Raspberry Jam

Notes

This is a quick, simple recipe I adapted from a couple sources to make raspberry jam for the kolache I made for Christmas this year.

  • Use a heavy-bottomed pot. This will help heat showly and evenly to prevent burning. The pot should also be significantly deeper than the ingredients as there will be quite a bit of boil up. I did a double batch in these photos, but I've done a quadruple batch in this pot before.
  • The sugar is not an exact measurement. You can adjust to match the level of sweetness you're looking for. Some recipies called for a full cup for each 6 oz of raspberries. Some suggest you could go with as little as ½ cup.
  • You can control the consistency through cooking time. The longer you boil, the stiffer the jam will be.
  • This jam will keep fresh in the fridge for about two weeks.
  • If you use a freezer-safe container, you could freeze it for up to a year.
  • If you want to make it shelf stable to store in your pantry, you'll have to use a sterilized jarring method. I haven't done that before, so I'm not covering it here.

Directions

  1. Rinse all your berries.
  2. Add your berries to the pot and cook over medium-high heat.
  3. Add your sugar.
  4. Mash the berries. Between mashing and cooking, they'll soon be mostly liquid and much of the sugar should have disolved.
  5. Stir regularly and keep an eye on your jam. Once the jam continues boiling even while stirring, start your timer for 8 minutes.
  6. As you near the end of the 8 minutes, you'll notice a layer of foam near the top. Begin skimming off as much as you can without removing any of the transparent liquid.
  7. Once the timer goes off, begin testing your jam using the "drip" method.
    • Dip your spoon or scoop a little jam, and hold it sideways allowing the jam to drip off. If it gathers at the edge and gathers in a "sheet" before dripping off, it's a good, medium consistency.
    • Your jam could be ready right away, or you could need to give it another few minutes. It's not an exact science here.
  8. **Optional** If you'd like, you can use a fine wire mesh strainer to remove some or all of the seeds from your jam. I like the seeds in, so I don't strain at all.
  9. Pour your jam into a sealable container. Let it sit on the counter with the lid off to cool down for maybe an hour or two, depending on how large a batch you've made.
  10. Seal it up and store in the fridge!