how to make raspberry jam…

on saturday, we went to rosby’s berry farm to pick raspberries. the berries were bountiful, juicy and sweet, despite a few problems with sun spots (which doesn’t effect the taste). after about an hour, we had 6 qts of berries (plus a tummy full of goodness from all our sampling…thank goodness they didn’t weigh us coming and going). their farm is beautiful, complete with 10 acres of berries, a play area for kids and very friendly border collies.

since we picked so many, we froze a couple quarts, ate several at every turn through the kitchen and also made some jam, which is a quick and easy process.

to make jam, first assemble all the implements. below is our list:

-jars and lids (you can only use vacuum pack lids once)
-boiling water processor (large pot filled with water and a wire rack for holding jars in place)
-ladle
-pectin (fruit contains pectin already and fruit that is not quite ripe contains more pectin than ripe fruit)
-sugar
-other handy tools include rubber spatula, tongs, funnel, magnetized prong to get lids out of boiling water, smooth spatula to remove air bubbles from jars

Steps to make low sugar jam

1. crush 5 c. berries (we used a pastry blender, but you can just use a spoon)
2. add 3/4 c. water
3. add 2 1/2 c. sugar
4. add 1 package of pectin in pink box
5. bring to rolling boil, stirring continuously, at this point boil for 1 minute while still stirring
6. turn heat to low and using a cold spoon take out a spoonful of the berry mixture. set aside for a couple minutes. check the consistency of the jam to ensure it is setting properly. if it isn’t setting, boil it again, adding a bit more pectin. alternatively, you can try adding corn starch (we have not tried this trick, but a friend assures us this works)
7. take sterile, heated jars and fill to 1/8 in from top, cover with heated lids and screw top on
8. once all jars are filled, immerse all jars in boiling water and boil for 10 minutes
9. remove and let cool and vacuum seal
10. store for tasty treats later (makes the best PB&J ever!!!)