I suggest you try strawberry and peach freezer jam as found on the Sure-Jell recipe paper. These are so fresh tasting and colorful as the fruit is not really cooked. I've never had a failure making these jams that are stored in the freezer.

The Harvest forum on GardenWeb is another good source for jam recipes.

Teresa

Here is a link that might be useful: Harvest Forum link

I too make strawberry freezer jam. I use the Garden Fresh powder, which uses much less sugar. The jam tastes so fresh and it's such a nice bright colour. I also don't mash the strawberries to a smooth pulp but leave it chunky.

Another vote here for freezer jam. I don't even make cooked jam anymore, finding the taste of freezer jam to be so much better.

This recipe was given to me by a dear friend years ago. It is very good.

Billie's Rhubarb - Strawberry Jelly

5 Cups rhubarb, cut in small pieces
6 Cups sugar

Boil sugar and rhubarb together 10 - 12 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add:
2 T. lemon juice
2 3oz. pkgs WILD strawberry jello

Stir until well combined.

Put into containers and refrigerate or freeze.

How much easier could this be and I think rhubarb season may be just around the corner.

jude

I agree, freezer jam might be your best choice, if you don't want the fruit "cooked".

I don't use commercial pectin (Sure Jell, Certo, etc) for just that reason, they are inconsistent. I get a jell sometimes, sometimes I don't. Plus, you have to add so much sugar that you can't even taste the fruit.

I make long cooked and low sugar jams, the old Farm Journal and such say that the sugar ratio should be 50/50 to the fruit, but I've cut that down to 1/3 sugar and 2/3 fruit and still gotten a pretty decent set. The less sugar, the softer the set on the preserves or jam. I can make all fruit spread, but I basically just cook fruit until it's thick, more like a fruit butter than anything.

However, you do have to cook the fruit for quite a long time to reach jell point for preserves or have a thick fruit spread.

Another technique I've been successful with was given to me by Carol/Readinglady. I make her old fashioned pear preserves and they are magnificent. However, they take a couple of days because the fruit and sugar is mixed, cooked briefly and then allowed to Macerate overnight. Remove the fruit and bring the syrup to jell point, add the fruit back in, heat through and jar it up. That way the fruit doesn't get cooked to mush. It's time consuming but so worth it for me and I've used the same technique with peaches and loved it.

Annie

I use the low sugar Sure Jell powder and then also reduce the amount of sugar called for to 3/4 to 1/2 of what is called for. I test for gel with a couple of plates I pull from the freezer. I have never had a problem with set. I use the amounts of fruit, etc., called for in the low sugar directions in the box, just less sugar.

They have to be eaten quickly after opening. They won't keep like a full sugar jam or jelly. The fruit flavor is much nicer without all the sugar.

Eileen

I am a huge fan of lower sugar jams and also small batch jams. I can't recommend this book highly enough, it is called, "Summer in a Jar" by Andrea Chessman. It is all about small batches of jams and pickles, and low sugar recipes. She recommends mixing low pectin fruits (like strawberries and other berries) in with apples, which are high pectin. She also outlines the method Annie mentions, which is to cook the jams and sugar to thicken them, in which case the sugar caramelizes a bit so that adds a taste to the jam, but in some recipes it isn't objectionable. The peach maple jam in that book is outstanding. The book is out of print but you can order it from used bookstores through Amazon. I have two copies! Or get through interlibrary loan.

Certo--BOOOO! I have ruined more stuff with that! I use Sure Jell low sugar powdered pectin when I have to make a pectin jam. I have my repertoire of low sugar jams, so I only use it occasionally.

Another book I would recommend is "Small Batch Preserving" by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard. It has gads of recipes for lower sugar jams, and the "old fashioned" kinds of preserves like Annie is talking about.

Here's one of my favorites, Peach Raspberry Jam. It is a long cooked preserve, made using the "old fashioned" method. You're actually better off boiling the syrup for 15 min. and adding the fruits back in at the very end. Oh, and I rarely find that the jam thickens in 15 min. More like 30! I use the cold plate test for this type of preserve. I find a thermometer is rarely a good test, I've made some paste relying on that.

Italian Peach Raspberry jam.

