@shrinkrap, think you’d be fine with macerating, sugaring to your taste, and using a water bath.
I always reduce my sugar, but use commercial pectin, with excellent results. I’ve been supplying my family near and far + friends with jam for 35 years now. At this point, no failures, really. Occasionally one of the lids pop up, and will put it back in the water bath to reseal. Below is a pic of raspberry jam project from last week. 2 jars were gifted already.
Okay, thanks! Your jam is jammin’! Wasn’t sure if I was going to use pectin, but I do have some bulk low sugar Durgch gel pectin someone here recommended. I think the idea is you can get the set you want without cooking so long it dulls the flavor? For years I’d been using Pomona, so I’m still getting my bearings, and the last batch was a bit stiff.
Yes, you can get the set you want usually. I frequently cut the pectin down a little too, or add more fruit. Yes to the fresh taste with pectin, as you only bring the fruit to a boil w/pectin, and then to a rolling boil for 1 minute with the rest of the sugar. I’ll sometimes do peaches or apples w/o pectin, as their flavors can become more complex. But love the fresh berry taste especially.
Pluot jam (Dapple Dandy and Flavor Grenade )
Probably behind a paywall but while if didn’t agree with everything
I’ve read, and doesn’t include any discussion of using pectin, I found it very helpful.
First blackberry picking of the season. Jam making later this morning.
About 4-5 quarts. 10 qt stockpot in background for scale.
Big curbside pickup today to fill in some supply gaps. Some sorting and prep today than big cooks tomorrow. I’m making and canning two gallons of pasta sauce in the morning (morning starts when I get up - usually around 4a). My wife is making a gallon of tomato-basil soup in the afternoon (while I take a nap) and I’ll can that when she is done. Scored two cases of wide-mouth pint jars last week and between those and empty stock we’re covered - mostly pints, some quarts.
I’ll try really hard to remember to take pictures.
Jams finished for today. Another project for tomorrow.
I’ve had amazing luck reusing commercial jam or curd bottles for jam/jelly projects. There’s a lot of rubber inside the commercial jars, which makes for an excellent seal. I don’t use those jars for gifting, but for casually supplying friends, family & ourselves. After one use they get recycled or tossed. No glass recycle in my community. Oh, one thing to remember if using, don’t put sweet stuff in jars that have held savory stuff. I can taste the difference.
My Sunday project. A little over two hours to make two and a half gallons of pasta sauce. An hour simmering. Ran the jars through the dishwasher while cooking. I can do a gallon at a time in my Presto 16 qt canner with six pints and a quart. All quarts are too big for just the two of us. I can do seven quarts at once but scaling the recipe back that little is a pain, so I live with two and a half canner loads.
I’m a mise en place guy so all the prep for veg was done ahead on the big board and scraped in as needed. I saute just about everything before going into the sauce.
The recipe bears a resemblance to the USDA home canning recipe on which it is based.
1 gallon tomato sauce
1 gallon diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
2-1/2 lbs ground beef
1-1/2 lbs bulk sausage
8 cloves garlic, minced
5 medium onions, diced
5 bell peppers, diced
3 carrots, diced
2 lbs mushrooms
3 Tbsp oregano
A lot of basil, chiffonade
4 tsp salt
4 tsp black pepper
I even remembered to take pictures. I split the batch between two stock pots. Here is one.
My trusty Presto canner, a wedding gift to my mother in 1957 that she gave to me, unopened, in about 1982.
Almost all the product.
For those of you counting jars, we ended up having a pint for dinner. *grin* All sealed easily. Nothing like keeping your jar lips clean!Has anyone here canned a shelf stable caramel or chocolate sauce? I swear a competitor told me they simply pour their caramel sauce into jars while hot and don’t process further, sounds too easy to be true 
I haven’t, but I definitely believe it. The heat will cause it to seal, and the sugar makes it safe. Sterilized jars and lids, you’re good to go. Just put upside down for 5 minutes to ensure enough heat on the seal.
