Delicious Blackberry Preserves

Blackberry preserves and wild blackberry picking are such a picture of summer for me. Ever since the twins were two, we would head out in July and pick fresh juicy wild blackberries in the woods and the edges of fields around our home.  Everyone would have a bucket or basket of them and we would come hot and sweaty to have a tall glass of lemonade and make blackberry preserves among other things.  Some would be frozen for later, some would make syrup for pancakes and ice cream.  But oh the blackberry preserves were wonderful. Mom would bake up a batch of biscuits and we would all put on a dollop of butter and a spoon of these delicious preserves and enjoy the blessings of our hard work.

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What’s The Difference Between Jams, Jellies, Preserves?

All jams, jellies, preserves, and spreads contain fruit mixed with sugar and possibly pectin to thicken it.  Jelly contains only the juice of the fruit, jam has pieces of fruit but they are smaller chunks than the preserves. Preserves have large pieces and sometimes the entire fruit. Marmelade is a citrus preserve.

Can I Make Preserves Out Of Store-bought Blackberries?

Yes! They can be picked in the wild, in your backyard, bought at the farmer’s market, or your local store.

What Is Blackberry Preserves Good For?

Blackberry preserves are good for anything you would use jam or jelly on. They are also good in sandwich cookies, in thumbprint cookies, little tarts, homemade poptarts, on top of yogurt, in your favorite smoothie, as a filling in cakes and cupcakes, etc.

How Long Will Jam Last?

If you store it covered in the refrigerator it will last several weeks.  If you can it then it will last over a year. 

Are Preserves Healthier Than Jelly?

Preserves have the same ingredient as Jelly you just only use the juice and throw away the fruit when you make jelly.

Are Wild Blackberries Safe To Eat?

Yes! They are safe and taste delicious.  We first started picking wild blackberries when we lived in Washington state in the USA.  They were huge, sweet, and juicy berries. When we moved to Tennessee we were so excited to learn that they also have wild blackberries and made it a family tradition to pick berries every year.

Should You Wash Blackberries?

As with all fruit and vegetables, you should always make sure to wash your blackberries.  With berries though you should wait to wash them until you are ready to eat, cook or preserve them and then only wash the amount you plan to lose or they will go bad quickly.

What Can I do With Blackberries?

There are so many things to do with them! Bake them in cakes and muffins. Make scones with them, juice them, make cookie bars with them after you make preserves. You can juice them, freeze them, make syrup out of them for your pancakes, ice cream, frappuccinos, make blackberry cobbler, blackberry crisp and so much more!

Blackberry Preserves Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds (2 cups) of blackberries washed, with leaves and stems removed and drained
• 4 cups raw sugar

Directions:

• Wash Your Jars
• Place jars in your canner and on the rack to lift them off of the bottom of the pan.
• Fill all of your jars 1/2 way with water and then add water to the pan.  
• Turn the pan on to get hot.
• In a medium pot combine berries and sugar. Slowly bring to a boil and stir until sugar dissolves. Cook rapidly almost to the gelling point. As the mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking, Remove from heat. If needed skim foam off the top with a spoon.
• Using the jar lifter, lift hot jars out of your canning pot and dump the water back into the pan. 
• Place the jar onto a towel or folded washcloth.
• Ladle hot preserves into hot jars, leaving a 1/4 inch headspace at the top of your jar.
• Wipe the rim of the jar with a clean cloth or paper towel Cover with a new lid and a ring Tighten the ring (but do not overtighten)
• Place hot-filled jar in hot water.
• Repeat the filling process until the canner is full (do not stack jars).
• For water bath canning the water should be 2″ above the tops of the jars.
• Bring water back to a boil and start your timer.
• Process 15 minutes in boiling water canner.

If you are steam canning:

• Make sure the bottom of your steam canner has at least 3 quarts of water in it or up to the jar rack. 
• Preheat the steam canner to 180 F for hot packing.
• Fill the jars with preserves.
• Wipe down the rims and place the 2 piece lids on your jars and tighten them to just tight. Don’t over-tighten because the air needs to get out.
• Place jars into your steam canner.
• Place the lid on top of the steam canner.
• Watch the meter to get to the green zone for your elevation.  
• Begin timing for 15 minutes.
• Remove from heat when done and let sit for 5 minutes to cool
• Remove the hot jars with the bottle lifter / Jar tongs onto a flat surface like the countertop with several layers of folded towels to protect the surface from the heat.  
• Leave a space between each jar and let them cool for 24 hours without disturbing
• Label the cooled jars with date and what it is that is in the jar and store them in a cool, dark place.  The preserves will last over a year.

Print recipe here

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Yield: 4 half pints

Delicious Blackberry Preserves

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Delicious homemade blackberry preserves will make you feel you are in the country at grandma's house on a summer day. You can almost hear that screen door slamming now.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds (2 Cups) Blackberries washed, drained and picked over to remove leaves
• 4 Cups Organic Raw Sugar

Instructions

Wash Your Jars

Place jars in your canner and on the rack to lift them off of the bottom of the pan.

Fill all of your jars 1/2 way with water and then add water to the pan.  

Turn the pan on to get hot.

In a medium pot combine berries and sugar.
Slowly bring to a boil and stir until sugar dissolves.
Cook rapidly almost to the gelling point.
As the mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking, Remove from heat.
If needed skim foam off the top with a spoon.

Using the jar lifter, lift hot jars out of your canning pot and dump the water back into the pan. 

Place the jar onto a towel or folded washcloth.
Ladle hot preserves into hot jars, leaving a 1/4 inch headspace at the top of your jar.
Wipe the rim of the jar with a clean cloth or paper towel
Cover with a new lid and a ring
Tighten the ring (but do not overtighten)
Place hot-filled jar in hot water.
Repeat the filling process until the canner is full (do not stack jars).
Water should be 2" above the tops of the jars
Bring water back to a boil
Start your timer. Process 15 minutes in boiling water canner.
If you are steam canning:
Make sure the bottom of your steam canner has at least 3 quarts of water in it. 
Fill the jars with vegetables and then brine as above.
Wipe down the rims and place the 2 piece lids on your jars and tighten to just tight. Don’t over-tighten because the air needs to get out.
Place jars into your steam canner.
Place the lid on top of the steam canner. 
When you see steam coming out of the top out of the hole on top of your canner then start timing for 15 minutes. Remove from heat when done and let sit for 5 minutes to cool
Remove hot jars with the bottle lifter / Jar tongs onto a flat surface like the countertop with several layers of folded towels to protect the surface.  
Leave a space between each jar.  Let cool for 24 hours without disturbing
Label jars with date and what it is and store in a cool, dark place. 
The preserves will last over a year.

Notes

Adjust Canning times depending on your altitiude

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