When peaches are at their best and the raspberries are ripening up in the mountains, they're a perfect pair to set aside for the winter! What better way to do so than make raspberry peach jam?
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutesIngredients:
�2 1/4 pounds (1 k) peaches (ideally, white)
�3/4 pound (300 g) raspberries
�1 4/5 cup (800 g) sugar
�The juice of a lemon
Preparation:
Blanch the peaches for a second or two in boiling water, then chill them in cool water, peel them, quarter them, and discard the pits. Rinse the raspberries, discarding any that are blemished, and gently pat them dry.

Interlayer the fruit and sugar in a bowl and let it all sit for 12 hours.

Transfer everything to a heavy-bottomed pot, and bring it to a boil over a moderate flame, stirring it occasionally. Skim the froth off the surface and cook with a slotted spoon over a lively flame, skimming and stirring, for about 15 minutes, or until it begins to thicken. A drop placed on a cool slanted plate will flow some, but not much, when it's ready.

The yield will be about 1 1/2 pints (1.5 l). Transfer the jam to jars, cover them, and boil them for 20 minutes to sterilize them.

Yield: several jars raspberry peach jam.

It depends on what I'm making but usually I prefer the brighter flavor that I get from using the low sugar Sure Jell pectin. The long cooking required to get natural pectin going results in caramelization.

Fruit butters are the exception. Those require a long cook time. I like those, too.

Super.. I have so many things to try this summer. !! The overnight technique to macerate seems intriguing.. Have to try that.

Teresa, susytwo, Annie, jasdip -- I have never tried freezer jam but now I have to based n your recommendations. What is the shelf life of the jam once it is out of the freezer? Will it last a week at least?

The rhubarb jam - I am always tempted by rhubarb but never now what to do with it.. Now I have a recipe.
Annie - I will have to search the forum archives for the old fashioned pear preserves. Just the name sounds wonderful :)

Barn mom - I will try the low sugar sure-jell . Is there a particular recipe ou wold suggest.

1pinkmountain- I will have to look for both those books now. I have been working on my cookbook addiction syndrome.. But. :)

I have not a good experience with cooked peaches but I will try the Italian peach raspberry this summer. We get some excellent heirloom peaches in the summer here in northern California and besides fresh peaches and sorbet, this would be lovely to try. Hank you for taking the time to type the recipe.

My DD wants a blue berry jam.. Any recipes to share?

Fruit butter - I confess I have not tried any.. Is it made differently than jams?

Shelf life for freezer jam? Ha-ha-ha! Ummmm.....how about 3 hours? No, really only kidding. Freezer jam will last well over a week in the fridge if it's not eaten in the first day out of the freezer. This does not linger unless the entire household is out of town.

A great moment of "mother's" pride came a couple of years ago when my 30 yr. old dear son #2 let me know he was making freezer jam - and it had turned out well for him.

Teresa

Sorry about those little tiny numbers, they didn't show up on my side, so just ignore. The recipe starts with the big numbers, not the tiny 1/2's.

As for peach jam, that and strawberry jam are my holy grails of low sugar jam making. So far I haven't found a recipe that works for either one. That's why I add other flavors. The peach maple and peach raspberry are my two success stories. I still have one recipe for ginger peach to try this year. I made spiced peach wine conserve last year and gave it away as gifts. Everyone raved about it but I was not impressed. That recipe came out of the Small Batch book. I am just finishing my last jar of that right now. There are a lot of recipes for "mixed" jams in that book, which is one way to kick up the flavor of a low sugar jam. And the trick of mixing a low pectin fruit with a high pectin one. Cherry raspberry and cherry cranberry are my two favorites in that category. I buy bags of cranberries on sale after Thanksgiving and freeze them for summer jam making. Here's an excellent Web page that explains about pectin. Actually, it is a WONDERFUL all around jam making resources. Pectin - What is it and how it works" from the "Pick Your Own" Web site.

