Yesterday we canned chokecherry jelly.
OK, OK, so my mom and brother canned while I took pictures. Hey, I've got a blog to keep up, yo!
And as punishment for keeping you happy, I had clean-up duty.
You're welcome.
;)
Anyways.
The canning process:
First fill a pan part-way with water, and put jars upside-down in it. Then bring it to a boil. This sterilizes the jars.
Do the same with the lids. The heat also makes the rubber part of the lid soft, so it seals better.
Then pour in the jelly! (Basically the jelly is chokecherry juice, sugar, a little lemon juice, and Sure-Jell fruit pectin, which makes it gelatinous)
Then wipe the top of the jar so it's clean:
And screw on the hot lid!
Then turn the jars upside-down. This heats the lids so they seal.
After a while, flip the jars up-right. And then for the next hour or so, we hear little pops! The lids make that noise when the air inside cools off, gets smaller and pulls down the little suction button on the lid. Those little pops sound so much like late summer to me!
Canning jelly can be a bit of a pain, but mostly it's fun and easy. Have you ever canned anything?
I did it again! And it's a wonderful it I did too. Ha! Take that All-of-Inna's-Other-Followers! I beat you to it! *I* got the first comment! Boo-ya!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I have canned something. We made jelly once, only we sealed them with wax. The melted wax was clear, so once mom poored it in the jars, it floated on top of the jelly but you couldn't see it. I came innocently into the kitchen and stuck my finger in a jar to get a sample of jelly. It came out with a coating of HOT wax. Ow!
It looks so fun! I've never done canning but I always wanted to...maybe someday. :)
ReplyDeleteLooks tasty! I would like some on toast when I come in a couple weeks. :)
ReplyDelete