Honestly before this summer I had no idea what canning was, I thought, "How do they get their cans to seal?" Literally referring to a can like you'd buy at the grocery store. I didn't know!! I soon found out that canning referred to preserving foods in jars, like jams, and jellies, and sauces, and pickles etc.
But the beginning of this summer brought about a curiousity to try this, and it started with baby steps. I saw this recipe on another blog showing an easy version of strawberry jam. I tried it and it was lovely, very bright and fruity, easy to spread and everybody loved it! But then I started learning more about different methods of canning. There is the water-bath method of preserving, and then there's a pressure cooker method, and there are freezer jams and so on, I am the first one to tell you am not an authority on these processes, but it's a pretty interesting subject and hobby to try as well.
There are lots of food safety concerns in regards to canning methods, you have to do it correctly or you could end up with a slew of troubles on your hands and there are a lot of resources out there to help you maneuver these, such as foodsafety.gov . For Jam making I did not buy any special equipment except jars and extra lids when needed. I have a big stock pot with a pasta insert that can easily be lifted in and out so that kind of doubled as a rack for the water bath method.
Don't let this scare you, I did it and so can you! Think of all the delicous combinations you can put together to enjoy all winter long instead of opting to the grocry store brands that are costly and have fillers and preservatives. I decided on the name of this blogpost because just prior to this I saw a Good Eats episode on Food Network and the topic was canning. Alton breaks the process down in very easy to understand terms, and he reminded me that using frozen fruit is fine when jam making, the fruit is picked at the peak of maturity and it's so easy to use!
Red Raspberry, Strawberry, Rheubarb Jam (from: Canning Jars Etc.)
Yield 9 jars
Enough strawberries, raspberries, and rheubarb to make a total of 5 cups crushed fruit
1 package powdered pectin
7 cups sugar
Rinse the berries. Smash berries with a potato masher, breaking up the berries with a blender or an immersion blender will break the pectin up too much and the jam will not set upon completion.
Combine smashed berries and pectin in a large pot. Bring to boil over high heat in a large pot. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Bring to a rolling boil. Boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam, if necessary (alternatively you can add 1/2 tsp of butter or margarine to help eliminate the foam.)
Fill hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace, make sure and wipe the rims nice and clean to ensure a good seal. Add lids and rings and process 10 minutes in a water bath.
Read more about preparing jars here
Read more about canning in general here
There are other berries you can try also is these various combinations
Lingonberries
Cranberries