As for strawberries, I had some success with one recipe that uses balsamic vinegar (I used the raspberry Alexa gave me). It came out of the "Small Batch Preserving" book. The balsamic gives it enough kick to counteract the cooking. But I still haven't made my definitive batch of strawberry jam. I use the "old fashioned" method with it too. My berries always shrivel with that method (caused by osmosis). Could be the watery PA strawberries I get, lol! That seems to be the norm with zone 5 fruits grown in zone 6 climates, IMHO. When you use the "old fashioned" method you don't get a uniform textured jam like the commercial stuff. It is really a method for making something called "preserves" which is fruit "preserved" in a sugar gell. They have a softer set than pectin jams and a lovely delicate flavor. I don't make freezer jam because I don't eat up jam fast enough. But when I make the lowest sugar jams, I put it in small jars because lower sugar jams do not last very well, even kept in the fridge. That usually isn't a problem with the ones I make, since they are so yum.

As for blueberry, I have tried it plain with the low sugar pectin method, and I prefer blueberry lime jam, it has more kick to it. Of course here in the mid-atlantic we get watery berries, IMHO. I used to live in the NE but thanks to global climate change my conditions here are more like mid-atlantic. MI berries are the best, IMHO. But blueberry flavor washes out fast so best to preserve as soon as possible after harvest. I haven't had a good blueberry in years, not since I went picking with Annie at a legendary patch, now sadly gone I think. I use the Blueberry lime recipe out of the Ball Complet Book of Home Preserving.

I love blueberry jam & it's not stocked at my local grocery so I decided to try to make freezer jam. Watched a couple youtube videos, followed instructions exactly on the freezer pectin package. But it tastes raw to me, not in a good way. Everything I read said it's fresh tasting but it's more like the flavor of raw flour to me if that makes sense.

The texture is great & it's set but not the flavor I wanted. So I think I'll be learning to heat can. Was amazed that several men I work with know how to can. Construction laborers no less!

Blueberry jam, easiest thing in the world to make. Boiling water bath method of canning which is used in jam is the easiest thing in the world to do, a no brainer basically. Buy canning jars, get big ol' pot that holds 6-8 jars of the size you want to use, and enough water to cover them up to one inch above the top of the jar. How big a pot depends on how ambitious you want to be. Wash the jars and lids, boil them for ten minutes. Meanwhile, make the jam. When jam is done, take jars out of boiling water, spoon jam into sterilized jars (carefully, don't gunk up the rims). Leave 1/2 inch "headspace" at the top of the jar, (meaning don't fill up to the rim). Put on the lid and the screw band to seal. Put back in the pot of boiling water, boil for ten minutes to seal the jars. Voila, you've preserved! All the rest is style points.

Technically you don't have to boil the empty jars to sterilize before filling, just wash in hot soapy water to make sure not dirty. The 10 min. sealing boil sanitizes the jars, but I say why not do the extra sanitary step, you're boiling the water for the final sealing boil anyway, and waiting for the jam to cook. BTW, this method is referred to as the "boiling water bath" method of canning, and is the easiest to do. Almost all jams can be done with this method, but check first to be sure. Blueberry is a definate yes, if you follow the recipe. Easy peasy way to preserve fresh fruits at their peak season of flavor. No more difficult or dangerous than buying a pack of chicken and freezing it. Both are adequate to perserve the food and protect us from the germs. Not sure why folks are always so afraid of canning when they do far more potentially dangerous things with meat every day! You don't poison your family with other poorly prepared or cooked foods so don't sweat canning!

Here's the recipe from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.

Blueberry Lime jam

Makes 6 8 oz. jars

4.5 cups crushed blueberries (leave a few ones whole for fun)
Grated zest and juice of one large lime
1 package regular powdered pectin
5 cups granulated sugar.

Bring berries and zest/juice to a rolling boil. Add pectin, stir to dissolve. Boil one minute, add sugar. Bring back to rolling boil and boil the jam for one minute. After this, skim off any foam and then fill the jars with the jam.

