(For high acid fruits only. Do not do this for vegetables, meats, etc. And NEVER can products containing flour or yeast, such as breads or pie doughs, not even with a regular canner.)
Super-1 made a liar out of me last night! I was wandering around, looking for items on my shopping list, when low and behold, one of those "shining light w/the angelic music" moments settled upon my existence. They had unbeatable prices on Kerr Brand Mason Jars, lids, accessories... I couldn't resist - I had to try - I just... Went for it. I didn't get a canner though, as they didn't have one, nor any separate inserts, so I figured, "I'll just have to wing this." No, I really didn't know what I was doing. I figured that, at the very least, eventually I'd catch up with a canner at Good Will or something, complete with insert and everything (I've seen them before. Too bad I had no idea what in the world that funky looking wire thing was :S)
So, I'm now the proud owner of 12 1/2 Pint (taller) jars, 12 rings, and 36 lids. The jars and rings are reusable, but you have to use new lids every time you can, so, I just went ahead and got some extras. I doubt I'll use them all, but might come close - we'll have to see.
I'm still downloading the pics from my camera, so it'll be a while. Summary: I was able to make 3 8 oz jars in a medium sized kettle, all 3 sealed perfectly, no jars cracked... Strawberry jam, and it looks really good! I have to wait 24 hours though before I can call it "ready" though. Ah well.
The ingredients and food prep instructions (steps 1 - 3) are here, but don't follow them yet (more notes are below). You'll want to keep that page open and refer to it later. Make sure your jars are pre-washed and dried. The dishwasher is a great thing to use for sanitizing them.
Now, for the miracle of normal stove top jam, no canner required. Before anyone who's more "experienced" jumps down my throat, take note: all 3 jar lids did "pop" down to form seals, at the end, all on their own, and when you push down on them, they don't pop back up. They did seal, nicely. *Takes a pre-show bow, and notes that somehow, before the time of nice canners, there had to be some way that people did make things like jam.*
Stove Top Canning Instructions
The Insert
No More Extra $ is the Daughter of Invention
1. You'll need a medium sized kettle, preferably with a lid, that's taller than your jars, and 5 (minimum, more are fine) long bamboo or other wooden skewers. Honestly, I can't understand why anyone would put metal below jars, when it's sitting right above a hot burner. Duh, use some insulation - just not too much! Be good to your jars, and they'll last a lifetime. Hopefully, 12 is all I'll need or want! This rant will make sense in a minute.
2. You'll also need at least 2 medium sized coated (not with paper) twist ties. Cut all ties using either a wire cutter or an old pair of scissors you don't care about, into thirds.
3. Create a latticework of the skewers, leaving about 1" between their intersections, with a minimum of 2 parallel going vertically, and 3 parallel going horizontally (the pics will make this section make more sense). Use the twist ties to connect them all at their intersections. The best method is to bend the tie in half, wrap that around one skewer, but not all the way around, and then wrap the two ends as far as they'll wrap around each side of the adjacent (joining) skewer. These will hold well in place when all is said and done.
4. Turn the medium sized kettle upside down, and place the latticework on top. Keep the 2 parallel skewers vertically going away from you. (Math geeks: z-axis.) The 3 parallel skewers should be horizontally parallel to you. If you're right handed, push the left ends of the 3 parallel skewers so that they hover just barely "inside" the circle of the bottom of the kettle. The left end of the central horizontal skewer should hang out just a bit further to the left than the other two.
5. Using the cutter of choice, score (but don't cut), the right ends of the 3 parallel skewers so that they also will, once cut, hover just barely "inside" that same circle. You'll want all skewers to be just a little shorter than meeting end to edge with the diameter of the circle. (*Snorts at her former high school math teacher.* Take that! Hahaha!!! *Grumbles about geometry therums and such* I told him I don't need that junk - I was right. It's ALL visual, duh.)
6. Turn all the skewers 90 degrees one direction or the other. Repeat step 5 for the 2 parallel skewers, which are now horizontal to you. You now have a lot of scored skewers. Break off the ends, with the scores held away from you, for a clean break. Now, you should have a loosely held together wooden insert. If you like, you can reposition the skewers so the latticework looks nice, and then use more twist ties to completely tie down the intersections. Place the wooden insert in the bottom of your kettle.
The Jars
I think even old fashioned canners will like this one.
1. You'll need 3 (at least 18") long sections of aluminum foil. Fold them in half lengthwise, and then fold them lengthwise in half again. And, you'll need 3 8 oz. (1/2 pint tall, not short/wide mouthed) jars, with no lids or rings on them. You'll need the lids in a moment, and the rings at the end of all this.
