Black Raspberry Jam

Making Black Raspberry Jam

We decided to try making black raspberry jam from the fresh black raspberries that we pick at the farm.  Each year at the farm we get black raspberries this time of year.  We had a bumper crop this year.  Alex is picking some. As you can see, there are a lot that aren’t ready yet. The red ones will be turning black by next weekend. But there were still plenty to pick this weekend.

We had the kids helping along with one of Elise’s friends.  I didn’t pick many, I took pictures though! lol

All of us got a little scratched up trying to get through the thick brush and thorns.  Dave was blazing a path with a machete, so that helped.

Look at how big some of them are. But not all of them were that big.

We ended up with 21 cups of berries!

We have never canned anything, but decided we wanted to try.  We bought a canning book and canning jars, a basic kit that has the tongs to get the jars in and out of the boiling water. That is a must in my book.

I washed all of them first.

As we prepared the black raspberry jam we heated up the jars in the hot water bath so that the jars didn’t break when we  poured in the jam.

Black Raspberry Jam Recipe (as per the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving)

9 cups of crushed black raspberries (we started out with 9 cups of berries, but once we mashed them we had to add about 3 more cups!)
6 cups of sugar
Add the berries and sugar to a large pot.  Bring to a boil slowly.  Stir the whole time, dissolving all the sugar.
Cook rapidly to the gelling point (we had to look up what a gelling point was – it’s kind of hard to explain so you might want to look it up, but you use a spoon and the jelly, jam will break away from the spoon in a sheet or a flake.
Stir frequently as it thickens and then remove from heat.
Skim foam if necessary (it was necessary for us)
Pour the jam into the jars (we used the funnel and a ladle) and leave 1/4 inch of room from the top.
Put on the lid and then place into boiling water for 15 minutes. Be sure there is 1-2 inches of water above the top of the jars at all times.

Dave had the kids both helping.

We mashed the berries and that is when we discovered that we need a lot more berries than we thought. We started out figuring out 9 cups of berries, not 9 cups of crushed berries.  It took about 12 cups of berries to equal 9 cups of crushed berries. Just so you know.

Looks yummy doesn’t it?

Once it was ready we put it into the jars.

Once we filled the jars, we put them into the boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

We got five 4 oz jars and 4 pints.

Love the little 4 oz jars for gifts. They are just so cute! We’ve given all those away already.

The black raspberry jam came out really good.  I might suggest adding a little bit of pectin next time to thicken it up just a bit more. It’s a little on the runny side, in my book. My Dad didn’t think so at all though, so maybe it is a matter of preference.

We had a great time picking the berries and making the jam. The kids were really proud that they got to pick the black raspberries and then make jam from them!