam & Jelly Maker, or if you’re just wondering how to make some homemade Strawberry Jam of your own, then let’s get in the kitchen and start washing up those berries.

If you’d like to see our recipe for making Strawberry Jam the “old fashioned way,” just click HERE for that recipe. We do stand over the stove and stir that one, along with steps on how to water bath process the finished jams.

Either way, let’s get in the kitchen, and Let’s Get Cooking!

Ball FreshTECH Jam & Jelly Maker Strawberry Jam Recipe, you’ll need these ingredients.

I purchased this flat of “jam berries” from one of our local farms. Their typical bucket of fresh berries were selling for 12.00 per bucket, but I saw a sign saying they had “jam berries” for $7.50 for a 10lb flat. Jam berries are the “seconds” of the berries, as they may not be as pretty as the “selects” they have placed on the counter for sale, or they may just be a bit more ripe and need to be used right away. Always one to seek a bargain, I opted for the flat without thinking about how much jam these berries would actually make.

I placed some of the berries in a colander so I could wash them. With so many berries on hand, I had to work with them in batches.

Picking up a couple at a time, I rinsed the berries under cold running water. You need to wash them before you remove the tops. If you take off the tops first, then wash them, the berries will absorb more water. Just give them a quick rinse to remove any dirt or attached debris.

Next, remove the tops. You can do this with a paring knife, or you can use one of the several types of specialty tools made for just this purpose. I’m holding the tool that I used for this batch of strawberries. It’s a neat little older tool that was actually sent to me by one of the readers of Taste of Southern. She had seen another post where I mentioned that I didn’t have anything but a paring knife to remove the tops, and asked me if she could send me one. Thank you Pat, it worked really great and I’ll always treasure it.

This tool sort of pinches the hulls out of the berries, but as mentioned, you can easily cut them out with a paring knife.

I only found a few bad berries in the whole flat that I purchased. Any mushy, or bad berries, along with the tops are discarded.

This is just the first batch of berries that I washed and removed the tops from. I placed them in a pan and used a potato masher to mash them up into smaller pieces.

The potato masher helps extract some juice from the berries. Break them up leaving some large chunks. The berries will cook down into smaller pieces once they get hot, so you’ll need to leave some larger chunks in this step. Otherwise, you’ll just have mushy type jam. I like to scoop out a bigger piece of berry sometimes when I’m spreading the jam on my toast.

It will be good to go ahead and measure out everything you’ll need to complete the recipe. Having everything ready once you start the cooking process, just makes the whole adventure go much easier.

Jams and Jellies need to be made in small batches, and you MUST follow the amounts called for in the particular recipe. Adding more berries than called for can keep the jam or jelly from setting, or gelling properly.  Measure carefully.

With all the ingredients properly prepared and measured out, lets go ahead and setup the Ball FreshTECH Automatic Jam & Jelly Maker. This is the BASE of the unit which contains the control panel and the heating element.

The POT of the unit sits on top of the BASE, and locks into place with just a slight twist to be sure it’s secured. The handles are on the sides with the control panel in front once everything is aligned properly. I’ve mentioned it before, but the POT looks like a large pound cake pan to me.

Notice the post rising up in the center, that’s where we attach the STIRRER.

This is the STIRRER unit for the Jam & Jelly Maker. As mentioned above, it just slips down on top of the shaft in the POT. It also locks into place with just a slight twist.

Once the STIRRER is locked into position, we can go ahead and add the proper amount of Pectin. Sprinkle it evenly around the bottom of the POT. This Strawberry Jam recipe calls for Three Tablespoons of Pectin.

Now, spread the 2-2/3 cups of crushed Strawberries evenly over the pectin.

Add the 1/2 teaspoon of Butter. This will help reduce foaming as the berries cook. Please don’t skip this part.

You can see in the REVIEW that I did, when I first tested the Jam & Jelly Maker unit, that leaving out the butter can make a big mess once the POT starts to foam and boil over. I know some folks will say that adding butter isn’t necessary, but with this particular unit and way of making it, I highly suggest you stick to the recipe. You can thank me later. Smile.

Let’s have some fun. Just press the JAM button on the control panel located on the front of the BASE unit.

The unit will automatically default to 21 minutes. This is the predetermined amount of time that it will take for this recipe to cook using the Automatic Jam & Jelly Maker.

Although its not used in this recipe, the unit does have the ability to add or remove minutes from the cooking time. That’s what the PLUS and the MINUS buttons are for in the upper right corner.

Once you press the JAM button, and the unit defaults to 21 minutes, it’s time to start cooking the berries. Just press ENTER.

Once you press ENTER, the STIRRER begins to move and the unit starts to heat up. You can see some “motion” in this photo, but it’s not turning as fast as it might appear to be. It just slowly turns, keeping the berries in motion through the entire cooking process. This is the “sweet part,” that saves you from having to stand over a hot stove waiting for your jams or jellies to cook down.

THIS is what the Ball FreshTECH Jam & Jelly Maker is all about.

FOUR MINUTES after you press the ENTER button, the unit will BEEP you that it’s ready for the next step. It will make 4 short beeping sounds to indicate that it’s now time to add the Sugar.

The BEEPS aren’t as loud as I think they should be. Thankfully, I still have pretty good hearing, but I could see where someone with a slight hearing problem could totally miss hearing the beeps. Ball advises you to stay close and listen closely for those beeps.