After the jars come out of the boiling water bath (we abbreviate BWB) they will cool, the hot air inside will cool and shrink and that along with the rubber gasket on the lids will create a vacume seal. The jars will make a "ping" sound as this happens. DO NOT tempt fate and press on the lids themselves before this happens, you could mess with the seal formation. Check the seals AFTER they cool. If one is not sealed, store in fridge and eat that one first. You will become addicted to the "ping" sound and want to make jam out of everything in sight. People will hide when they see you coming because you will be forcing them to eat more jam! Oh, and if the jar doesn't go "ping" that doesn't mean it doesn't seal, it just means that the jar cooled a little more slowly and the sealing wasn't that dramatic. The jars seal when they change from being flat to slightly indented. AFTER THE JAM COOLS, you can check the seals, if there is any "give" in the lid it is not sealed.

Get jammin'

Oh, I forgot to add, don't skimp on the time the jars spend in the BWB, that's the safety part. Also, must be ROLLING boil. But no longer, because a long boil changes the texture of the fruits and stuff, kinda washes out the flavor.

I agree, blueberry jam is very easy.

I should clarify on the "boiling water bath". You need to preheat the water, but not until it's boiling, it should be about 180 for cooked jams, about 140 if you are raw packing fruit. Put your filled jars in the canner, bring it to a boil and then start timing your 10 minutes for jam, or whatever your recipe specifies. That will help you avoid jar breakage through thermal shock and the time bringing the water to a boil is counted in the canning time.

Canning jam is easy, though. Cook the jam, pour into clean jars, add hot lids. Put the jars into a pot or canner, bring the water to a boil, boil 10 minutes. Remove the jars and let them "ping". It's the same thing with fruit, easy as can be.

Only with vegetables and meat do you need a pressure canner.

Anyway, blueberry jam:

No pectin added blueberry jam

No-pectin-added berry jam
This makes 3 jars of jam, a smaller batch.
6 cups ripe berries
3 cups sugar
1/4 cup of orange or lime or lemon juice (optional)
1 tbls orange or lemon or lime zest (optional)
Cook berries, sugar and juice (if using) over medium high heat in a large heavy pot, stirring occasionally, for 35-40 minutes.
When jam is ready (I freeze a plate and dab some on when it gets to about 218F, put it in the freezer for a minute and check to see if it's jelled enough. If not, cook a couple more minutes, check again) Add 1 T. grated peel if using. Pour into clean jars and process in boiling water bath 10 minutes.
And the pear preserves? These are some of the best preserves ever, I love 'em. I use less than 50/50 fruit and sugar and it works, although you may get a softer set if you reduce the sugar too much. Ashley likes to dunk pieces of toast in jam anyway to get "some on every bite", so it works even if I mess it up a little. The instructions are Carol's, and I've made this a 2 day process by starting the fruit first thing in the morning, letting it set all day, cooking it, then letting it sit overnight and finishing up the next morning. It only takes a few minutes in the morning and a few minutes at night, the time is spent the second morning in cooking and sealing it up in jars. This also works well for peaches, which are delicate and can fall apart if you aren't careful. These are not jam, they're preserves, which are pieces of fruit in a thick syrup. I cook the syrup until it's about the consistency of soft jelly, then add the fruit back in.

Old Fashioned Pear Preserves from Carol (Readinglady)

Yu can also make Pear Preserves if you want chunks of pear suspendedin syrup. By weight use equal amounts of pears and sugar. You also need thejuice and seeds of one lemon. I wouldn't go over about 4 pounds of fruitbecause it takes too long to cook larger amounts. This takes several days,
but it's mainly waiting and the results are wonderful. Here's what you do:

Day 1: Peel, core and cut firm-ripe pears into chunks or slices. Leave pieces large enough to retain character in preserves. Place pears in acidified water (Fruit Fresh or Ascorbic Acid). My note: I use a vitamin C capsule or two, broken open and dissolved in water, and lemon juice and water will work too.

Rinse and drain pears. Place in large bowl and add sugar equal in weight to pears. Add juice of lemon and place pips (seeds) in small bag. It's messy but I also add any of the pulp that was reamed out. Add to bowl. Stir gently
to distribute syrup and refrigerate overnight. Throughout evening stir occasionally to distribute sugar. (I usually don't do this more than once.)

Day 2: Place macerated pears and sugar syrup with lemon seeds in bag in large pan. Bring to a boil and cook about 10 minutes, skimming foam.

Reduce temperature and continue to cook (about 20 minutes) until pears are translucent and candied. Turn off heat and leave pears and syrup overnight. (This can be room temperature.) Cover pan with a cloth, not a lid (to
prevent condensation).