2. Wrap the lengths around the tops of the jars, with a few millimeters of the foil standing above the tops of the jars. Fold those higher portions of the foil down over the tops of the jars, to keep it in place. Allow some space between the foil and the sides of the jars though, for water circulation.
Pre-Boiling Preparation
This process is so simple, it really surprised me. Honestly, unless I wind up with a huge family someday, it'll never be worth it for me to do regular canning the old fashioned way. So, here's the new fangled way (though it is based on the old way).
1. Add about 3" of warm water to the bottom of the kettle, and place the jars on the wooden insert. They should not ever touch the bottom or sides of the kettle. Nor should any of the glass sides touch each other. Once the jars are in place, put the lids (not the rings) into the water, between the foil wrapped jars. If a lid sinks below the wooden insert, that's ok. Let it.
2. Turn the burner on to low for about 3 minutes, and then up to medium, to get the water warm, but not boiling. Regulate this temperature at all times so that it's hot, but not boiling. You just need to keep the jars much warmer than room temperature. Don't ever start out with jars that were recently in the fridge. It's a good idea to use jars that just came out of the dishwasher.
3. Visit steps 1 - 3 on this page, but note the following instructions regarding step 3.
4. Instead of letting the jam cool for 4 hours, immediately use a jar tongs to pull a single jar out and place it on a towel (or thick paper towel). Leave all lids in the hot water. Do not EVER touch the glass of this jar with your bare hands, fingers... It isn't glowing red, so it's easy to forget just HOW hot it really is. Also, it takes a long time for hot glass to cool, so don't be tempted to think that you can touch it after a few minutes - you'll just get burned. Using two forks, carefully remove the aluminum foil wrapping around the jar and set aside - you'll need it again in a moment.
5. Use a funnel and a medium sized kettle-ladle (not gravy ladle) to fill the jar almost up to the bottom of the glass rim threads with the jam. The funnel should "hold" a little extra in the bottom after two ladles full. Pull the funnel out slowly and let the remaining jam fall out of it into the jar. The jam level will need to be up to the bottom of the glass rim threads before you continue.
6. Use the flat parts of two fork heads, in the hot water, to carefully fish out, lift, and carry a lid from it onto the top of the jar. If it doesn't fit perfectly, that's ok, it just needs to be close. Take a ring and place it around the top of the jar, and screw it down lightly. Use the jar tongs to hold the glass part of the jar in place with one hand, and reach inside the tongs with the other hand, then finish screwing the ring down tight. Rewrap the jar with it's original aluminum foil, molding about 1/2" of the uppermost portion of the foil in a circle both over and around the lid. Leave some space between the foil and the side of the jar. Using the jar tongs, place the jar back onto the wooden insert.
7. Repeat steps 4 - 6 for the other two jars, one jar at a time.
Boiling
1. Once all 3 jars are back in the kettle, sitting on the wooden insert, with about 3" of hot water surrounding them and foil protecting them from each other and the kettle, fill both a 4 cup and a 2 cup measuring cup, a large soup mug, or a medium sized bowl with HOT water, and set the 2 cup container aside. Pour as much of the hot water from the 4 cup container into the kettle as it will hold, until all the jars are well covered. Don't worry about water boiling over later on, your kitchen will survive, and the world will move on... Just clean up any spills later. If more hot water is needed, go for it - you do have to cover the jars though. The burner should still be on warm or medium by this time.
2. Once the jars are covered, slowly bring the water to a boil. Start with "warm," then after about 3 minutes, turn the burner up to "medium," and after about 5 more minutes, turn it up to medium high. Once it tries to boil, turn it up to high, just long enough to get a rolling boil, then turn it back down to medium high, then to medium. The water should be at a controlled rolling boil. It shouldn't be going crazy! (Reference: Mrs. Doubtfire trying to cook.) This means some good temperature regulation. So long as it never touches the glass of the jars, you may use a knife to lightly encourage water circulation around the jars, by "stirring" it lightly back and forth between the jars and the kettle side. Once the rolling boil is achieved, set your timer for 10 minutes (or add more time for your altitude, based on the chart on the instructions in the insert that came in the box of pectin). During that time, you'll need the hot water in the 2 cup measuring cup, to add small amounts at a time, to make up for what has boiled off, particularly if your jars come up almost to the top of the side of the kettle, once they're sitting on the wooden insert. You'll need to do this every couple of minutes or so.
3. Once the timer goes off, turn the burner off, and lay out a thick hand towel on the counter. Using the jar tongs, take the jars out and place them upright on the towel and, using the forks, remove the aluminum foil, then lightly dry each jar off with a wash rag, one jar at a time.
