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| Me versus the boiling raspberry jam. The jam won. |
So our neighbors from across the field asked us to care for their chickens while they were away on vacation. They also pointed out another neighbor on vacation who had requested that the raspberries be picked from their bushes to encourage berries through the season.
Tom and I picked 5 dry cups of berries. (That's really a whole other funny story!)
Yesterday, I made jam.
I was convinced I was a terrible jam maker.
For 1.) I am terrible about reading a recipe. Especially ones that emphasize a process. Such as jam. I normally read for ingredients and go from there.
2.) I am not great at doing things quickly. I have only been able to manage making a meal with a single side and time things to be done all at once maybe ONE time in my life.
Jam is processed rather quickly.
Set up takes the longest- sanitizing jars, gathering utensils, preparing the fruit, and measuring the sugar.
This time I thought I managed it pretty well.
Until the almost end :(
I had one hiccup while boiling the fruit. That being that it was definitely boiling and some decided to jump out and land on my foot. Ouch!
But on a more serious note, I had read in a canning book that jam temps out at 225F to set properly.
So I boiled my jam for the 1 minute after mixing in the sugar, but the temp only got to 205. I boiled again and still only got to 205. I noticed the texture off the spoon seemed nice and thick so I said screw the temp. I was nervous of "burning" the flavor of the jam or possibly making it too thick. I had some help with Tom through this.
Tom held the jars while I poured in the jam. I water bathed them for 10 minutes and took them out.
That's when I noticed my BIG problem.
Air.
I forgot to take the air out of the jars before putting the lids on. They didn't explode, which is good, but I was sure that this could potentially compromise the shelf life.
So I immediately popped the lids, took out the air, and put the lids back on. But I was so worried about the air, I forgot to wipe the edges clean. I popped the lids again, wiped the edges, put the lids back on, and water bathed for a second 10 minutes.
At this point. I was worried about the lids sealing because I had already processed them once. I thought maybe I had a chance, since the gum never really cooled and formed to the jar.
While watching Orange is the New Black, Tom looked over at me after hearing a distinct PING. My only response was, "Damn, that's a good sounds to hear!"
Twice more and I was feeling good.
So only 2 things left to worry about.
1.) Taste.
2.) Texture.
I boiled twice and water bathed twice. I hope it doesn't alter the taste and/or texture to be unfavorable. Taste testing is tonight. I'll report back what we think.