Day 3: Using a slotted spoon lift pears from syrup and place in a strainer. Collect any additional syrup in a bowl beneath the strainer. (I drained syrup left in pan into a bowl and washed the pan because the syrup was
crystallized along the rim then I put the syrup back.) Bring syrup to a boil and cook to gel point stirring frequently. (Depending on how thick you want the syrup, this can be anywhere from 218-222�.) You can also use the frozen plate test.

The advantage is you get to thicken the syrup just the way you like without cooking the delicate pears to the point of disintegration.

Return the pears to syrup and boil 1 minute to reheat them. Pull off heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. (This allows fruit to equalize with the syrup so it doesn't float to the top of the jar.)

Place preserves in sterilized jars and BWB 5 minutes or clean, hot jars and BWB 10 minutes.

Happy canning! (And jamming.)

Annie

I do basically the same for blueberry jam as the post above, with the exception of: I add a few berries that haven't completely ripened, this serves the same purpose as the pectin does. I also use this basic recipe for strawberry and blackberry jams.

Thanks Annie. I don't "preheat" my jars because I put them in the cold water of the bath to start, and remove them hot to fill. But if you don't do that, and you put hot jam into cold jars, they could crack, shatter, whatever. Ya do need to think a little bit about safety and science here. You're dealing with glass and hot water. I highly recommend getting a pair of rubber tipped tongs for lifting the jars and lids out of the hot water and to avoid dropping them back in the water bath, thereby breaking the jars and splashing hot water on yourself. (Ask me how I know!). They sell special jar lifting tongs which are a godsend, and you can buy special racks that lift right out of the pot with all the jars fitted into them, but they are not necessary! Any old tongs will do, but get ones with a sure rubber grip. Safety first! :)

OK, I'm blaming this on lalitha. (grin) I just made 5 half pints and two pints of Nancy's (wizardnm) Maple Apple Jam. I drove out past Magicland to see if they had lettuce in this unseasonably warm spring and they were selling last fall's leftover apples. I got half a bushel of Empire apples for $3. They aren't crisp enough for me to eat fresh/raw, so I picked them up for jam, apple sauce, cooking and baking. I just had to, you know? they were still firm enough to peel nicely with the Peel Away, so that didn't take long to peel and chop them.

I know this recipe comes from Farm Journal, but Nancy gave it to me, so it's Nancy's Maple Apple Jam in all my notes. I love the stuff, and I tossed in a handful of crystallized ginger, just because I like it. I didn't have 6 cups of sugar, I only had 4 cups, so I used that. It's nicely jelled anyway, apples have an inordinate amount of pectin and plenty sweet. I just heard the first jar "ping", and now the second one. I love that sound!

The notes are Nancy's.

APPLE MAPLE JAM

12 C finely chopped apples (about 6lbs. I used the food processor)
6 C sugar
1 C Maple syrup (grade B if possible)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp Allspice
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves

Combine all in a large deep pan. Slowly bring to a boil. Cook to the jellying point. Stir frequently, so it doesn't stick.Pour into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust caps. Process 10 min in BWB.

Yields about 8 half pints. I double this recipe and it works fine.

Happy (and safe) canning!

Annie

Annie,

I am glad to take the blame if comes with a jar or two with a side of salsa..;)

Lalitha

thanks for all the bb jam info everyone, I'm going to give it a try this weekend.

Jude,

The recipe you posted calls for wild strawberry Jello. Have you made it lately? Are you able to get wild strawberry Jello? I miss wild strawberry Jello--I have not seen it in the stores for probably at least two years. Maybe it's just regional--I'm in Arizona. Anybody still able to buy WILD strawberry Jello?

I'm sure for purposes of gelling the jelly, regular strawberry will do the job, but flavor-wise, not nearly as good.

Again to clarify on the BWB. The timing on the jars (10 min.) is the time they spend in a rolling boil. But don't put the room temp. jars right into a boiling hot water bath, they could crack. Put them into some hotish water and let it come to a boil, then start timing.

