Making Cooked Raspberry Jam Using Frozen Raspberries

When you don't have fresh raspberries, using frozen berries is an easy way to get that homemade taste without the scratches, bug bites and sunburn that goes along with picking your own berries. You can also make it in the middle of winter - it makes great Christmas gifts.

What you need:

5 cups of raspberries –2 to 3 12 oz. bags of frozen berries

4 cups of sugar

1 box of Lower Sugar Sure-Jell Or 3 Tablespoons of Ball Low or No-Sugar Needed pectin

½ teaspoon butter or margarine to reduce foaming, if desired

7-8 jelly jars

Screw band and lids

Large heavy bottom pan 5-6 quart

Canner

Canning funnel

Miscellaneous utensils

(Notes: I use the Ball pectin, it's less expensive and sometimes easier to find and follow the Sure Jell light recipe

Disclaimer: Care should be taken with hot ingredients to prevent burns from the hot liquid. Always use pot holders to remove pan from the stove and the hot jars from the canner.

1. Gather all your materials together before you start, because once you start cooking the jam it will go fast
2. Wash the jars and rinse well in very hot water, let them sit in the dish drainer or upside down on a towel
3. Fill your canner about half full with hot water and start heating it to a simmer
4. Put the lids (not the bands) in small sauce pan and cover with boiling water
5. Measure exact amount of fruit and put into a 6-8 quart saucepot
   
   • (if the berries are frozen you need to add about ¾ cup of water)
6. Measure exact amount of sugar into a separate bowl - image on right
7. Mix ¼ cup of sugar from the measured amount and the pectin in a small bowl - image on left

8. Stir in the sugar-pectin mixture and the ½ tsp of butter into the fruit. Images 1 - 4

9. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil over a high heat - stirring constantly. Images 1 - 4

(full rolling boil: boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred - see video if you are not sure what this is)

10. Stir in remaining sugar quickly. Image 5 Return to a full rolling boil and boil 1 minute – stir constantly.

11. Remove from heat and skim off any foam

12. Ladle jam into prepared jars leave about ¼ to ½ inch space at the top. Image 1

13. Wipe rims and jar threads – place lids on the jars and screw bands tightly. Image 2

14. Immediately - place jars on the elevated canner rack and carefully lower it into the water. The water should cover the jars by an inch or two – add boiling or very hot water to cover the jars. Images 3 & 4

15. Cover the canner with the lid and bring to a gentle boil – process 10 minutes

(Process means boiling the jam in the hot water bath for a designated amount of time. This process helps to seal the jars and kill any bacteria that might be present)

16. When the time is up, make sure there aren’t any cold drafts in your kitchen, then carefully lift the canner rack up out of the water

17. Remove jars and place upright on a thick towel (to protect your counter) and allow jars to cool completely.

18. Check the seal – once the jars are cooled completely check to make sure the lids have sealed by tapping lightly in the middle of the lid, if it presses down and pops back up, it did not seal and needs to be refrigerated.

19. Store unopened jars in cool, dry, dark place for up to 1 year.

Enjoy!!!