Sour Cherry Jelly

Ingredients:
• 4 lbs pie cherries
• 7 cups sugar
• 1 bottle Certo pectin

Wash cherries and heat slowly on stove in a small amount of water. Simmer, covered, until soft, then mash with a potato masher (do not crush the pits). Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour into a jelly bag and strain the juice out. You can squeeze the bag for more juice, but then the jelly will not be sparking clear. Measure the amount of juice you have (should be 3 – 4 cups) into a very large pot, and add 2 cups sugar for each cup of juice. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil and add the Certo. Continue to stir constantly, bring to a full rolling boil (a boil that cannot be stirred down) and cook for 30 seconds – keep stirring. Remove from heat, skim off foam, and immediately pour into hot sterilized jars, fill to within 3/8″ of the top. Wipe jar rims with a clean, damp paper towel. Immediately put lids on and screw down tightly. Turn jars upside down, then turn upright after 5 minutes. When cool, rinse off any jelly residue with cool water.

Makes about fourteen 4-ounce jars of jelly.

Equipment:
• jam jars (small one- and two-ounce jars can be found online at Specialtybottle.com, or most groceries have Kerr canning jars in 4- and 8-ounce sizes)
• 6 or 8 quart cook pot
• long-handled wooden spoon
• ladle
• rubber spatula
• jelly bag or 22″ square of polyester chiffon
• very large pot for sterilizing the jars
• rubber gloves
• clean paper towels cut into small squares

To sterilize your equipment:
Use rubber gloves to protect your hands from the heat – makes the job much easier. Fill a pan with hot water and put both parts of the screwcaps into it; simmer for at least 10 minutes. Wash the jars, fill a very large pot with hot water and immerse the jars in it. Bring to a boil, and simmer for at least ten minutes; keep in the water until ready to fill.

Resources For Canning Jars:
• Small jam jars can be found at SpecialtyBottle.com
• Kerr canning jars can be found at most grocery stores.
• European canning jars can be found at WeckCanning.com.

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