Here are the exact directions from the National Center for Home Food Preservation at Univ. Georgia. They are inordinately obsessed with jar racks and jar lifters, IMHO, but really those are the safest for lifting the jars. But metal tongs with rubber ends will work. And you don't need a canning rack. Just try and make sure the jars don't bang up against each other or against the pot while they are in there boiling. That would be another reason for them to crack. You can put a cake rack on the bottom of the pot to prevent the jars moving around on the bottom, or even imerse a tea towel in the pot to cushion the bottom, that's one of the easiest things to do if you don't have anything else. That said, I'm kind of lax on protecting my jars and I have never had a jar crack in the 19 years I've been canning. It does happen though. Just DON'T use plastic salad tongs as jar lifters!! I have the scars to prove that doesn't work!

Follow these steps for successful boiling water canning:
(Read through all the instructions before beginning.)

1. Before you start preparing your food, place canner rack in the bottom of a boiling water canner. Fill the canner half full with clean warm water for a canner load of pint jars. For other sizes and numbers of jars, you will need to adjust the amount of water so it will be 1 to 2 inches over the top of the filled jars.

2. Center the canner over the burner and preheat the water to 140 degrees F. for raw-packed foods and to 180 degrees F. for hot-packed foods. You can begin preparing food for your jars while this water is preheating.

3. Load filled jars, fitted with lids and ring bands, into the canner one at a time, using a jar lifter. When moving jars with a jar lifter, make sure the jar lifter is securely positioned below the neck of the jar (below the ring band of the lid). Keep the jar upright at all times. Tilting the jar could cause food to spill into the sealing area of the lid.

If you have a shaped wire rack that has handles to hold it on the canner sides, above the water in the canner, you can load jars onto the rack in the raised position and then use the handles to lower the rack with jars into the water.

4. Add more boiling water, if needed, so the water level is at least one inch above the jar tops. Pour the water around the jars and not directly onto them. For process times over 30 minutes, the water level should be 2 inches above the jars.

5. Turn the heat setting to its highest position, cover the canner with its lid and heat until the water boils vigorously.

6. Set a timer (after the water is boiling) for the total minutes required for processing the food.

7. Keep the canner covered for the process time. The heat setting may be lowered as long as a gentle but complete boil is maintained for the entire process time.

8. Add more boiling water during the process, if needed, to keep the water level above the jar tops. Pour the water around the jars and not directly onto them.

9. If the water stops boiling at any time during the process, turn the heat on its highest setting, bring the water back to a vigorous boil, and begin the timing of the process over, from the beginning (using the total original process time).

10. When the jars have been processed in boiling water for the recommended time, turn off the heat and remove the canner lid. Wait 5 minutes before removing jars to allow the canner contents to settle. This waiting period is not required for safety of the food when using USDA or University of Georgia processing times, however.

11. Using a jar lifter, remove the jars one at a time, being careful not to tilt the jars. Carefully place them directly onto a towel or cake cooling rack, leaving at least one inch of space between the jars during cooling. Avoid placing the jars on a cold surface or in a cold draft.

12. Let the jars sit undisturbed while they cool, from 12 to 24 hours. Do not tighten ring bands on the lids or push down on the center of the flat metal lid until the jar is completely cooled.

13. Remove ring bands from sealed jars. Put any unsealed jars in the refrigerator and use first.

14. Wash jars and lids to remove all residues.

15. Label jars and store in a cool, dry place out of direct light.

You left out one step: listen for that satisfying "PING" from each jar as it cools to indicate that the seal is complete!

And.....I cover the jars with a clean dish towel to absorb the steam and protect them from those nasty cold drafts.

Teresa

When I made chili sauce, I used to let the jars cool upside-down. Does anyone do that?

This is the first I've hear/read to remove the rings. What would be the purpose of that?

There are lots of ways you can take the jars out too. You could drain off the water with a ladle or small pot until the tops were exposed enought to use a hot pad to take them out. The main point to remember is you are dealing with glass and boiling hot water so be careful! Don't burn yourself, don't drop the jars, and don't expose the glass to extreme changes in temperature. Those are the principles!

