As a Master Food Preserver, one of the things we teach is HOW to preserve food. There has been a flood of interest the last few years in canning and preserving fruits and vegetables because families want to be in control of what goes in to the food they are eating, putting food in the pantry for use later in the year, and having delicious food in jars! It's fantastic!
One of the easiest ways to preserve fruit is making jam. What is jam? Crushed fruit with added sugar cooked to a spreadable consistency. Some recipes call for pectin, a thickening agent made from citrus peels. You can also make jam without pectin or make it with a low-sugar pectin. I prefer the recipe using regular, powdered pectin and cooking the jam. Some people prefer to make freezer jam because it requires no water-bath processing. It also has a "fresher" taste. Your choice....both are equally delicious! MCP is my preferred brand of pectin. (Sure-jell and MCP are both owned by Kraft Foods.)
From their website.
- Sugar-free, preservative-free, low-methoxyl citrus pectin.
- Sweeten jam & jelly to your taste with low amounts of any sweetener: sugar, honey, agave, maple syrup, frozen juice concentrate, stevia, xylitol, Sucanat, concentrated fruit sweetener, or Splenda and other artificial sweeteners.
- Each 1 oz box makes 2 to 4 batches (about 5 – 8 oz jars per batch).Recipes can be doubled or tripled. Each box contains pectin powder, calcium powder, directions, and recipes.
- Keeps indefinitely.
- Kosher manufactured. Vegan. Gluten Free. Non-GMO.
- Celebrating 34 years of low-sweetener jam and jelly.
The only negative that I have experienced with Pomona Pectin is that within the year my jam was not very pretty anymore. Sugar preserves the color of preserved food....low-sugar products lose their color quicker than a full-sugar jam or jelly would. My kids won't eat the "weird" colored jam so it will get wasted. No bueno!
So...jump in with both feet! Get your kids in the kitchen to help! Make some JAM!
Here is my Grit Magazine Canning Contest Winning Recipe:
Marionberry Raspberry Jam
Shelley Bloemke
2 1/2 cups raspberries
2 1/2 cups marionberries or blackberries
2 1/2 cups marionberries or blackberries
1 box MCP Pectin
Measure 7 cups of sugar into a bowl
Crush the berries with a potato masher. Place in a 6-8 quart saucepan. Add 1 box of MCP pectin, stir to incorporate. Bring to a rolling boil on high heat and add the sugar. Return to a full, rolling boil and cook for 4 minutes.
Ladle into prepared jars, leaving 1/8 inch headspace at the top of the jar. Wipe the rim of jar and place lid and ring on. Screw rings on and place in water-bath canner. Water must be 1-2 inches above th jar. Cover, bring to a gentle boil. Process jam for 10 minutes. Adjust processing time according to your altitude . Remove jars and place upright on a towel. Let cool, without disturbing jars for 24 hours, making sure jars have sealed by pressing the center of each lid. If the lid springs back, the jar isn't sealed and needs to be refrigerated.
Remove rings and keep un-opened jars in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year. Opened jars will keep for 3-4 weeks in the refrigerator.
Please remember....it is super-duper important to process your home-canned jams. It will help prevent spoilage from mold and bacteria. DON"T do the "turn the jar upside down to seal like my Mom did" method of processing. After all the work you put in, you don't want to throw out your jam because of a bunch of mold. YUCK!
For more canning information the National Center for Home Food Preservation is THE resource I rely on for the most current canning guidelines.
Happy Jamming! BTW...I won a wheat grinder from the canning contest!
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