Blackberry Jam Instructions

Today was an exciting day of first time jam making with my dear friend Shelly. She had collected blackberries that were growing around her house and brought them over so I could teach her to make blackberry jam. She did a great job and in the end, turned out 6 wonderful jars of jam for her family.

We started by washing the berries and removing any stems.

Then I scopped out the berries one cup at a time for her to mash up. They don't have to be smashed to death, you just want to release the juices a bit. When we were done, we have 5 cups of berries.

We placed the berries in a large pot, added powdered pectin, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon butter to keep the foaming down. We brought the mixture to a rolling boil, stiring the entire time. Once we reached the boiling point, we added in 7 pre-measured cups of sugar that were sitting in a bowl waiting for us. Always make sure you have your sugar ready because it needs to be added quickly and you won't have time to measure it out then.

We then brought the jam back to a full rolling boil and then continued to boil it for one full minute.

We then ladled the jam into pre-washed jars and placed the lids on them. Next, we placed the jars into a water bath and brought the water to a full rolling boil. Once boiling, we timed it for ten minutes.

After the ten minutes were up, the jars were removed and placed on the stove to cool. You could see the excitement in her face as each jam jar started to "pop" and seal.

We let the jam cool on the stove for about 2 hours. The jam set correctly and the taste was fantastic!