You don't have to remove the rings, but removing them helps keep them from rusting. There's always the possibility that some moisture could get trapped under the rings and cause them to rust. The only thing about removing the rings is then you have to save them and use them when you open the jars! The lids won't come off as long as the jars are vacume sealed by the BWB, but once you open them, then you need the rings to keep the lids on, just in case, god forbid, a jar of something liquid tips over in the fridge. Again, ask me how I know! :)
You also have to remember to put the rings back on if you give your jams away as gifts.

jasdip, the canning instructions in the US are different than those in Canada. Canada still widely accepts the jams and pickles, etc., sealed without a BWB. The USDA says it is unsafe and "not recommended". Especially jam is so safe that it's nearly impossible to get sick unless you eat moldy jam, which I'm not going to do. I wouldn't hesitate to eat some items even if they were not BWB, but the US government says it's not safe so instructions we post may be different than yours.

I remove the rings because sometimes bits of food or brine get between the ring and the jar and then if you leave the ring on it either rusts on to the jar, or sticks and you can't remove it. I always take them off for that reason and because I reuse them for the next batch of canning.

Lpink, don't jinx yourself. I very flippantly told Jessica when she was here that I'd not had a jar break in years. I stuck some dilled beans into the canner and heard that crack. LOL Yup, thermal shock, the bottom fell right out of the jar and Jessica got a first hand lesson in how that happens....

You also forgot that you have to leave them on the counter for a week or longer, just so everyone (including you) can admire them and then put them away. (grin)

Annie

I don't think the NCHFP/USDA actually uses the word unsafe. It does say paraffin is no longer recommended because of possible mold contamination.

In fact, the NCHFP recommends boiling water bath To prevent growth of molds and loss of good flavor or color.

You could say it's a safety issue as there is a correlation between the mycotoxins in the mold occasionally found in shelved jams and cancer. But largely it's a quality issue. Americans especially tend to process foods in larger amounts and keep them on the shelves longer, so anything that improves the keeping qualities and extends shelf life is a benefit.

This is particularly true with low-sugar preserves. They need processing or cold storage; without it they are very susceptible to spoilage.

In full-sugar preserves the sugar itself is a powerful preservative as it's hydroscopic. That, plus the natural acidity of most fruits (excluding some few such as bananas, melons, mango, etc.) makes preserves inherently safe.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about an unprocessed full-sugar preserve as long as no mold is detected. Old-timers used to just scrape it off, but for obvious reasons the current recommendation is to discard.

Carol

I came to this conversation late and the weekend is almost over so Lalitha may have already had all the help she wants, but I have a Blueberry - Lemon jam recipe and it is for a VERY small batch. In fact, Nano-Canning is my passion. Here it is:

2 Cups fresh washed blueberries slightly crushed
1/4 Cup fresh squeezed Lemon juice
Bit of Lemon zest
2 Tablespoons pectin - get a box, open it and take out 2 TB.
1 1/2 Cups sugar
**If you don't want to use pectin, just get a thermometer and make sure your ingredients reaches 220 F for exactly 1 minute and then process as usual in a water bath. Since it is jam, make it 15 minutes.
Makes 2 - 1/2 pint jars.
If you are interested in more Nano-canning you can go here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007HEXNY2 If you have Kindle or another kind of reader - you can read the basic book. I am writing a specialty book now, due to high demand. Or, go to my blog - link is by my name - and click on the book "Nano-Canning". Good luck! Everyone loves this recipe because the lemon juice brightens up the blueberries! Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Domestically Impaired Guide to Retro Kitchen Arts

Carol, you're right, they don't say "not safe" and I know you and I have discussed this and I know it's a pet peeve for both of us, so I apologize for not being more concise.

For a very long time the NCHFP/USDA did not differentiate between a quality problem and a safety issue, they still do not with many items. They simply say it's "not recommended".

I'm confident enough about full sugar jams that I happily ate LindaC's crabapple jelly, preserved with a layer of paraffin and never hesitated.

As for jasdip's "chili sauce", I'd have to know what it was before I'd conjecture, LOL, for all I know she's canning a beef based chili sauce with a pound of butter. (grin) But, she very well may get different directions from the Canadian experts than she would from the American ones, which is what I was trying to convey.