When the unit BEEPS, it’s time to add the Sugar. Gradually add the 3-1/3 cups of sugar into the POT as it continues to stir. The POT is pretty hot at this point, and the heat and juice from the berries will dissolve the sugar pretty quickly. Add all the sugar into the POT.

With the sugar all in, place the glass LID on top of the POT. If you’re like me, you’ll probably think the rim of the lid needs to go down inside the POT. It doesn’t though. It sits up a bit on top of the POT. Just make sure you’ve got it centered on the POT and you’ll be good to go.

The LID has these vent holes in a couple of places around the side. I kept thinking the LID should fit down in the POT, but it doesn’t, so the vent holes will stay open and allow steam to vent out while the berries are being stirred and cooked to proper temperature.

This is what the fully assembled unit looks like. I failed to snap a photo of it once the berries started cooking, which is why you can’t actually see any Strawberries inside the pot in this photo.

Just make sure the unit is in a fairly clear and open space while you’re using it. Give it room to do it’s thing as it stirs and does the hard work for you.

This is the part where you get to go sit down, instead of standing over that hot stove, and having to constantly stir the pot to keep your jam from burning and sticking. Ball again recommends that you stay close enough that you can hear the BEEPS once the cooking has ended. I must admit though, I pretty much just watched the unit the whole time it was cooking, as it was just fun to do.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. When the timer reaches the end of the cycle, the unit will sound four more BEEPS. Your jam is now fully cooked to perfection.

Press the CANCEL button and UNPLUG the unit once you hear those four beeps.

Immediately remove the LID from the POT. Be careful, it has steam inside so tilt the lid away from you as you lift it up. A pot holder comes in real handy for this.

Use that pot holder again to remove the STIRRER from the cooked berries. It too is pretty hot, so handle it carefully and set it aside for the time being.

I have YET to do this step before starting to ladle jam into my jars. I forget it each and every time. Try not to be like me.

At this point, you could ladle the jam into containers and let it cool. You could use it right away, or freeze it for use later, depending on your needs and plans for the jam. Once it started to cool, the jam started to gel right away. I planned to jar this up and can it using the water bath canning process. Let’s take a look at how that goes.

Here, I’ve setup my canning area to fill the jars. I place a plate beside the cooked jam, so I can sit my jars on the plate. It just helps make cleanup a bit easier for me. I’ve got a folded towel for my hot jars, and the needed tools ready to get started.

I’m leaving out just a few photos in the following process. You can also read my other recipe post on making Strawberry Jam and canning it the “old fashioned way,” by clicking HERE. It will give you a little more detail on getting setup for the water bath process, or you can follow THAT recipe to make homemade Strawberry Jam without the Jam & Jelly Maker.

Here, I’m filling the jars with the Jam I’ve just prepared in the Jam & Jelly Maker. This unit only makes small batches of jam or jelly at one time. You will normally get 4 half pints, or 2 pints of jam when using the Ball FreshTECH Jam & Jelly Maker. Some folks find this is just too small of a batch to work with at one time, while others think its just perfect. It really depends on your needs I guess. Either way, it’s a good way to make both jams and jellies, and it’s always great to “Save Summer In A Jar.”

Using a funnel, I ladled the hot jam into my prepared jars.

You’ll also need to wipe the top and rims of the jars with a damp cloth. You MUST make sure the top of the jar is clean and free from any food particles so the lid will fit securely on the top and seal properly.

You must ALWAYS use a NEW lid when canning. Center the lid on top of the jar.

Jar BANDS on the other hand, can be used over and over many times. Place the band over the top of the jar, and snug it down just “finger tight.” Don’t tighten it with all your might, you just need to screw it down snug to the lid.

Filled jars are then placed inside a water bath canning pot and processed according to the proper time for your altitude.

We’re just covering some of the basic steps to home canning in this recipe, but you can also check out many of my other recipes under Canning and Freezing here on Taste of Southern for a bit more detailed look at the entire process. We give some pretty detailed photo’s of how it’s done, but you should consult some of the Department of Agriculture or Cooperative Extension Service sites for more information and classes on home food preservation if you’re just beginning. Here’s a good place to start: National Center for Home Food Preservation

Enjoy!

I ended up making four batches of Strawberry Jam on this particular Saturday morning. As I mentioned above, I just wasn’t thinking about how many berries I was purchasing. Still, I ended up with a good number of both pint and half-pint jars of Strawberry Jam. I think I’ve just completed a lot of my Christmas list already.

Homemade Jams and Jellies are always great gifts to share with family and friends. You can take advantage of seasonal fruits as they arrive throughout the year, or you can also use many types of frozen fruits and juices to make jams and jellies.

I’m really enjoying using my Ball FreshTECH Jam & Jelly Maker, and can’t wait to share even more recipes with it in the months ahead.

If you’d like more information, and want to check out more recipes that are exclusive to this unit, visit the Ball Fresh Preserving Store and see what all you can make with this unit.

As a reminder, Ball, and Jarden Home Brands did provide me with one of these units to try out, test, and review here on Taste of Southern. They are the first big company that I’ve had the honor to work with, and that’s been a big step for Taste of Southern. I really appreciate their willingness to provide me with one of the units to keep, and another that we gave away here on our site.

Even though they provided these units, I have not received any monies from them for my reviews, and all the information I’ve given about my work with it has been totally mine. If you decide to try one, I really think you’ll enjoy it and use it often. Tell them Taste of Southern sent you.