I am going blueberry picking this weekend and wanted a few pointers on making it. Last year when we made it the blueberries floated to the top of the juice and made the jam look unsightly. We followed the directions on the pectin box but didn't like how they turned out. I was thinking of either thoroughly mashing the blueberries possibly by running them through a blender or even cooking them down to mush before processing them for jam. Can anyone tell me what worked best for them?

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2001

Answers

I don't follow directions, though I do use the pectin in all but my plum jam. For as many pounds of fruit, use that many pounds of sugar. Weight, not measurments! Your fruit floated because your sugar syrup (which is just your juice/sugar) was to thin. Vicki

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2001

When making jam it is best to use "dead ripe" fruit. I always use the ripest berries and follow the recipe directions and it works just fine. Chopping up the fruit with a chopper also helps. When I have larger pieces of fruit I also stir just a bit longer than the recipe says to, kind of like with jello to really get my fruit blended into the jam.

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2001

Here in "blueberry country" I use a touch of lemon juice to add the necessary pectin to bluebery jam to help it to jell correctly. A couple of tablespoons usually does the trick. Good luck!

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2001