Annie

OK, I have a question about the lids. I picked strawberries yesterday and made jam. I miscalculated on how many jars I would need and I had a couple too many left over. My question is, when you put the lids in hot water before sealing, if you don't use them are they reusable? I know that you can't reuse them after processing, but if they have only been heated will that cause a problem later? Since I didn't know I threw them away but would like to know for the future.

Yes the heated but unused lids are still good.
Let them dry and put them back in the box for next time!!

I always make sure I've got a couple of extras in the pan just in case my recipe yields more than expected.

Deanna

I agree, they're fine. Like Deanna, I've always got a couple of extra lids staying hot, along with a couple of extra jars clean and ready. Sometimes my recipe makes more, sometimes less. Sometimes I just misjudge, LOL, like when I think I've snapped 9 quarts of beans and it's really only 7 quarts.

I'm an optimist like that. (grin)

Annie

I just posted about a really fast and easy way to make marmalade in any small batch amount. If you have a pressure cooker and like citrus: limes, lemons, oranges or kumquats, you can do this. I thought it was great. The author of the recipe says she has made as little as two lemons worth in a small pressure cooker.

Lee

Here is a link that might be useful: Easy Pressure Cooker Marmalade

thanks, Lee, I love marmalade, and I'm the only person in the family that does, so a very small and quick batch would be the only way I'd make it any more. Dad used to help me eat it, now it would have to be all me...

Annie

Please explain what "widely accepted" means with regards to canning/preserving in Canada. The official, government endorsed recommendations are for boiling water bath processing for high acid foods, and pressure canning for low acid ones. Mind you, lots of folks everywhere do some pretty scary things (oven canning, anyone?) because someone they knew did it and lived to tell about it. I don't think jasdip's method of cooling her chili sauce jars upside down is a safe way of making preserves, although I've heard of others doing the same. My mom always sealed her jams with paraffin and thought I was truly weird for using a BWB. When I lived in England 20 yrs ago, folks sealed their jams with a circle of waxed paper, and many never even refrigerated open jars. Many of us have managed to survive a multitude of dumb experiences over our lifetimes, but our government health protection agencies have a duty to give the best advice available based on scientific and statistical population studies, not anecdotal experiences.

Here is a link that might be useful: Health Canada website

KalamityKelli (Love ur login :) I will try this.. Ages ago I tried a sample of simply divine blueberry jam at a farmer's market and the lady said she used some orange zest and orange juice.

Lee --> I am the sole marmalade lover in the family, so the small batch recipe will be perfect for me. My lemon tree is overproducing.. So lemon marmalade it is..

And if you want something really divine, add 1 TBLSP of cointreau or triple sec! Just another one of mama's little secrets!

cooksnsews, although Canada has guidelines for canning and they are different in some instances than ours here in the states, they just don't seem to have the "oh my G*d, you're going to die if you do that" reaction to some old canning methods that we do here in the United States.

For instance, I didn't water bath Chase's dill pickles when I made them for Dad Pickles get soft and mushy if they are BWB. I told Dad it wasn't recommended by the government agencies and he told me he was over 70 and would eat the blasted pickles the way he liked them, LOL. The reaction I got from my Canadian family members when Dad brought out homecanned dill pickles was something like "eh, you know they say you shouldn't do that any more". Here, even if I tell people how I canned them and what the ramifications could be, I will be chastised about poisoning my family and ebe told how those pickles should only be disposed of while wearing a haz-mat suit for fear of contamination.

I think everyone should know the risks they are taking and then decide whether they want to take them. Being poisoned by jam is pretty low on the risk factor scale.

As for water bathing jam, I've done it for years, Grandma even did it because she hated paraffin and found that lids were just so much more consistent. LindaC is the only person I know that still uses the stuff but I would eat her jam without a second thought, it's just not that big a danger.

As I mentioned, I wouldn't conjecture about the chili sauce, because I don't know what's in it.

Annie

I remember sealing jars of jam with paraffin 'way back in my other life and I won't do that again! Even though I was green and pretty ignorant about canning, I could see that was just an accident waiting to happen. Thankfully, that accident never did happen. Now....the sewing machine needle through the fingernail and breaking off in the finger - that's another story.