Blueberry Jam
Ingredients
5 cups fresh, ripe blueberries (4 pints or so)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
5 cups sugar
2 packages liquid fruit pectin (they come 2 per box)
3 teaspoons vodka
Directions
Using a food mill, crush about half of the blueberries, keeping the remaining intact into a 6-8 quart sauce pot. Add lemon juice. Add in sugar. Place over high heat and stir until mixture comes to full boil. Cook gently 3 minutes. Add in the fruit pectin and boil for exactly 1 minute more. Remove from heat, skim off foam with metal spoon, ladle into jars to 1/8 inch top of jars. Cover with a clean dish towel and let cool completely.
Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon of vodka into each jar and swirl to cover the surface layer of jam. Seal tightly and make pretty with a bow or jam cover cloth.
..
…
Dianne Oelberger said:
does the vodka have a anti-bacterial purpose?? the first time I have ever heard that one
Kat said:
Yup. If there is a chance that any bacteria makes it through the jam-sealing process, the vodka on the top should kill off the rest of the germs and keep the jam all safe and sound. Learned that trick from my great-grandparents in the Black Forest (although they used Schnapps).
julia said:
looks way delicious!
Steven M. Platek said:
Do you have nutritional info, or rough estimate – trying to make jams/preserves, but also trying to stick with all whole natural sugars from the fruit, not adding. Any advice (email)