Homemade Blackberry Jam Recipe

Preparing jars for canning

Always wash jars with hot soapy water or run them through the dishwasher before starting. Boil the jars to sterilize them. If you ran the jars through the dishwasher there is no need to boil them.

I boil my jars as I am getting my ingredients together. I will use the same pot with the leftover hot water that I sterilized my jars in to process my jars in the hot water bath.

Once the jars boil turn the burner off an leave the jars in the pot of hot water until ready to fill your jars with cooked jam.

Preparing the fruit for canning

In a large bowl crush the berries a cup at a time. I don’t have a potato masher so I just use the bottom of a heavy glass.

As I crush and measure the berries I pour them into a large 8 cup glass measuring cup. Now I don’t know about you but I don’t enjoy chewing a mouth full of seeds so after I crush all of the berries I scoop about half of them out and place a fine mesh strainer over another bowl, put the berry pulp and seeds in the strainer and let the juice drain from the berry pulp. Use the bottom of your glass and really smash the pulp to extract as much juice as possible.

Pour the juice back into the glass measuring bowl.If you are short of the 4 cups you can add enough water to bring it back up to the four cups. Or if you have more berries you can mash them and strain the juice till you have enough.

A tiny bit of water isn’t going to make any difference in the flavor of your jam so don’t worry about it if you use water.

What size pot should you use to cook the jam?

You will need at least a 5 quart pot. You should have a pot dedicated to jam and jelly making. The pot needs to be big enough that  once your sugar and berry pulp/juice turns to liquid there is enough head space that your pot will not boil over when the hard boiling stage is hit.

Once the mixture comes to a hard boil it is going to grow. The bubbles will reach the top of a 5 quart pot. Do not attempt to use a pot that is smaller than a 5 quart.

Why add butter or margarine when cooking Jam or Jelly?

Butter or margarine helps cut down on the amount of foam that will float to the top of your jam while it is boiling.

I’m not sure why this works but believe me it makes a huge difference. You will need  to skim as much foam as possible that settles on the top of the jam before you put it in your jars. Adding the butter or margarine will cut down on the amount of foam significantly so you might as well do what you can to cut down on it.

Get the Pectin ready in advance

Take the pouch of Certo Liquid Pectin and cut the top off. Not just a corner. Cut straight across the top of the pouch. Place it standing up in a coffee cup on your counter near the jam pot.

What does a hard boil or a roiling boil look like? Check out my short video to see.

It doesn't take long for your mixture to come to a full boil.  Maybe 10 minutes or so depending on your stove but the mixture should start to boil. You need to bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. That means as you stir the bubbles will not disappear.  If the bubbles go down as you stir you have not reached that point yet. At this point you will see that the mixture seems to be growing. That is why you needed the large pot.

If you did not heed my warning at this point you have probably been burnt, your stove top is a mess and you are jumping around yelling as you try to wash the scalding hot sticky jam off your hand.

If you did listen to me then your mixture has probably reached the hard boil point. Now is when you add the liquid pectin to the pot. Once the pectin hits the hot liquid it will stop boiling.

Stir the pectic in.

Once the mixture comes to a full hard boil once again start your timer. To get a good set for your jam you need to boil for exactly ONE minute. No more no less. This is one of the most important parts of making jelly or jam.
At the one minute mark remove your pot from the heat. Let the jam settle. Skim the foam off the top with a tablespoon and discard.

Filling your jars

At the one minute mark remove your pot from the heat. Let the jam settle. Skim the foam off the top with a tablespoon and discard.

Begin filling your jars. Leave ¼ headspace. Wipe off the edges of the jars with a damp paper towel.

Place a flat lid on and screw on the band. Do not tighten the lid too tight. Just twist it on and place the filled jar on a towel on the counter.

I fill one or two jars at a time, wipe the rims, place the lid and band on and place on the towel out of my way.

This is where a canning funnel comes in handy. You don't need one but I promise it makes the job so much easier while filling jars with hot jam.

The most important part of this step is to make sure you wiped the edges of the jar rims off well. It is important to get a good seal between the rubber rim on the inside of the flat lid and the lip of the jar.

Don't worry about any jam that has run down the jar. It will boil off in the hot water bath.

Once all of your jars are filled process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Blackberry Jam on a fresh baked homemade biscuit

Enjoy!

Homemade Blackberry Jam on a homemade biscuit

How to make Blackberry Jam

Ingredients

• 4 cups of crushed blackberries
• 7 cups sugar
• 1 packet of Sure Jell Certo Liquid Pectin
• 1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine

Directions

1. Add the sugar to the 5 quart pot.
2. Rinse and drain the blackberries.
3. In a large bowl crush the blackberries with a potato masher or the bottom of a heavy glass.
4. Remove some of the seeds and pulp if desired.
5. Strain pulp you have removed in a fine mesh strainer catching the juice to be used to top off the remaining blackberry pulp and juice if needed.
6. Measure the crushed blackberries and juice.
7. Top off the crushed blackberries and juice until you have 4 cups of berry pulp and juice.
8. Add the berry pulp to the pot with the sugar and stir to moisten the sugar.
9. Turn burner on medium low, stirring occasionally.
10. Add margarine to the pot.
11. Once the sugar is mostly dissolved turn the heat on medium high.
12. Continue to stir until the mixture comes to a full boil and continues to bubble up when stirring.
13. Add the packet of pectin, stirring continually and allow to return to a full boil.
14. Set a timer for 1 minute.
15. Keep stirring for the entire minute.
16. Remove from the burner after one minute.
17. Fill prepared jars and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Print the Homemade Blackberry Jam recipe below

Blackberry Jam Recipe

• Author: Arlene Mobley-Flour On My Face
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins
• Total Time: 55 minutes
• Yield: 8 - half Pints 1x
• Category: Canning Recipes
• Method: Hot Water Bath Canning
• Cuisine: American

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Description

Homemade Blackberry Jam recipe spread on a freshly baked biscuit is perfect for a Sunday morning breakfast.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 4 cups of crushed blackberries
• 7 cups sugar
• 1 packet of Sure Jell Certo Liquid Pectin
• 1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine

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Instructions

1. Add the sugar to the 5 quart pot.
2. Rinse and drain the blackberries.
3. In a large bowl crush the blackberries with a potato masher or the bottom of a heavy glass.
4. Remove some of the seeds and pulp if desired.
5. Strain pulp you have removed in a fine mesh strainer catching the juice to be used to top off the remaining blackberry pulp and juice if needed.
6. Measure the crushed blackberries and juice.
7. Top off the crushed blackberries and juice until you have 4 cups of berry pulp and juice.
8. Add the berry pulp to the pot with the sugar and stir to moisten the sugar.
9. Turn burner on medium low, stirring occasionally.
10. Add margarine to the pot.
11. Once the sugar is mostly dissolved turn the heat on medium high.
12. Continue to stir until the mixture comes to a full boil and continues to bubble up when stirring.
13. Add the packet of pectin, stirring continually and allow to return to a full boil.
14. Set a timer for 1 minute.
15. Keep stirring for the entire minute.
16. Remove from the burner after one minute.
17. Fill prepared jars and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

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Notes

Calories are per ½ pint jar

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Nutrition

• Calories: 781

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