Well the raspberries yielded more than you can imagine, I think Ive figured it to about 1L berries per foot of plants - giving me about 75L of raspberries! And that's a low guess. Ive told about 15 people to come pick my berries for free, yet everyday I still find myself having to pick my patch. Ive given away a lot, Ive froze as many as my freezer is willing to accommodate and Ive made jam, and I will continue to make jam now as long as the berries hold out. Ive tried a couple variations of the recipe below, using raspberries and blueberries at different ratios (since the wild blueberries are even more plentiful than the raspberries!). The raspberries seem to be high in natural pectin and that's why you don't need to use powdered pectin. (Pectin is the gelling agent by the way). So heres my favorite popular recipe!
Raspberry Jam
Clean 8c. of raspberries
In a large pot, mash the berries and boil them for 15 minutes.
Add 6c. sugar and return to a full rolling boil.
Meanwhile, sterilize your jars and rings (either with boiling water or in the oven at 215oF for 10 minutes).
Also heat your snap lids.
When your jam has got to that really hard boil, where you cant stir it down and its spitting all over your clean kitchen floor, pour the jam into your jars, seal and ring them and let them cool. Youll hear the enjoyable "pop!" "pop!" of the jars sealing (or else you didn't so it right). The next day check that the jars are sealed by bouncing a spoon on the jar lids - if it makes a hollow sound its sealed, if the sounds spongy it hasn't sealed, so refrigerate it and use it first.
Ive found that this jam keeps well for 1-2 years, longer than that - I don't know, because its long gone before it gets the chance!
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