(Blueberries for attention)
Hey there r/canning ! I have a couple questions about specifically berry canning in water baths. Any thoughts are appreciated!
I bought a home this summer with 7 highly productive Blueberry bushes and have made several batches of the classic jam with sugar and blueberry. It has been delicious and rewarding!
I went away for a weekend and came back to a bunch of slightly overripe berries, and we are toward the end of the season so I have quite a few berries that are on the edge. I am talking mostly firm, but maybe one soft spot. Nothing I would hesitate to eat in the moment, but in all the literature I read on canning the quality and freshness of the food is important. I have been drawing the line at any berry with a hole in it or if they more than one small soft spot.
I am just a little conflicted because on one hand I know to make my jam I will be boiling the berries for close to 30 minutes which I presume would kill any bacteria from pests. On the other hand, I don’t really want to use overly soft berries or ones that look like a bug has gotten to first.
Where do you draw the line for a berry’s freshness when making jam? Anything I have not considered?
What’s your method for washing berries before processing?
Thanks in advance! I hope all is well in your world today!
by the__noodler
3 Comments
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Basically, use a sink filled with cold water, wash the berries and take them out with a spider or a hand held sieve. Otherwise canning (for us, growing up in Montana) was more or less a catchall for all the berries that didn’t get eaten fresh. I liked to take out the “a bug obviously got this” fruits but my grandmother always said “the extra protein is good for you”
Pretty much I float all my berries into a big bowl of vinegar and water at 1:10 for ten minutes to kill mold spores, then rinse. I run my fingers through them as they soak. You’ll feel any berries that are really overripe easily. Pro tip: the swimming ones with six legs you should also get rid of.