Making Jam: Apple Preserves

I've said it before, but I love this time of year!  I'm really enjoying the crisp air and the beautiful colors on all the trees.  It's the peak of apple season and that means I also get to enjoy my new found love (obsession rather) of canning.

My sister and I went to our favorite farm last weekend to get more apples (a bunch more), pumpkins and tomatoes.  This weekend it was time to start canning those babies.  So far, I've canned salsa, apple butter and apple preserves.  I still have a bunch more apples to can and haven't even started on the pumpkins yet.  I'm saving those for next month.

Here is a photo of  the delicious apples we got from Jaemor Farms.  The green ones are Mutsu apples and the red ones are Cameo apples.  Both of them are crisp and a little bit tart.  Great for canning and eating!

I really like these apple preserves!  They have just a hint of lemon flavor and are beautiful in color due to the thinly sliced lemon (with lemon peel).

Apple Preserves
Makes: About six 8-ounce jars
(I had enough preserves for twelve 4 oz jars and one 8 oz jar)

The recipe for these apple preserves is from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.  I just got this book and I've already fallen in love with it! I've placed post-it notes on all the jams, butters, pickles, etc. that I plan to can over the next year.  My poor boyfriend is wondering how I'll have time for him.  I just remind him of all the wonderful jams and jellies (not to mention bread) that he gets to taste test for me.  That usually helps!  

Ingredients:

• 6 cups sliced cored peeled apples (I used a combination of Mutsu and Cameo apples.) 
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 package (1.75 oz) regular powdered fruit pectin
• 1 medium lemon (unpeeled), seeded and thinly sliced
• 4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg (See the dark flecks in the jar in the photo? That's nutmeg!)
  

Directions:

Prepare the canner, jars and lids.  In a large, deep stainless steel saucepan, combine apples, water and lemon juice.  Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat, cover and boil gently, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and whisk in pectin until dissolved.  Return to high heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.

Add lemon slices, sugar and nutmeg.  Return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly.  Boil hard, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.

 

Remove from heat and skim off any foam.

Ladle hot preserves into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot preserves.  Wipe rim clean.

Center lid on jar.  Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

 

Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water.  Bring to a boil and process 10 minutes.  Atlanta is a little bit above 1,000 altitude and according to the chart, I need to process the jars 5 minutes more.  So I processed them in the water bath for 15 minutes rather than 10.

Remove canner lid.  Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

 

Canning Resources:

In addition to the Ball Book on Canning, I've been using some sites as a reference in my canning adventures.  You might enjoy them as well:

• Canning Across America
• Well Preserved
• National Center for Home Preservation 

 

I also enjoying using the resources in the book: Keeping The Harvest: Discover the Homegrown Goodness of Putting Up Your Own Fruits, Vegetables & Herbs by Nancy Chioff & Gretchen Mead.

 

Here are some delicious breads that would go well with this jam!

• Light Wheat Bread 
• Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire
• Sprouted Wheat Bread
• Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread

 

Happy Canning & Baking!
Cathy

Making Jam: Pear & Pineapple Jam

A few weeks ago, I saw this delightful-looking Pear & Pineapple Jam on Frieda's Lovin' from the Oven blog. Frieda is one of the bread-bakers' in the BBA Challenge and makes wonderful breads and jam (among other things). This jam sounded so crisp and delicious, I just had to try it. When I was finally ready to make the jam, I couldn't find any local pears so I decided just to make it with pears I got from the grocery store. The pears tasted great!  In fact, I had to keep my youngest son from eating all of them before I could make the jam.  Fortunately, I succeeded.  Then, I bought him some more just to eat.

This jam recipe is so easy!  I will definitely be making it again and again.  Jams make great gifts.  I've canned some jam in smaller jars so I can give away an assortment as Christmas gifts.  My family has already let it be known they want to try (all) the different jams I've been making.  That's the good thing about families. You can always count on them to try it and to let you know if they don't like it of course. :)

Pear & Pineapple Jam Recipe

Makes: 7 half pints or a combination of 8oz and 4oz jars
(recipe can be doubled)

Recipe originally from this blog  http://pantryeats.blogspot.com/2009/09/pineapple-pear-jam.html

 

Ingredients:

• 4 Cups of pears peeled and cored and mashed to make 3 cups
• 10 oz of crushed pineapple (1/2 a 20 oz can)
• 1 1/2 Tbs lemon juice
• 1 package of fruit pectin
• 4 1/2 cups of sugar
  
  

Directions:

Prepare and sterilize jars and jar rings. Keep jars warm in boiling hot water or on the Heated dry setting of your dishwasher until ready to use. Although the dishwasher is convenient for washing and sterilizing the jars, I find it easier to wash them, then sterilize them in the water-bath canner and let them sit until ready to use.  Keep the lids in hot (not boiling) water to prepare the seals.

