Today I made Raspberry Jam using raspberries from Seedling http://www.seedlingfruit.com/, a farm at Green City Market http://www.greencitymarket.org/index.asp.
I went ahead and bought the 21 quart canning pot, and I'm glad I did. Sarabeth says to fill it up half way and then have an additional kettle of boiling water nearby in case you need more boiling water.
These are all half pint jars except for that one tall fella. I washed all of these jars, lids, and bands in hot soapy water and left them on the towel to dry. The bands I deliberately dried with another towel.
This is 8 cups of fresh raspberries, 5 cups of sugar, and 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice. I'm bringing it to a boil over medium heat here.
It takes about 30 minutes for the water to boil. At this point I put the jars on the canning rack to sterilize them while the fruit cooks. The lids go in a sauce pan with simmering water.
Once the fruit comes to a boil, I lower the heat to medium low so its a soft boil for 25-30 minutes. At this point I'm skimming the foam off the top of the jam.
When the fruit is done I take the jars out of the boiling water, drain the water, and put them on a towel. That awesome funnel makes it so there's no mess! Brilliant. You're supposed to leave a 1/4 inch free in the jars.
After putting the lids and bands on the jars I put them back on the rack and into the boiling water (low boil) for ten minutes.
Now that the jars have been processed they're on towels (so they don't crack on the cool counter) to cool for 12 hours undisturbed. Then they'll be good for a year on a shelf! Once it's opened, it should be refrigerated and used within a month.
I saved a small jar for Mac and I to use within the month : )