Oh my. That sounds scary. Remember that getting a seal is just thermodynamics (okay a little fluid dynamics). Food safety is biochemistry. Getting a seal does not mean safe. To my knowledge FDA and USDA explicitly discourage home canning caramel or chocolate.
There are lots of bacteria that lead to food poisoning. Even high acid, high sugar products like jams and jellies need to be waterbath canned. Caramel and chocolate I believe are low acid.
I couldn’t find any credible source that suggest it is safe.
I’m going to respectfully differ on the water bath or lack of for jams and jellies. It is suggested, especially for beginners, but it is quite safe to do open kettle canning with the correct products. The jars need to be sterilized, and very hot, as does the mixture. As well, the lids and rings.
You can look this up with an easy search.
I don’t know TBH about caramel and chocolate, but wouldn’t be surprised if it was in fact safe, for possibly a 6 month shelf life. It falls in the category of something I’d do my due diligence on.
BTW, your weekend canning looks good @Auspicious.
Wow! Looks nice, but I’m curious about how you learned it was safe!
@shrinkrap, by my mother, a very frugal adult, since she was a child of the Great Depression. I get a kick out of reusing and repurposing them for one time only.
Okay. I was imagining you taking a bite, and waiting…and waiting…and then the next day “Well! I guess that worked out okay!”
I’ve done that.
No, I have my court taster for that lol! 
With equal respect, you are mistaken. The first return for a Google search for ‘open kettle canning’ is https://extension.psu.edu/avoid-open-kettle-or-oven-canning from Penn State. The first sentence of the article is poorly worded - the issue is not that open kettle canning is no longer safe; open kettle canning was NEVER safe, we just didn’t realize it.
Down towards the bottom of the Open Kettle Canning section are very nearly exactly my words: “Just because a lid “pops,” it doesn’t mean the contents inside the jar are safe. The time saved with open kettle canning is not worth the risk of food spoilage or illness.”
The best global guidance for safe home preservation is here https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html . You’ll note they also have sections on dehydration and freezing. The Ball Blue Book of Canning pretty well replicates the USDA guidance with pictures
Reusing commercial packaging is explicitly discouraged. We just don’t have the temperatures and pressures to can in those containers safely even with all new materials.
I’ll repeat myself again. Over and over in home canning materials there is a focus on botulism. There are lots of nasties that can cause food poisoning: staph, e. coli, salmonella, … lots. The focus on botulism is because if you use processes that keep you safe from botulism then you are safe from all the others because botulism is hard to kill.
@Lambchop, you can certainly continue to do what you learned from your mother. It isn’t safe but you are an adult and can make your own decisions. It is not appropriate in my view to encourage others to do the same by saying it is safe when it is demonstrably not safe. Culinary science and food safety professionals say so over and over.
I truly do not intend to offend you. You’re a good person. In this case you are mistaken.
With all due respect @Auspicious, I don’t even feel like reading your post right now, nor do I want to argue. I will say I’m not encouraging others to do what I do, just that sources I read only yesterday contradict you. Botulism simply can’t live in some environments, and that is a fact. It requires a low acid anaerobic environment.
Let’s take this up at another time or not. There’s no doubt in my mind I can source and quote multiple and credible sites.
Further, I did NOT learn open kettle canning from my mother, but from multiple other sources.
Also, information changes. Remember when eggs were bad for you, low fat diets were good, coconut oil was healthy? DISPROVEN, all of them.
So, stay on your soapbox until later, and enjoy the position - it’s only a few inches. 
Really, I’m not offended, just not in the mood.
Footnotes:
https://nchfp.uga.edu/questions/FAQ_canning.html#12
ETA: I did another Google search and filtered out all the .edu and .gov returns. I went through ten pages of results without finding anyone recommend open kettle canning. We know better.
I don’t know anyone who has had botulism. My wife has had salmonella (before our time together). I know a number of people who have had e. coli (one from the famous Jack-in-the-Box incident). None of them would go through it again.
