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gmreeves

Blackberry Jam and Jelly from same batch of fruit

16 years ago

I had a coworker who broght me about 5 quarts of blackberries. I told him that if he brought them, I would try and make jam or jelly from them. Well, they are here so it is time to make good on my half of the bargain. I was looking at the NCHFP site for recipes and noticed that the jam recipe syas to extract the juice and use the crushed berries. The jelly recipe says to use the juice and not the fruit. Am I safe to think that if I can make both batches of Jam and Jelly from the same batch of fruit?

Comments (14)

  • 16 years ago

    Maybe the link where you found this would be helpful. The page that I read did not mention extracting juice. I don't know how you could extract the juice and get anything leftover to make jam out of. I don't think you can do both without introducing juice from another source. Maybe I'm wrong. Good luck!

    http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_07/blackberry_jam_powder.html

  • 16 years ago

    I make my juice in a steam juicer and do exactly that so I don't see why you can't do it with the juice bag. I would make the jam first so that if you needed to you could use some of the juice, if necessary.

    I love blackberries. Have 2 1/2 gallons in the fridge waiting to can.

  • 16 years ago

    I was looking at the liquid pectin recipe. I have only made the habenero gold jelly that calls for liquid pectin so I ws going to try and stay the same. It says to extract the juice.

  • 16 years ago

    I don't think you could. Once you get the juice all that is leftover is fruit pulp. Which I think would be too thick to make jam unless you added some sort of liquid. I have tried to make jelly and then fruit leather from the leftover strawberry pulp once. It didn't turn out too well. The jelly was great but the fruit leather was tart and too seedy. The consistency was like course sandpaper. I hate to be wasteful but in this instance I'd compost the lefover fruit pulp or feed it to the chickens.

  • 16 years ago

    Jelly is pure juice. Jam includes both the juice and pulp. It takes the whole berry.
    You will have a seedy mess if you remove the juice first.

  • 16 years ago

    O.k. Thanks for all of the replies. I guess that means that Jam it is. Any ideas on why it says to extract the juice? Or am I reading it wrong?

    Here it is:

    Blackberry Jam
    with liquid pectin

    4 cups crushed blackberries (about 2 quart boxes blackberries)
    7 cups sugar
    1 pouch liquid pectin
    Yield: About 8 or 9 half-pint jars

    Please read Using Boiling Water Canners before beginning. If this is your first time canning, it is recommended that you read Principles of Home Canning.

    Procedure: Sterilize canning jars and prepare two-piece canning lids according to manufacturer's directions.

    To prepare fruit. Sort and wash fully ripe berries; remove any stems and caps. Crush berries and extract juice.

    To make jam. Measure crushed blackberries into a kettle. Add sugar and stir well. Place on high heat and, stirring constantly, bring quickly to a full boil with bubbles over the entire surface. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in pectin. Skim.

    Fill hot jam immediately into hot, sterile jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel; adjust two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a Boiling Water Canner.

  • 16 years ago

    They mean crush them to make them juicy, not juice them.

  • 16 years ago

    Oh, that is so funny! Good thing the wise people of the Harvest Forum set you straight before you made some nasty, seedy jam!

    I myself do not enjoy the blackberry seeds, so I use my Roma tomato press to remove most of them. Makes the task a breeze! And then my favorite blackberry jam recipe is as follows:

    Wild Blackberry and Earl Grey Jam
    (Source: adapted from Christine Ferber's Mes Confitures and inspired by the Little Red Bike Cafe)

    10 oz. boiling water
    4 Earl Grey tea bags (I used Twinings)
    3 pounds wild blackberries (cultivated ones would be good, too)
    6 3/4 cups granulated sugar (you could go as low as 5 cups for a jam that is less sweet)
    zest and juice of one large lemon
    1/2 teaspoon butter

    Bring water to a boil, then steep the tea bags for five minutes. Squeeze the excess liquid out of the tea bags and discard. Set brewed tea aside while you prepare the fruit.

    Pick over the blackberries. Rinse them quickly in cold water without soaking them. In a preserving pan, combine the blackberries, sugar, lemon zest and juice. Bring to a simmer. Pour into a ceramic bowl and stir in the tea. Cover the fruit with a sheet of parchment paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

    The next day, if you like, run the fruit preparation through a Roma-type strainer before cooking it down. (I used the berry screen, and I ran the pulp through a couple of extra times to get out every drop of berry goodness before discarding the remaining leathery fibers and seeds. Of course, if you like the seeds in your jam...never mind.) Bring this preparation to a boil along with 1/2 teaspoon of butter, stirring gently. Continue cooking on high heat at a full, rolling boil for 15 minutes, stirring constantly. Check the set on a cold plate (it's done when you push the jam and it wrinkles--mine took about 20 minutes). Put the jam into jars immediately, seal, and process for ten minutes in a boiling water bath.

    This makes about six half-pints.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Lindsey's Luscious (my food blog)

  • 16 years ago

    Joybugaloo, that sounds WONDERFUL. I was trying to work up the energy to make blackberry jam (I don't have a food mill and dont' care for all those seeds either, so I end up forcing the puree through a sieve, which gets old quick), I think that recipe might be just the motivation I need.

    Gmreeves, one thing you can do is save the extra pulp (I use what's left in my sieve after I have forced all the good stuff through), combine it in a pan with sugar, water, maybe some maple syrup, boil it a while, and strain again-- a nice blackberry syrup results. Great for adding to iced tea, stirring into yogurt, macerating fruit in, or putting on pancakes!

  • 16 years ago

    joanna, what a good idea. I always hate to throw out that fruit pulp when I make jelly so I seldom make jelly, I stick with fruit butter and jams.

    Hey, I wonder if I could flavor vinegar with the fruit pulp?

    Annie (off to find a recipe for flavored vinegars)

  • 16 years ago

    When I make berry jelly I use the leftover solids to make fruit hooch. I cover the solids with vodka (I use quart jars), let 'er sit for a couple weeks to a month or so, strain, add sugar, let it sit some more, then filter and bottle. Crabapple pulp made the most delicious cordial ever - I added a bit of cinnamon and cloves to that.

    I have raspberry and huckleberry hooch on at the moment. ;-)

  • 16 years ago

    Thanks for all of your help. I canned, or jarred if you ask my wife, 11 half pints of blackberry jam and then did 12 half pints of Habanero Gold for a friend at work. I think I am going to do some Fig jam this weekend if I can get enough from my two trees. My problem is is that I eat them too fast.

  • 15 years ago

    How much pulp do you use to make a liter of apple pear vodka?

  • 15 years ago

    OmGosh, Robin.........here I've been feeding the pulp to my chickens. I have gallons of berries in the freezer to make jellies come winter when I'm not busy canning fresh stuff, and hootch it is. LOL.