Sunday, August 2, 2020

Jelly

The Chokecherrys that we picked a few days ago are now jelly.  It was a cooler Saturday morning project.  I made three batches and it yielded 18 jars of jelly.  That was juice from about 2 1/2 ice cream buckets of berries....it was just a little over 10 1/2 cups of juice.

We will pick again today as many more chokecherries are ripe. 

These berries were bright red a few days ago. 

I have enough jars, sugar and pectin to do four more batches.  After that the juice will be frozen for use later in the winter.

My Recipe for Chokecherry Jelly

3 1/2 cups of chokecherry juice
1/2 cup of lemon juice
Add one package of pectin (Sure Jel)   
Heat and stir until the mixture boils and increases in volume...after that I stir about a minute.
Add 3 1/2 cups of sugar
Bring to boil  and boil for two minutes stirring constantly. 
Skim foam off the top. 

Pour into sterile jars, make sure the rim of the jar has no jelly on it, add a hot lid and a collar (ring) tighten up the collar on the lid but not too tight,  and put into a hot water bath with water covering the jars and boil for 5 plus minutes.

It has been my experience that one small batch at a time is the way to make jelly.  I enlist Far Guys help to put lids on the jars, then he lifts them into the hot water bath...he keeps the hot water bath going and the small pan with the hot lids ready for me.  AND gets something for me if I have forgotten it! 

I set out everything I will need...sugar is pre measured and in a bowl...bowls are set out for the skim and for a resting place for my measuring cup that I use to fill the jars. I usually cover the counter tops with towels...cause I am messy...the making jelly part took about two hours.  I wash my pan and all the utensils used after every batch.  Far Guy was a gem and helped with final clean up.

Far Side


34 comments:

At Home In New Zealand said...

I used to love husband helping whenever I made preserves, it was so much easier and the joy of working together was great.
I also found making smaller amounts at a time was more efficient and gave better results.
One day I hope I may get to taste some chokeberry jelly :)

Laurel Wood said...

A lot of work but glad you two have a good system. I know you will enjoy the jelly this winter. I hope you have a nice day.

Granny_J said...

Your jars of jelly look great. This is a great post as many people that have never canned before are starting to learn new ways to fill their pantries.

diane said...

Chokecherry jelly is a treasure to me. Also pin cherries. Did a lot of picking in my earlier years when we lived in the country but not much picking going on in the city. Brings back memories when reading your post.

Shirley said...

It's so nice that your husband helps you! Mine disappears whenever I start canning....
That looks yummy. I haven't made chokecherry jelly for nearly 20 years. Here we have a lot of blackberries so I guess that will be my jam this year. Right now I am dealing with zucchini.

Miss Merry said...

I know jelly making is very precise. And your jars looks just wonderful! I am so impatient that I usually end up with what we refer to as "ice cream topping", too runny for toast, but delicious on ice cream. Luckily my middle son married a sweet girl who has the gift of patience and she now keeps me supplied with her homemade jellies.

Martha said...

You are Far Guy make a great team! Enjoy the jelly and have a blessed Sunday :)

Wildflower Adventures said...

Looks like good batches of jelly. I see that the berries are black when they are ripe. We was wondering how to tell when ripe. The birds got our few we discovered that we had.

Maebeme said...

Great work! From side of the blog those look very good. Enjoy!

Cynthia said...

They look so pretty! And isn’t it exciting when those tops PING! one by one?

Terry and Linda said...

WOW! Well done! You are very ambitious

Tired Teacher 2 said...

I have wonderful memories of helping my Mom make jelly and can fruit and produce. It’s satisfying to hear the jars seal one by one and subconsciously counting them.

Linda Reeder said...

This all sounds very familiar. something I have done in the past, and most likely will not do again. Of course my fruit would have been raspberries, picked from our patch.
It's a lot of work, but you seem to have it down to a precise science. It's great to have an assistant who stands by and helps with clean up. I have a guy like that too.

DJan said...

You two make a good team. And that is a LOT of jelly, with more to come. :-)

Pauline Persing said...

Sounds like a great joint project. Tom and all three children were always part of the project when I froze corn. Frozen corn, the way Tom's mother made it was my favorite winter vegetable. Tom loved it, too.

Bonnie said...

You sure have a good system worked out. Far Guy is a gem for helping out. I remember helping my mother make jelly and preserves but I've never done it myself. You will have a great stock of jelly plus have enough for gifts!

Ronald said...

My mouth is watering! But what a project. My mother canned for awhile, but gave it up. Since it was only my brother, Jerry, and me, no daughters of Mom's picked it up. Though I will have to ask Jerry; he may have learned later.

www.self-sufficientsam.blogspot.com said...

That looks so good and it must be so satisfying to "put food by" for winter. I wish we had something here that I could pick and make something with. I'm sure the people that were born and raised around here know but they're not talkin'! LOL!
Good job both of you!

Galla Creek said...

We don’t have chokeberries in Arkansas. What do they compare to?

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

well done, what a good job

The Great Ethan Allen said...

Wow! Cheryl now wants to collect chokecherries. Jelly certainly uses a lot of sugar! One of the things I think that makes Cheryl shy away from it. ( Like PIE doesn't have a bunch of sugar) I think we are taking a break from sweet things currently. Tomatoes are going to be overwhelming us soon enough. And our freezer is still bursting with berries, our pantry is filled with dried mushrooms. I have no idea how the two of us will be able to eat them all.. But it certainly keeps us busy during these odd times.

Jacqi Stevens said...

That all sure is a lot of work. My daughter and a friend just finished up the last batch of doing jam from our plum trees, but those chokecherries sound like 'way more work than that!

Far Side of Fifty said...

Chokecherries have a heavy fruity tart taste...I don't know of anything that compares:)

Red said...

chokecherry is one of my favorites. Great flavor.

diane in northern wis said...

What an excellent chokecherry jelly maker you are. I don't believe I've ever tried it. I'll have to find some and try it someday. You sure do know what you're doing! So fun to read your blog and see what you're up to now! You two are amazing.

Gemma's person said...

Bravo you guys!
Thank you for sharing the recipe.

Wanderingcatstudio said...

When I do jam, I do one small batch at a time too. The results are just more consistent!

Betsy said...

I love the way the two of you work as a team for most of your projects. I used to do a lot of canning, but never did jelly's and jams. The chokecherry jars look wonderful lined up on the counter.
Blessings,
Betsy

Val Ewing said...

Yes! Small batches is the way to go. I have to really be IN the mood to make jelly and when I am I make it for a few days in a row. Lots of washing, measuring, and well timed work. All worth it in the end.
I may have to try your recipe if I can find a place with enough chokecherries around here.

linda m said...

So proud of you.

Debi said...

You and Far Guy have been busy with those chokecherries. As a kid we were told not to eat them as they would make us sick so I didn't know that you could make juice and jam out of them. You learn something new every day!

Pamela said...

I see them growing on my creek walks. A couple of the trees are so very tall. I've seen western tanagers and Bullocks Orioles feasting in them. Way up high of course.

Karen said...

Hoping to pick chokecherries on our next trip to the Okanagan. I'm a double recipe maker for almost everything, so I assume I've done that with choke cherries too. Yesterday I made one batch of raspberry jelly that involved 10 cups of juice and made 15.5 cups of jelly. I think if I'm using.a fruit for the first time I will make a single batch, but otherwise I live dangerously, lol.

Victoria Zigler said...

That's a lot of jars of jelly. Also, sounds like you have a great system worked out.