I’m checked in, so today was cherry and rhubarb ( from food in jars)… most of the produce has been processed!!
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I grew up with a hillside of blackberries behind our home. These were the smaller, rounder berries bursting with deliciousness. The blossoms were heaven scented, too. Every summer we’d pick the thorny bushes clean, can up tons of blackberry jelly that was supposed to last us through the coming winter and spring, but usually went to Christmas gifting. There was an ersatz type ‘cobbler’ in there once in awhile and a good portion of berries were frozen. Mother made a attempt to grow the thornless Burbank variety, but they didn’t really flourish. Fond memories growing up with blackberries.
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I would be the only one eating a blackberry baked good and I am unlikely to eat it all before it deteriorated. I’d love to try jam bars I could freeze
With regard to blackberry jam; what are the pros and cons of removing seeds? This is what I have
Strainer vs pulling out the food mill?
Before or after cooking a bit?
As a fellow PNW dweller, you will understand when I say that for the last 3 weeks, I’ve been snacking on random blackberries I’m grabbing around my neighborhood as I do my lunchtime walk away from the desk.
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I love this time of year. For the blackberries, I keep a picking kit in the car: leather gloves, heavy long-sleeve shirt, sun hat, pruners, empty yogurt containers and sling which allows me to carry the containers hands free. See berries - will pick (as long as I’m wearing long pants and the right shoes)!
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We busted out the ice cream maker at the start of the season and I’ve been asking the kids to pick the next flavor. Older kid found blackberry lime sorbet in ‘the perfect scoop’ and I told him to go pick 4 cups of blackberries. This was 3 weeks ago? Still waiting…
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i’ve successfully frozen Dorie’s jammers, which are made with jam.
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I was thinking the same thing! I was wondering about macerating with sugar first. I imagine you waste some sugar, but wouldn’t it soften the berries and make the straining easier?
I have never worked with blackberries and the straining part is intimidating me.
If I cook the berries down a bit, would I need a bit of water? How much and does that change the sugar ratio?
Are previously frozen berries easier to strain?
Previously frozen but defrosted berries are easier to work with, yes. But I do it with fresh berries all the time.
Don’t be intimidated by straining. It’s a simple thing you can accomplish with a small-mesh sieve set over a bowl and a wooden spoon or (what I use) a metal soup ladle.
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1 four ounce bottle of blackberry jam.
500 grams berries, 200 grams sugar, 1/4 tsp salt , 2 Tbs lemon juice.I think it’s very sweet, and a little loose, but it will get eaten!
Also, I Tb sugar mixed with 1 tsp powdered pectin, one minute before finishing the boil. 
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Loose is good (in my book)!
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Please help! I’m getting ready to make the much vaunted tomato jam from FIJ. My questions are these: for 5lbs tomatoes, it calls for 3.5 cups sugar and 8 T bottled lime juice - has anyone cut the sugar down? Or used fresh lime juice in place of the bottled? Our home grown tomatoes seem pretty sweet already, so just wondering about this. TIA
I did not cut down sugar but I used fresh citrus juice (some lemon, some lime, because that’s what I had), but also citric acid powder.
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I think bottled is called for because it has a set consistent acidity, so if you follow the recipe it is properly acidulated.
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Thank you both - it does sound plausible about the lime juice. I may reduce the sugar by 1/2 cup or so.
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@ChristinaM is right about the bottled citrus juice. It’s standardized for acidity so it’s preferred over fresh citrus .
And yes you can decrease the sugar. It’s not a safety concern.
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12 jars of tomatoes today. I had to run two canners simultaneously. Def the biggest load I’ve canned in one shot in a long time. These were all from my garden; about 2/3 were the heirloom Cherokee purples, and 1/3 the mystery tomato sold as Amish paste but probably something else.
One jar didn’t seal, so into the fridge it went. Sometimes I just turn unsealed jars into stewed tomatoes and eat them like that, but I just finished another jar of stewed and mom won’t eat them, so this jar prob. will meet a different destiny.
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Impressive!
A jar of nectarine jam, a teaspoon of peach brandy, just enough for a little hit in this 5.6 oz. Jar.
Raspberry cake filling, this is for the refrigerator rather than long term storage. Raspberries cooked with sugar, cornstarch, lemon, I used citric acid.
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Rereading Jacgues Pepin The Apprentice and this caught my eye. Talking about Gloria.
“She made an extraordinary strawberry jam that was “cooked” in the summer sun. The berries were added to a sugar syrup and boiled for a couple of minutes, then the whole mixture was poured into a roasting pan, covered with a screen to keep out insects, and left in the sun for several days until the moisture evaporated and the berries reached an almost candied state.”
I
Sounds delicious but has anyone tried this nowadays.?
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