Sure, use the black.

Carol

mulberry:

I don't know how you feel about adding sugar etc, but from the recipes I've seen it calls for about a cup more sugar for black raspberries as opposed to red...and if you've ever eaten both you know why. So that's the only difference I've ever seen.

Lucky, lucky You! I have my little patch of Black Raspberries and treasure each berry.

I have made seedless jam with the blacks and haven't had any problems... including adding more sugar. I don't think Black Raspberries are as sour as reds -- now I'm talking about Black Raspberries NOT just any old Blackberry, which I find to be more sour.

My blacks are just flowering now. I mix them with reds and run them all through my food strainer to remove seeds. They make a nice mixed berry jam. I forget which types should not be planted close to each other due to competition. I think its black raspberries and red raspberries that need seperate locations. Mine are next to each other and are well behaved. Some berries can be a bit sour, but that also depends on the soil and growing conditions.

Yeah, supposedly the blacks should not be planted next to the red. However, my neighbor has a huge patch of the reds and we are surrounded by the black ones. I have a few plants close to my house that have ripe berries, so I am off to tromp out to the big berry patch on my day off on friday.

And these are real deal raspberries, not blackberries. We had blackberries all over where I used to live in Virginia, but around here, raspberries seem to be more common.

I have never used my food strained for berries, the holes are small but I am not sure they are small enough. I have only ever used it for tomatoes (which it does very well). I think I could push the cooked berries through a fine mesh screen if it doesn't work. It's early in the harvest season, I have more patience now!

Thanks for the advice.

I had one raspberry or blackberry that was nasty, very thorny, and would reroot when the tips of the canes fell to the ground. I had to get rid of them as they were just too much to deal with. I like growing thornless raspberries, as they don't bite you while you pick them.

The Villaware/Roma food strainers offer optional screens (conical sieves) and one optional type is for berries, with holes smaller than the type that comes standard with the strainer. There is also a shorter grape spiral for big seeds in grapes, so they don't jam. The optional screens can come as an accessory package and one has 3/16 inch holes for mincing tomatoes for salsa, and another to make puree for pumpkin or squash. Way back I used a regular strainer to remove the seeds from raspberries, but it was a lot of work as they jiust didn't get all the juices out. After I use the Roma, I run the strained waste through a second time to end up with a quite dry bunch of seeds. I do that with tomatoes too, when using the tomato screen. My red rapsberry jam is seedless and is enjoyed moreso, compared to seed types. The seeds tend to get stuck in my teeth fillings.

I picked a whole bunch of berries, it took forever, but I got enough to make the jam recipe from BBB. I ran them through my kitchenaid strainer tomato screen, which got 95% of the seeds. I think these wild berries have particularly big seeds. I was disappointed to see some seeds made it through, but there are actually just a few and I didn't notice them in the jam I put on my toast.

The jam has the nicest color, this super dark red purple. it looks like a concentrated red wine color.

We just discovered a wild black raspberry patch in one corner of our property. Don't have a clue how it got started, but I am just thrilled to pieces. We are getting a handful of berries a day; hopefully in a year or 3 we might get enough to actually do something with. Glad to hear that we can use red raspberry recipes. Thanks!
:^)
Edie

Gee, yours are wild and early. I only have big white blossoms on mine now. Probably no berries until late July or mid August. Some of my blueberries are staring to ripen though.

Hi Ken; yep I was a little startled to find the black raspberries already ripe. Our blackberries (also wild) are just starting to get a pink tinge to them. All the plants are loaded with them, this appears to be a great year for fruit. Can't wait; I used the last bag of blackberries for a pie about 3 weeks ago and am ready for more!
Edie

Last year, I picked about 5 berries only. It was a really bad year for red and black rasps.

I've been making black raspberry jam and jelly for years...my DH's favorite! I use the red raspberry recipe with SureJel, low sugar formula. For jelly, I crush the berries and strain overnight through cheesecloth. This requires a lot of berries, but it's delish! Freezer jam works well, too.

If you want to get a faster juice from raspberries, the Villaware/Roma food strainer with the optional berry screen can offer you more juices much faster. Its not going to be crystal clear, but for raspberries, you cant see through the jars anyway. It takes just seconds to get all the juice from the berries without a single seed.