Raspberry Jam Recipe

My mom and I got together yesterday and made raspberry jam - it's pretty easy. The most expensive part is buying the jars, but if you do it every year then you can re-use the jars and it gets less and less expensive! My mom and I actually lucked out this year because we found a bunch of these cute little jars at my grandma's when we were going through her house getting ready for her estate sale - yay us!

Anyway... we just use the basic recipe off of the box of pectin.

What is pectin?

...a white to light brown powder, mainly extracted from citrus fruits, and is used in food as a gelling agent particularly in jams and jellies. It is also used in fillings, sweets, as a stabilizer in fruit juices and milk drinks and as a source of dietary fiber.  source

This is the brand we use and we make sure to get the For Less or No Sugar Added Recipes which uses about 25% less sugar than the regular pectin recipes. (It tastes just as good - believe me!)




For raspberry jam:
5 cups crushed fresh raspberries
4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon butter
1 box pectin
Jars, lids and rings

Sterilize your jars and lids in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Wash your berries and crush them with a potato masher.
Measure out sugar into a bowl. Add 1/4 cup of the sugar to a separate bowl with the pectin.
Put the crushed berries in a large pot over high heat and add the butter (this reduces foaming) and the sugar/pectin mixture. Stir constantly until rasberries come to a full rolling boil.
Add remaining sugar and bring back to a boil (make sure to keep stirring or it will burn!). Boil for 1 minute.
Remove from heat and pour into jars. Make sure the rim of the jar is clean and then place lid on top and screw on the ring tightly. Turn jar upside down for sealing (there are different opinions on how to do this... this is just how we do it. Some say to return the jar to a boiling water bath again to seal.)

Ta Da! All done! The most wonderful jam ever! The worst part is that it's the middle of summer and you have to stand over a super hot pot of jam mixture, stirring constantly for like 10-15 minutes while it comes to a boil. But it's worth it!