Cantastic! Canned Blueberries

These canned blueberries are wonderful throughout the year in berry pies, or served in small bowls for breakfast, or over ice cream, or as a berry sauce over pancakes or waffles. And because they are something you made yourself, they make a very special gift to friends and family.

Ingredients:

Fresh picked blueberries, rinsed, at room temperature. Can as many or as few as you wish, but as a guideline, 1-1/4 pints of fresh blueberries will make into one pint of canned.

Sugar syrup for 7 to 9 pints of blueberries:
-6 cups water
-3 cups sugar for a medium syrup, or 2 cups sugar for a light syrup

 

Equipment:

• pint canning jars with two-piece lids
• A jar grabber is helpful if you don’t have heavy-duty rubber gloves
• 6 or 8 quart cook pot
• large slotted spoon
• ladle
• very large pot for sterilizing the jars
• rubber gloves
• clean paper towels cut into small squares

It’s very helpful to use heavy-duty rubber gloves while canning, to protect your hands from the heat.

1. First, sterilize your equipment. Lids: Fill a small pan with hot water and put both parts of the screwcaps into it – the threaded caps and the flat lids that have the rubber seal. Simmer gently (do not boil) for at least 10 minutes. Jars: Wash them, fill a very large pot with hot water and immerse the jars in it. Cover the pot with a lid, bring the water to a boil, and simmer the jars in the water for at least ten minutes. Keep jars in the water until ready to use.

2. Make syrup: In a saucepan, combine the sugar and water, bring to a boil and simmer until the sugar dissolves, about 15 minutes.

3. Cook and fill: Pour the blueberries gently into the simmering syrup. Once it comes back to a simmer, allow to cook for about two minutes.

4. While the blueberries simmer, remove the jars and lids from their pot of water; place right side up on a clean cloth. Using a slotted spoon, fill canning jars with the blueberries. Be sure to work quickly so temperatures do not drop. Pour boiling syrup into each jar until it is filled to 3/8 inch from the top.

5. Wipe jar rims with a clean, damp paper towel. Immediately put lids on and screw down tightly.

6. Process in water bath: Submerge the filled jars in a large pot of hot water. Have a metal rack on the bottom of the pan, or a white towel. You just need to make sure there is a barrier between the glass jars and the metal bottom of the pot. Bring to a moderate boil (do not put the filled jars into a pot of boiling water or they will break). Once the water comes to a boil, allow to cook 15 minutes for pints, 20 minutes for quarts.

7. Remove and place on a towel until cool.

Enjoy customizing your labels with a style of your choice, personalized with your photo and the name you choose for your home made berries!