Rasberry Jam

Today was shopping heaven:  Costco!  As I strolled through the aisle, I found two huge containers of strawberries and raspberries.  Time for some more jelly!

The first thing I did was wash the raspberries really good.  I put them in a saucepan and got them cooking.  As the raspberries heated up, I took my potato masher and mashed the berries a little.  I like chunky jam but not huge hunks!

I had about a quart of raspberries.  To this I added 2 cups of sugar and 6 tablespoons of pectin.  I also added 1 teaspoon of butter - this helps cut down on the foam.  If foam does appear, simply skim it off the top before putting in jars.

Some people don't like the seeds.  They strain the mixture through a sieve.  For me, I am more annoyed at the time it takes to strain the seeds out.  Seeds are fine with me!

While the raspberries were cooking I put my canning jars and lids in boiling water.  I do this to sterilize the jars and to heat them up so they don't break when I add the hot jelly.

I used a funnel to get the jelly into the jars.  This helps cut down on a big mess!

The jars need to be processed in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, I took the jars out of the canner.  As the jars cool, they will seal themselves shut.  You know when they have sealed because you will hear a popping sound.  When the jars are cooled, press on the lid to make sure they don't give.  If you are able to pop the lid up and down, refrigerate that jar and use it first.



Enjoy!