Perfect. Easy. Blackberry jelly.
There are 3 Steps to making perfect Jelly.
- Get some Blackberries. Yea! Picking!
- Make Juice
- Make Jelly
STEP 1: Blackberries
Before we can make perfect jelly, we must get some blackberries! You can buy them. You can put in blackberry “canes” or bushes and raise your own. Or, you can forage.
The chickens aren’t the only ones scratching around this place looking for tasty bites.
STEP 2: Juice
Once you’ve collected enough berries (about 2 quarts) it’s time to make juice. Don’t worry, you won’t need a juicer to make this juice.
First, wash them. Then transfer them into a saucepan.
Add enough filtered water to cover the berries (to learn why and how we filter our water go here).
I added about 2 cups.
Now squeeze the juice from one lime and one lemon into the saucepan with the berries and water. You can use 2 lemons if you don’t have a lime.
It’s ok if the pulp and seeds fall into the pan. We will be straining the juice in a few minutes. 
Get the heat turned up to medium-high and start smashing the fruit. 
Bring the mixture to a boil. In just a few minutes it will look like this. Keep mashing!
Now, to strain the juice from the berries. There are several great ways to do this. You can use cheesecloth. You can use a jelly bag. You can use a strainer.
Pour the berry mixture into the strainer and let the juice drain into the container below.
To encourage your berries to release all the juice, you can use a spoon to apply pressure.
You can also give the cloth a squeeze. Be careful, don’t burn yourself.
NOTE: Be gentle, if you squeeze too much it can result in a cloudy jelly.
STEP 3: Make Jelly
Now that we have some fresh juice we can make the jelly.
Pour the juice (4 cups) into a saucepan (I washed and reused the pan I used to make the juice).
NOTE: If your berries weren’t very juicy & you are a little short you can cheat and add a little apple juice.
At this point go ahead and cut open 2 packages of LIQUID fruit pectin. It must be Liquid Pectin. Powdered pectin will not work. If you use powdered pectin you will end up with blackberry, sticky syrup instead of blackberry jelly. No Powder. Must use liquid pectin. If you don’t have any liquid pectin, but have 15 boxes of the powdered stuff – drop everything and go to the store. Powdered won’t work. Trust me on this one. Go get some liquid pectin.
Now that we are all clear on that, let’s get the liquid (not powdered) pectin ready to dump into the jelly.
Use scissors to cut open the (liquid) pectin packages and put them in jars to hold them upright. Set aside.
We’re going to need 7 1/2 Cups of sugar. I use organic, non-GMO pure cane sugar.
Pour the cane sugar into the saucepan with the juice.
Stir, stir, stir and bring to a boil.
Once boiling stir in both packages of liquid pectin. 
Bring to a full rolling boil (keep stirring). Boil 1 minute. Use a timer. Don’t overcook it. Remove from heat.
TROUBLESHOOTING: If you overcook the jelly it will be a sticky, gooey mess. It is important to bring this to a full rolling boil for 1 minute and not longer. Overcooked jelly can taste scorched and is thick and sticky. There is not a good way to salvage overcooked jelly (that I know of). You can reheat it and thin it with some water to make a syrup (as long as it doesn’t taste scorched) – but it will never be jelly. 
Skim off foam.
Ladle into sterilized, hot jars leaving 1/2 inch head-space.
Wipe rims with a clean, damp cloth. Top with sterilized lids and adjust rings.
Process in boiling water-bath canner 10 minutes.
If you are new to this process here are some tips:
- Be sure you are filling hot jars with hot jelly liquid. Filling cold jars with hot liquid can cause jars to spontaneously explode in your kitchen. I’ve done it. It’s startling.
- Put the canning jars and lids in a clean dishwasher and set it to sanitize (don’t use soap) before you begin making the jelly. When you are ready to fill jars they will be screaming hot freshly sterilized from the dishwasher.
- When adjusting rings – you want them to be fingertip tight. Tight enough that water won’t get in, but not so tight that Hulk couldn’t open them.
- Use an elevated rack to hold jars. These are great and allow you to dunk all your jars into the bath at once (most canners come with a rack).
- Be sure your water is just beginning to simmer when you lower your jars in. If you put semi-warm jars into crazy-hot, boiling water this can also cause jars to spontaneously explode in your canner. I’ve also done this. It’s not as loud or shocking, but just as messy.
- Be sure the water level is 1-2 inches over the jars. Add additional boiling water if necessary.
- Bring back to boil – then start a timer for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes remove jars and set to cool.
Now you know how to have crystal-clear, sparkling jelly every time.
Be sure to join the email list (for free) here.
Learn more about becoming a member here. Joining is cheap & your pants will thank you.
Happy Canning!
Candi
| Servings |
half pints
|
- 4 cups juice
- 7 1/2 cups cane sugar
- 2 packages liquid fruit pectin (6oz)
Ingredients
Jelly
|
|
To make Juice:
Wash berries & put in a saucepan. Add enough water to cover berries (1-2 cups), lemon juice, and lime juice. Do not worry about seeds or pulp, we will be straining the juice.
Bring to a boil & mash with a potato masher. Continue to simmer and mash until all the berries are destroyed.
Use cheesecloth or a milk strainer or a towel-lined colander to strain your berry mixture.
To make the jelly:
Pour the juice into a saucepan. Open 2 packages of liquid fruit pectin (powdered will not work). Use small jars to hold your pectin upright while you prepare the jelly.
Add sugar to the juice in the saucepan. Bring to boil. Stir in liquid pectin. Bring to a full rolling boil. Boil 1 minute (no longer).
You can freeze or process this jelly in jars with a water bath canner.
To can:
Remove jelly from heat. Ladle hot jelly into hot sterilized jars. Adjust lids and rings leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Process 10 minutes in a water bath. Set to cool.
Disclaimer: Always follow directions specific to your equipment and elevation for canning. Dispose of any home canned goods that show signs of spoilage which can include: bulging lids, leaking, corrosion, cloudy, mushy, moldy foods or disagreeable odors.
){kind=link}
){kind=link}