Keep the flavor of summer in a jar

Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries - summer fruits of all types are at their peak and beckoning to be preserved. One quick and easy way to capture the essence of summer in a jar is to turn those fruits into jam. All you need is the fruit, pectin, sugar, jars and a hot-water-bath canner.

“The most tedious part of making jam is the stirring,” said Donna Poelstra, who owns Taste of Life Natural Market & Prepared Meals in Monument. She taught some jam-making classes this spring. “You have to get the fruit puree, pectin and sugar to a full boil. A boil that cannot be stirred down. When that happens, add a bit of butter to prevent foaming. There’s something about jam making that is so much fun.”

According to Euginia Bone in her new cookbook, “Well-Preserved — Recipes and Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Foods,” there are four steps to making jam and other high-acid foods in a hot-water-bath canner.

• Prepare the food.
• Sterilize the jars if processing is 10 minutes or less.
• Pack the jars with the food and wipe the rims.
• Process the jars in boiling water.

“That’s it,” she said.

Preparation
Pick the berries or other fruit (or buy them picked). Another option is to buy frozen, unsweetened berries and fruits.
Poelstra skips this step. She orders fruit purees from Bithell Farms in Boring, Ore.

“This really speeds up the process and the flavor the fruit puree is so intense,” she said. “Plus, I don’t like all the seeds. And these purees are seedless.”

But if you want to make jam on the cheap, processing your own, pureeing will help. For strawberry jam you’ll need about 6 cups of hulled or trimmed, washed fruit.

“I just use a potato masher to break up the fruit,” said Julie Trout, a master food safety adviser for the Colorado State University El Paso County Extension Office. “For jam, which should have a thicker consistency than jelly, I like to have a few pieces of fruit.”

If you want seedless jam, you can run the crushed fruit through a food mill.

Measure out 4 cups of sugar for strawberry jam. Take out 1/4 cup of the sugar and set aside. This is to mix with the pectin.
Pectin is a natural, water-soluble substance present in ripe fruits. You can buy it at the grocery store where you’d find other canning supplies. It works only when properly mixed with the correct balance of sugar and acid. Directions that come in the pectin boxes will give you the correct amount of sugar to use for various types of fruits.

“It’s possible to make no-added sugar jams,” Poelstra said. “Be sure to buy the pectin that is for making jam without added sugar. It will say on the box.”

Mix the 1/4 cup sugar with a package and a half of boxed pectin for strawberry jam. This will keep the pectin from clumping.

Jars, lids and canners
Have 12 (1/2-ounce) jars in a large pot of simmering water. Have water boiling in the hot-water-bath canner.

Have a small pan of water boiling to soften the rubber on the jar lids. Do not put the lids into the water until about 5 minutes before sealing the jars.

Cooking the fruit
Stir the sugar and pectin mixture into the berries in a large pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
“Add a 1/2 teaspoon of butter,” Poelstra said. “This is supposed to help prevent the fruit mixture from making a foam.”

Add the rest of the sugar and bring the mixture back to a hard boil for 1 minute.

Lids
Place the gummed lids into the small pan of boiling water. This will soften the gummed area so it will stick to the clean jar rims for a good seal.

Filling the jars
When the jam has reached its second boil, lift jars from hot water and place on a tea towel. Fill jars to within 1/4-inch of the top. Wipe off the jar rim and top with a gummed lid. Tighten a ring over each jar.

Processing the jam
Poelstra does not do this step; however, Trout thinks it’s a good idea.

“We don’t recommend using paraffin to seal the jars or not processing the jam in a hot water bath,” she said.

“To have a true seal and be totally safe, the jam should be processed in boiling water the recommended time for our altitude. Then the jam can be stored on a shelf for a year.”

To do this, put the jars into the rack that comes with the hot-water-bath canner. Then lower the rack into the boiling water and time processing.

“Our recommendation is a minute of processing time for every thousand feet above sea level,” she said. “Our book says to process jam 15 to 20 minutes for 6,000 feet above sea level.”

When the processing is done, lift the jar rack out of the water and let the jars cool. As they cool, you’ll hear a popping sound as the lids suck down to complete the seal.

“This is just so much fun when the lids start popping,” Poelstra said. “When you feel the lids, they will have sunk down. If for some reason the lid isn’t sunken, that means it’s not sealed. Just put it in the fridge and eat it first.”

Trout recommends removing the jar rings once the jam is cooled. “They can rust from the water that may be trapped inside the ring,” she said. “It just doesn’t look as pretty.”

Now, you’re ready to enjoy your jam with freshly baked scones. Poelstra offered her World’s Best Scones for those who had come to her jam-making class. While we waited for the jam to cool and seal, we made scones and ate them with jam, clotted cream and lemon curd.

Visit tolstores.com to find out more about ordering Bithell Farms fruit and purees. Poelstra orders fruit three times a year.

Poelstra will have another class July 9, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Cost is $18. Call 487-2858 to make reservations.