The Bunker

Thing you need:
fruit

fruit pectin
sugar

lemon juice (optional)


big wooden spoon
6-8 qt saucepot

lids and bands
1/2 pint jars

potato masher
paring knife

large bowl
measuring cups

tongs


Nice things you can do without:
jar funnel

lid wand





Tips
Fruit pectin comes with recipes. You can fish the recipe out at the store to see how much fruit to buy.


Boxes of new jars come with lids and bands.


I use the "inversion method" to seal jam instead of using a boiling water canner. After I seal the jars, I invert them on a towel. After exactly 5 minutes, I turn them over and they seal themselves in around half an hour.


I use low-sugar Sure-Jell. It doesn't set as firm and spreads more like apple butter than jam. I think it tastes fruitier.


After comparing the fresh strawberry jam to last years, I will be putting lemon juice in to prevent browning next year.


1/2 teaspoon butter, margarine or vegetable spreads like Promise or Country Crock all work to reduce foaming. Strawberries foam a lot.



Before you pour boiling water on the lids, turn over every other one so they're easier to grab with the tongs later. Steve likes salad tongs for this purpose.