Today might be the first day of Autumn, but much of the country still has bountiful access to many type of fruits and berries at the local farmers market or grocery store and will for some time to come. Fall is also the time for some different fruits that also can be made into great jams, jellies, conserves, spreads and such.
It’s not hard, doesn’t take a long time or elaborate equipment. Really, it’s just about getting everything you need together and organized. I’ve been doing this for more than 40 years so it’s become something of a no-brainer, but I taught Natacha (the African gal that lives with us) to do this in just a couple of sessions. She’s fully able to make jam on her own now.
In this technique post, you can see, step by step how to put the best of summer and autumn into a jar for later gift giving or just enjoying it yourself.
First set up your workspace, with a deep heavy bottom pot with handles, a good long handled spoon for stirring, a large pot of simmering water to keep your jars and lids hot and sterile until time to fill them, a few bowls for fruit, a potato masher, a one cup dry measure and a tablespoon measure, a canning funnel, tongs and a timer or watch with a second hand. You’ll also need a way to juice fresh lemons. Have some paper towels handy and a couple of clean dishtowels.
Put your clean jars, rings and new lids ( never re-use the flat lids with the rubberized ring coating) into the simmering water and just keep it hot. You’ll want to use a pair of tongs to get each jar and the lids out.
Get your pectin packets in a handy place with a pair of scissors to open it. I always have one extra packet of liquid pectin ( which I prefer to the powder version, which takes a different technique. Never, ever mix or confuse the two.) as I’ll get just a tablespoon extra of pectin and add it to my overall amount. This is because I like a firm set jam.
Squeeze your lemon juice. Lemon juice from a bottle will NOT work. The amounts of pectin in the juice are different. Don’t substitute. Measure out your sugar into a bowl, so you can easily and quickly add it. Put a couple of small custard cups or something like that into the freezer to get good and cold. You’ll use these to test the ‘set’ of your jam.
Then prepare your fruit according to what ever instructions or recipe you are using. There are many great guides to canning, and there are also simple to follow recipes right in the Certo Liquid Pectin box. That’s just fine for your first time making jam.
For this strawberry jam recipe you’ll need: 4 cups of mashed ripe strawberries, 7 cups of sugar, 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice, a tablespoon of butter and one packet of Certo Liquid Pectin. If you like a firmer set, as I do, then add another tablespoon of lemon juice and an extra tablespoon of pectin. I also like just a tiny bit ( a quarter tablespoon) of cinnamon, and I also add a few threads of saffron. But that’s entirely optional.
Add your prepared fruit to the pot, with a dollop of butter. You must add the butter, as it helps to control the foaming. Now bring it up to a good rolling boil, taking care not to burn it on the bottom, and stir pretty frequently. Now isn’t the time to talk on the phone or be distracted.
A little story: the only batches of jam that were total goofs and didn’t set were batches I made recently with a particularly chatty friend. I was distracted at nearly ever moment by chit-chat. I can’t work like that. It’s a creative endeavor for me - I need to work alone or with somebody who is really low key. By the way, there is a do-over process that usually works, although the flavor isn’t as bright and nice.
Open your pectin packet, and as you can see, I stand it up in a measuring cup or heavy glass so it won’t tip and spill out. If I’m making multiple batches, I’ll open a spare packet and put it into a spare jam jar with a lid. That’s where I get my extra tablespoon of pectin to add to each packet. When you add the pectin, just squeeze it straight out of the open packet into the hot fruit mixture, making sure to get all you can from the packet.
After bringing the fruit to a full boil, add your pectin in one swift action. Have your timer or wristwatch with a sweep second hand at the ready. As you add the pectin and stir to incorporate it into the hot fruit, the boil will slow almost to a stop. Bring it back up to a full rolling boil as you can see below. As soon as it reaches this stage start your timer and boil for one minute.
As the minute is up, turn off the heat and move the pot to a cool area. Reset your timer to five minutes and start. This gives the mixture a chance to redistribute the fruit and stabilize before you put it into the jars.
During the five minute period, pull one of the chilled custard cups from the freezer and take a couple of spoonfuls of the hot mixture and put it into the dish. Cooling rapidly you should be able to see some almost immediate thickening. Remember that some fruits take longer, up to a couple of days to truly set. Stone fruits like peaches can be harder to get a firm set. I’m not real fussy about a softer set with some fruits like that.
Get a hot jar and lids from the kettle, drain and set on a paper towel. Using the funnel, fill only to about 1/4 inch from the top. You need this ‘head room’ so the vacuum action can happen and properly seal the jars.
After filling each jar, and do just one at a time, carefully wipe the rim of the glass with a clean, dampened paper towel to remove any residue or drips which could ruin your seal.
Now you’re ready to put the lid on and then the ring. One thing beginners tend to get wrong is under-tightening or over-tightening this ring. Just give it a quick gentle twist until it stops. If you over-tighten the air from the head space cannot escape and create a vacuum. Under tightening can produce similar results. Set each finished jar aside on a soft towel to cool overnight. As the cool, you’ll hear the distinct ‘plink’ sound of the dimple in the center of the lid as it is literally sucked in by the vacuum. When you can’t push that button, you’ve got a secure seal and your jam will be safe for at least one year in a cool dark pantry.
So here are a few examples of the finished product. In just one afternoon, I made two batches of strawberry saffron ( about 7 jars each ) and a batch of raspberry pepper … it’s really good. I take fresh raspberries, add my saffron threads and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. It will be great on toast but better on roast chicken or pork as a glaze.
If you decide this canning thing is for you, then buy ‘Blue Ribbon Preserves’ by Linda j. Amendt. It’s as comprehensive as they come. One word of warning, Linda is seriously into the Fair and Exhibition aspect, so she goes to lengths that I don’t. A lot of it is about appearances of the final product. However, my jams have really sold well, when I did that, and one summer I probably went through about 50 cases of jars to keep my customers happy, and they still drop hints that they’d like some more …. especially the tomato basil marmalade which is a hit when spooned over a cream cheese ball, or used as a glaze on fish, pork or chicken. Heck, I’m just a real fan of tomato jam and like it on toast or a roast chicken sandwich instead of mayo.
So give it a try. Winter is no reason to quit …. that’s the season for citrus. Yummmm - marmalade.
You might also want to give my marmalade recipes a try: the Tomato-Saffron, or the Meyer Lemon and ginger marmalade are super.
maven
Monday, February 7, 2011 at 19:04 
