Blackberry Jam

My last post was about the strawberry jam I made and I had a request to share the recipe. It is not a secret recipe, just the recipe provided in the sure-jell box. Kroger had blackberries on sale for $1 per container, so I decided to try some blackberry jam. I bought 6 containers and this left me plenty for the jam and a little snack as I was making it. For the jam, you pretty much just follow the directions in the sure-jell box. I once again decided to do the low-sugar recipe. If you are planning on doing the low-sugar, make sure you buy the sure-jell for low-sugar or no-sugar recipes. The box does say to use your canner, but there is a little trick Mary taught me so that you don't have to have a canner! Here is how you do it...

-Wash jars and let dry (I needed 7 jars for the strawberry recipe and 6 jars for the blackberry jam) I used 8 oz. jars for both jams.

-prepare fruit as directed (for the blackberry you needed 5 cups of crushed berries) I used my pastry cutter (official name?) to mash them up one container at a time. Mash up until you reach the 5 cups...and then eat the rest. :) Measure out your 4 cups of sugar in a separate bowl and set aside.

-Bring a skillet of water to a boil and then shut off heat. Put the lids in the boiled water and let sit until ready to use them.

-Put crushed fruit, 1/2 tsp butter (reduces foaming), and sure-jell (for the low sugar option you need to mix 1/4 C of sugar in with sure-jell before adding) in pan and bring to a rapid boil (unable to stire down) while stirring constantly. Once at a rolling boil, add sugar. Bring mixture back to a rolling boil and let boil for one minute.

-After one minute, shut off heat. If there is any foam on top, skim off of top.

-Pour jam into jars and clean off any jam on the outside of the jar.

-Dry lids from boiled water and put on top and then screw the bands on tight.

-turn the jars upside down and let sit for 5 minutes. This gets the lids really hot from the boiling jam and will make the jars seal without using a canner.

-After 5 minutes turn the jam right side up and let cool completely. After cooled, make sure all seals are sealed. If you push on the top and it pops back, it did not seal.

-Store jam in a cool, dry, dark place for up to 1 year (or longer). If you had any seals that did not seal, you will need to refrigerate that jar and use first.

Thanks to the Kroger sales, this made for some cheap jam. This recipe made 6-8ox jars of jam. I spent $6 in berries (and had a few to spare), probably a dollars worth of sugar, $2 for one box of sure-jell, plus the cost of the jars (one-time expense...unless you need to buy new seals). Overall I think that is about $9 (plus the cost of jars) for 6 jars of jam. I would say that is a bargain since I was looking at once very small jar of blackberry jam at the store was almost $4 per jar for a name-brand jar.