Peel, core and cut up the pears.  I used my handy pear corer to do the job.  Definitely saved some time.  This is what 4 cups of chopped pears looks like if you're wondering.

Mash pears.  I used my potato masher to mash the pears.  They were ripe so it was really easy and didn't take that long.  Pour fruit (crushed pears and undrained crushed pineapple) into a 6 or 8 quart saucepan.

Gradually stir in pectin over high heat. Bring fruit to full boil that cannot be stirred down.  Stir constantly.

Add entire amount of sugar all at once and stir to dissolve. Return to a full rolling boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Skim foam from top. I didn't have foam because I added a pat of butter while it was boiling to reduce the foam.

 

Ladle into hot jars and fill 1/8 inch from the top.  Carefully place lids and tighten rings.

Process in a water bath canner for 5 minutes.  If you live in a higher altitude, refer to the instructions on the National Center for Home Preservation site to determine how long to process the jars.

Remove the processed jars with the jar lifter and place them on a baking sheet.  Let them cool down for 12 hours overnight.  Make sure the jars seal.  You should hear the lids pop when they're sealed properly.  If any of the jars don't seal, put them in the refrigerator or freezer.  The jelly jars I use can be placed in the freezer (after they cool down of course).

Here are the beautiful sealed jars of pear pineapple jam.  They are ready to be stored (and given away at the appropriate time).

Canning Resources:

 

Here are some of the sites I've been using as a reference in my canning adventures.  You might enjoy them as well:

• Canning Across America
• Well Preserved
• National Center for Home Preservation 

 

I also enjoying using the resources in the book: Keeping The Harvest: Discover the Homegrown Goodness of Putting Up Your Own Fruits, Vegetables & Herbs by Nancy Chioff & Gretchen Mead.

 

Here are some delicious breads that would go well with this jam!

• Light Wheat Bread 
• Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire
• Sprouted Wheat Bread
• Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread

Making Jam: Apple Butter

October is one of my favorite months and it's my birthday month!  This year for my birthday, I took the day off to go get apples and pumpkins from one of my favorite places, Jaemor Farms. I've been having so much fun canning and jamming this season that I wanted to try my hand at making apple butter and possibly applesauce. My tastes tester said that apple butter was his favorite so of course I had to make some. 

I came home with several varieties of apples: Jonagold, Golden Delicious and Mutsu.  We've been eating the Jonagold and Golden Delicious apples as snacks but I wouldn't let my sons eat the Mutsu apples because I wanted to use them for the apple butter. They're good for making apple butter because they're a little bit tart.  I had never had Mutsu before, but they are delicious!  I had a few left over from making the butter so we ate them!  Yummy!

Apple Butter Recipe
Makes: 5 or 6 pints


This particular recipe utilizes the whole apple (including the peel and core) for added flavor.  Once the apples are cooked, you use a food mill or sieve to separate the apple pulp from the seeds and peel.  I didn't have a food mill so I used a sieve.  It was a rather ardous process rubbing everything through the sieve but the end result was definitely worth it.  Even so, I just ordered a food mill so I won't have to do that again.


The recipe is from Keeping The Harvest: Discover the Homegrown Goodness of Putting Up Your Own Fruits, Vegetables & Herbs by Nancy Chioff & Gretchen Mead.


Ingredients:

• 6 pounds apples (24-26 medium apples)
• 2 quarts water
• 1 quart apple cider
• 3 cups sugar
• Cinnamon, ground
• Cloves, ground

Directions:
Wash the apples and cut into small pieces, leaving the skins and cores.

Add the water and boil the apples until they are soft (about 30 minutes).  Put through a food mill or rub through a sieve.  This part took awhile as you can imagine. 

In the meantime, boil down the apple cider to half its volume.  Add the hot apple pulp, sugar, and ground spices to taste, and cook until thick enough to spread.

Stir the mixture occasionally to prevent sticking or scorching.

Ladle into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace, and seal.

Process in a boiling-water bath for 5 minutes, up to 1,000 feet altitude.  If you live in a higher altitude or need more detailed instructions on water-bath canning, please refer to the instructions on this site: National Center for Home Preservation.

Remove the hot jars from the canner using the jar lifter and place them on the counter overnight (for 12 hours).  The jars should making a popping noise as they seal.  If any of the jars don't pop, that means they didn't seal properly so you'll need to place them in the refrigerator. 

This apple butter tastes great!  Definitely worth all of the effort.  When my oldest son tried it, he said "this isn't enough!"  I agree, I plan to make more.  I'm going back to get more apples this weekend.  Yummy!


This apple butter tastes great on Anadama Bread  (the 1st BBA Bread) and Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread.  I imagine it would taste great on most breads.  I plan to find out.


Happy Canning!
Cathy