Category Archives: Jams and Jellies

Going Wild with Cherries

Raw, Washed CherriesQuick! Cherries’ peak growing season is so short, you don’t want to miss making the most of any fresh ones you can get a hold of. If you buy cherries from a typical grocery store, you are likely to find the best deals of the year during the early summer months of June and July.

cropped cherry jarsThere are so many ways to preserve cherries that instead of describing each method here, you’ll find complete recommendations on the National Center for Home Food Preservation website by clicking the blue links, below.

With about 3 pounds (2 quarts) of sour cherries, try making Cherry Jam with powdered pectin or the equally scrumptious Cherry Jam with liquid pectin.  Goes great on biscuits, thumb-print cookies, or mixed into plain yogurt.

If you have a bit more time available, then you’ll be able to prepare the juice needed for making Cherry Jelly with powdered pectin or Cherry Jelly with liquid pectin.

Pitting CherriesAnother option for sour cherries is to can Sour Cherries – Whole. And, the very same procedure and process times are used to can Sweet Cherries – Whole. You could even mix sweet and sour cherries!

For an extra sweet spread option, can Sweet Cherry Topping, made with Bing cherries, water, sugar, and liquid pectin.

Cherry Syrup is another way to make and can a sweet topping, this one more pourable/liquid-like and less spreadable/solid-like than the Sweet Cherry Topping, above. You may use any type of cherry for the syrup.

Boiling Cherries into SyrupLowering Jars into Canner

In case canning is not your preferred preservation method, you could freeze your Sour Cherries or Sweet Cherries. The difference between the two is due to balancing the flavor of sour cherries with slightly more sugar. Sour cherries can be packed in 50% sugar syrup or a sugar pack, whereas sweet cherries are packed in 40% sugar syrup or a dry pack, no sugar added.

Last but not least, Dried Cherries make a great snack, either plain or as an ingredient in fancy trail mix with nuts and chocolate pieces. Drying cherries takes just a few steps – start with ripened cherries and stem, wash, drain, and pit them, leaving whole, halving or chopping as you please. Whole cherries need to be dipped in boiling water until skins split to help moisture escape while they dry. For sour cherries, you will syrup blanch them for 10 minutes. Make sure you have 24-36 hours available to check on the cherries as the complete the drying process in a dehydrator.

Do I need to pre-sterilize my jars before canning?

Even when you purchase brand and shiny new jars in a box covered in plastic wrap, those jars are still not in a sterile environment. In addition to contamination by microorganisms that cannot be seen with our bare eyes, packaged jars may accumulate dust, small bits of debris, and even chips of glass in the case of breakage (which does happen sometimes in all the steps of transport from factory to store to home).

Whether brand new or re-used many times over, you should always clean jars just prior to filling them when canning. Wash jars in a dishwasher or by hand, using detergent and rinsing well. Clean jars should then be kept warm prior to filling.  You can leave them in the closed dishwasher after the cycle, place them in your canner as it is preheating, or create a separate water bath to keep jars clean and warm.

Washing is also a good time to inspect jars for any cracks or chips, discarding or re-purposing those jars for non-canning uses if any imperfections are found. If you see scales or film from hard water left on your jars, then remove this by soaking jars for several hours in a solution containing 1 cup of vinegar (5% acidity) per gallon of water.

burner on high for bringing water to a boilIn order to actually sterilize jars, they need to be covered by boiling water for 10 minutes (at sea level…see note about altitude adjustment, below). When a process time is 10 minutes or more, the jars will be sterilized DURING processing in the canner. Therefore, when process times are 10 minutes or more, pre-sterilization of jars is not needed. It doesn’t hurt your product to do it anyway, but it does require additional time and energy and is unnecessary.

To pre-sterilize jars, place the cleaned jars right-side-up on a rack in a canner and fill the jars and canner with water to 1-inch above the tops of the jars. Bring the water to a boil and then boil for 10 minutes at altitudes less than 1,000 feet elevation.  Add 1 additional minute for each additional 1,000 feet of elevation. When you are ready to fill the jars, remove the jars one at a time, emptying the water from them back into the canner.  This will keep the hot water in the canner for processing filled jars.

timer set to 5 minutesSometimes people choose to increase a 5-minute process time for certain jams and jellies to 10 minutes so that they do not have to pre-sterilize the jars.  The extra process time is not harmful to most gels and spoilage should not be an issue as long as the filled jars get a full 10-minute treatment in boiling water.  (And remember your altitude to increase this process time as needed.)

So, in summary:

Is a 5-minute process time enough to sterilize jars? No. If you are using a process time of only 5 minutes, such as for some jellied products, then you need to pre-sterilize jars before filling them (or increase the process time to 10 minutes, plus any altitude adjustments).

If a process time is 10 minutes or more (at sea level) then will the jars be sterilized? Yes, but be sure to wash and rinse them well, and keep warm, before filling them with food.

Brighten Up your Days with Marmalades

Cold temperatures and gray skies may be begging you for uplifting treats this winter. When you’re not up for braving the conditions outside, why not get busy in the warmth of your own kitchen? Making marmalades is not only fun to do, but there will also be plenty of delicious cheer to share with neighbors and visitors!

Most of these recipes do not require any additional pectin, as there is enough natural pectin in the ingredients. Pectin is a fiber found in the cell walls of many fruits and vegetables, though its content varies widely. Pectin is water-soluble, enabling it to form a gel-like compound that characterizes jellied products when combined with certain proportions of water, acid and sugar. In general, citrus fruits contain the most pectin, although apples, peaches, berries, and a few other fruits also contain a lot of pectin in their skins. Specifically, the most pectin is found in the white membrane located just under the skin of citrus fruits.

Oranges

For a super citrusy taste experience with grapefruit, orange, and lemon, try Citrus Marmalade.

If you still have apples from your harvest or can find a high-quality, tart variety at a grocery store, then you might like Apple Marmalade.

Pull out your frozen peach slices or look for peaches in the fresh or frozen sections of the grocery store to make this Peach-Orange Marmalade.

Warm spices (cinnamon, clove, and allspice) make Tomato Marmalade a unique seasonal specialty.

Cranberry Marmalade is a holiday favorite; just make sure you have a box of powdered pectin on hand.

jar of preserves

Be Merry with Cranberries

Cranberries

Use fresh cranberries in these innovative recipes from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) to spice up your holiday meals. The yields will provide you with some for now, some for later, and some to give away! Elizabeth Andress, Director of the NCHFP, had this to say about these exciting recipes, “Both of these can be made during cranberry season and used as delightful homemade gifts.”

Cranberry Orange Chutney stands on its own as a side dish, or can be spooned over or basted into ham, turkey, chicken, or pork. Cranberries have so much natural pectin that the final product is almost jellied.  Raisins add texture to tang from orange juice and zest, while the warm spice of ginger and cinnamon round out the overall flavor. You could add small amounts of other dried spices if you like, such as cloves, dry mustard, or cayenne pepper. After it’s made, chutney will continue to set over the next 24 hours, but you can eat it once it cools down. Store un-canned chutney in clean storage containers and refrigerate. Remember to also refrigerate opened jars if you don’t finish it all at once.

Spicy Cranberry Salsa brings something new to the table by essentially switching out tomatoes for cranberries. The flavor is highlighted by Serrano peppers and honey. Use this salsa as a dip for chips, as a side with meat, or as a spread stirred into cream cheese. This recipe, procedure, and process time are also available in Spanish.

Loose cranberries

This entry was inspired by an article written by April Reese Sorrow and Elizabeth L. Andress for the National Center for Home Food Preservation.