4. Once all jars are out of the kettle, dump the water out of the kettle, but leave the wooden insert in the bottom, to air dry over a cooled burner. Find a nice, out of the way location that won't be disturbed, and lay out another thick hand towel in an area large enough to accommodate the jars. Using the jar tongs, carry the jars, one jar at a time, over to their new location on the second hand towel, and leave them there for a total of 24 hours.
5. Sometime in the next few minutes, they should "pop" and you'll notice a downward indentation right in the middle. Using a thick washcloth, test the seal that just formed by pushing down on that indentation. If it pops back up, the seal didn't work, and you'll need to set this jar aside on a separate thick cloth to cool for a total of 3 of those 24 hours. Use an indelible marker or some tape to mark the lid of the jar (not the ring or the jar itself), so you'll know it needs to go in the fridge once it's completely cooled. If the seal did form properly, that central indentation won't pop back up. Congratulations! It's a healthy jar of jam (har).
6. Leave all the jars be for about the next 2 hours, then carefully (and slowly) turn them upside down, allowing the air to form a single bubble on the top side of the jar as it travels from one end to the other. If it is too set, you can shake it rigorously, but beware of anything you might hit your hand or the jar on. Turn the jar and shake it several times. Allow the fruit to distribute itself more towards the natural bottom of the jar (now on top), and then slowly re-turn the jars right side up again. The fruit ought to set in a more evenly distributed manner now. If not, wait another hour (instead of 2), and then repeat this step, until the jam sets with evenly distributed fruit.
After 3 total hours of cooling (improperly sealed jars)
Any jars which didn't seal properly can be put in the fridge. Once they're completely cool, if there were too many to use in the next 3 weeks, open them and store the jam in quart freezer bags with ziplock-type seals, stick them in the freezer immediately, and be glad you have anything at all from them. Just be sure to "vacuum" the air out of the freezer bags prior to fully sealing them (mostly seal them, press all the air out without spilling the jam, then finish sealing them before air can come back in). This will avoid freezer burn.
After 24 total hours of cooling (properly sealed jars)
Just keep the jars that did seal properly where they are, and use up any jars in the fridge first, then the packages in the freezer next, saving the properly sealed jars of jam for last. I've written this recipe based on 3 jars, but it can be used for more than just one batch. If making several smaller batches, be sure to note each batch as to what time the jars were placed on the first hand towel, and note any other timing issues on a per-batch basis. If multiplying the size of each batch of jam, I don't recommend doing more than 3 times this volume of jam at a time, in the manner recommended in this recipe. For larger batches, use a real canner and proper canning instructions as found all over the web and probably in the instructions that came with the canner as well as with the pectin.
Interesting Notes
While canning is primarily done for preserving fruits and vegetables which will soon go out of season, jams (and jellies, as well as pickling) are a special breed of canning. They are preserves with a purpose. I love jam, wish I could have had more jam growing up, but because stevia didn't exist in my world, really, that was unrealistic. Itty bitty dabs of jam were more calories than anyone ought to have had, and if the jam was used in something like a turnover?!? Wow - what a calorie sin!
Anyway, these days, it is cheaper to just purchase pre-manufactured jam. IF you want all the junk they sometimes put into that stuff. True, most of that is actually just latin for real food. But things like sucrolose, which causes the runs?! Forget that. Beware the "sugar free" jams. Read the labels more carefully.
The main reason I've put a little money into the jars and such is because of real health concerns, and the fact that the only way to get healthy jam is to just make it myself. As I said, I LOVE jam! Always have! I could practically subsist by just making foods centered around jam! And now that I can make my own without dealing with some silly, expensive canner, I don't mind the fact that a package of pectin intended to not have sugar added costs about the same as the least expensive 32 oz jar of jam (which, as in the previous refrigerator recipe, is about the right size for a single batch of jam based on one pectin package). I'm not saving any money by doing this (though eventually, the jars will somewhat pay for themselves). And that's not including the cost of the fruit. So yes, this is a spendy venture. And I considered that last night. But I decided that my good health, what's left of it, is worth the money, time, and effort.
Besides, this jam really does taste like it has real fruit and real juice in it, because it does. Sure, store bought jam has real fruit in it. But all that other junk... Honestly. It makes the flavor taste more like it was made from some powdered drink mix or something. When I use jam, I want it to taste like real fruit, not gelled and fake flavored candy.
You win some, you lose some. I've won the real fruit flavor in home made jam, and I hope this will somehow add to my other efforts to lose some weight as well as the fear of glucose spikes.
PS.
I found some great info regarding canning here.
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