It is wise to make jams at the time of year when fruits are available in plenty. You can preserve the flavor of those fruits for the rest of the year when you may have difficulty in finding them in the market. You can preserve a fruit for 1 to 3 years by converting it to a jam. Jam acts as a delicious and quick dish on the breakfast table. The healthy fruits with high concentration of sugar in the jam act as high glucose food for quick energy as well. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead with preparing raspberry jam with the help of these easy-to-follow instructions and tips.
Complexity Level: Basic
Time Required: 40-50 minutes
Resources Required:
- Two cups perfectly ripe berries
- Two cups granulated sugar
- A pat of margarine or butter (optional)
Instructions:
1. Picking and washing the raspberries
Pick a pint or 500 ml of fully ripe and fresh raspberries. Throw out the dried up berries and clean the debris. Now, put the clean and sorted out raspberries into a big bowl and wash them thoroughly with running cold water from the tap.
2. Adding sugar
Put berries into a big pot or in a quart pot and add 500 ml of granulated sugar to it (sugar and berries should be mixed in equal quantities).
3. Whisking the mixture
Take a strong whisk and using it mix the sugar and berries. Stir sugar from the corners of the quart pot and mix it into the berries well. Extract the entire juice of the raspberries and mix until whole of the mixture becomes wet.
4. Heating
Put the mixture on the stove and apply medium flame to it. Place a thermometer on the pot to record the temperature of the mixture being heated on the stove. Keep stirring the mixture when it it on stove. Let the mixture boil and then decrease the temperature. Wait for the oily liquid to rise and float on top of the pot. Be careful that you do not let the mixture to rise so much while boiling so that it doesn’t fall over the stove.
5. Measure the temperature
Wait till the temperature stabilizes at 104 C (219 F). This will happen only if the proportion of sugar and berries was accurate. If the temperature is less, add sugar to the mixture gradually by the tablespoon until it gets to the right temperature. When temperature stabilizes the jam is done.
6. Sterilizing the mason jars
Put the mason jars along with the lids and the rims in a gallon pot and add water to it. Cover the pot and let it boil for 10 minutes. Let the jars cool and then wipe out the water with a kitchen towel.
7. Pouring the hot jam to the jars
Pour the jam out of the quart pot to the sterilized jars. Be very careful while pouring as you are not using any canning funnel just to avoid the mess. Leave a quarter inch of space above the jam poured in the jar. Clean the rim of the jar with a clean towel to have a good seal. Immediately after pouring the mixture in the jar, place the lid on the top and close it with a rim lightly.
9. Sealing (boiling and then cooling the jars)
Put the jars onto a rack in a water-bath canner or large stock pot. Now, covering the canner, bring the water to boil for 10 minutes. Remove the jars from the boiling water with the help of a jar tong. For cooling the jars, place them on a towel in open at normal temperature. Let the jars cool for the next 24 hours. While cooling, there may be loud sounds created by metal lids. This is just because of the creation of a partial vacuum in the process of cooling.
10. Check the seal
When the jars have cooled down, the lids must have pulled in a little. When you press and the lid goes down that means the jar has not sealed and you have to repeat the entire process of sealing again or refrigerate them immediately.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can I use frozen raspberries for making jam?
Frozen fruits can be used for making jam but thaw it before using. However, it is advised to use fresh fruits.
Quick Tips:
- If you do not have your own fruit garden or if you have one and you do not grow raspberries then it’s better to buy the fruit from the nearest farmers market.
- Sealed jars should be kept in a place where there is less exposure to heat and light. Once you have opened the seal, keep the jar in the refrigerator.
Things To Watch Out For:
Be alert when you are boiling sugar solutions as it can burn you quickly and seriously.
