Homemade Blackberry Jam According to Nana

I will say that we did use the recipe on the inside of the SURE*JELL package, but it comes out perfectly if you follow along to learn a few tricks from Joshua's fabulous Nana!

Step 1 - Pick deliciously ripen Blackberries from First Fruits Blackberry Farm. Wash and let dry.

Step 2 - Put water on to boil. It helps to have an extra set of hands to make all the steps run smoothly and efficiently.

Step 3- Wash all jam jars prior to use.

Step 4 - Boil a small pot of water. Place the canning lids in to sanitize prior to use. FYI, you can only use the flat lids once, but you can use the screw top part of the lid over and over again for future canning or jarring adventures.




Step 5 - Rinse berries and place on cup towel to dry.

Step 6 - The recipe calls for 5 3/4 cups of smooshed berries (not pureed) with chunks to add texture to the jam. I found that if I measured out 7 3/4 cups of non-smooshed berries it would come out to 5 3/4 smooshed berries the recipe calls for.





Step 7 - Place smooshed berries in a stock pan to boil with 1/4 cup lemon juice, SURE*JELL, & 1/2 Tbsp butter. The butter helps keep the mixture from foaming.





Step 8 - Measure out 8 cups of sugar.




Step 9 - Bring berry mixture to a rolling boil.



Step 10 - Pour in sugar and continue to stir until it reaches a rolling boil again, then cook for 4 minutes. Continue to stir. WARNING: It gets pretty hot under the hood during this process. Also, watch out for sizzling hot berry juice jumping out at you!







Step 11 - Have jam jars ready in hot water prior to putting jam in them to prevent the glass from breaking. Place Jam Jar Funnel in a Jam Jar. (Say that 3 times fast!)

Step 12 - Begin pouring jam into the jar. Fill to 1/4 inch from top of the jar.


Step 13 - Use a moisten paper towel to wipe the edges & top rim of jar to ensure proper sealing.


Step 14 - Place lids on and screw hand tight.


Step 15 - Place jam jars into water bath and boil for 10 minutes with the lid on.



Step 16 - Remove Jam Jars with a towel or tongs. We use the towel on the bigger, heavier jars and the tongs on the smaller jars.


Last Step - Make sure you take a couple of pictures with Joshua's amazing Nana(who which I might add has no desire to be in front of a camera) to preserve (pun intended) a wonderful time learning from the most humble & unselfish woman I know and being able to share that with a best friend. Thanks for being patient with me Nana! Love you!