Wash and pit 7-8 cups of sweet eating cherries.

I’m not sure what type these are, but they are pretty tasty 🙂 The cherry trees have been there for a while.

 

 

 

Place pitted cherries in bowl.

 

 

 

 

 

Start water in water bath canner heating up. Add 1 Tbsp white vinegar to help reduce hard water spots on jars.

 

 

 

 

Place clean jars in hot water to start warming up.

An alternative: put jars in water in a crock pot that is set on low.

 

 

 

 

Place reusable gaskets or disposable lids in hot, almost boiling water. I was using Weck jars for this batch of jam, which have reusable gaskets and glass lids.

 

 

 

 

I like to use Pomona’s pectin for jams and jellies because it doesn’t require as much sugar as other jams and jellies, so you get to taste the fruit more than the sugar.

Mix 1-2 cups of sugar (or honey) with 3 tsp pectin. It depends on how sweet your cherries are to begin with, along with how sweet you like your jam.

 

 

With heat on med-low, mash cherries as they begin to warm up.

Add 1/4 c. lemon juice and 4 tsp calcium water (found in Pomona’s package).

Bring to a boil.

 

 

Add in sugar-pectin mixture. Return to boil.

Remove from heat and ladled into hot jars.

I keep forgetting I need to order a different funnel for the Weck jars – a regular canning funnel has too large of diameter. But I love the idea of being able to reuse the Weck lids and gaskets 🙂

 

 

 

Wipe jar rim with clean damp napkin. Weck and Le Parfait jars seem to be more picky about having a clean surface for sealing, than do regular disposable lids.

 

 

 

 

 

Affix gasket and lid.

Secure Weck lids with 3 clips.  I tried using just the two clips that the jars come with, but lost too much liquid during processing that way.

 

 

 

 

 

Place filled jars into elevated rack of water bath canner.

I like to alternate filling sides of the rack so that one side doesn’t become too heavy and pull one of the rack handles off of the side of the canner.

 

 

Process for 10 minutes, adding 1 minute for each 1,000 feet above sea level. Since we are at 2,000 feet, I process mine for 12 minutes.

Remove canner from heat, remove canner lid and allow it to set for 5 minutes before removing jars.

Allow Weck jars to cool completely before removing clips to check seals.

 

 

Some nice things to add into your jam: 1 tsp almond extract, and 1/2 tsp nutmeg. Just add them when you add in the pectin-sugar mixture.