Basic Berry Jam

By Doogie

Ingredients

• 4 quarts berries
• sugar

Preparation

Step 1

Use only freshly picked berries and include a good percentage of under-ripe berries. Pick over carefully and wash, removing stems, hulls and debris. Place in stainless steel pot, mash well and bring to a boil over moderate heat. Cook just until berries are softened. Put through food mill. If desired, this pulp may be strained through a finer sieve.

Measure pulp into a stainless steel pot that is at least 4 times taller than level of pulp. For every cup of pulp, add 1 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil over moderately high heat and continue to boil until temperature of the jam reaches 221 degrees on a candy thermometer. (The stage at which the mixture will form a jelly of the desired consistency, if a spoonful on a small dish is placed in the freezer for 1 minute.) Keep an eye on the boiling jam and stir frequently.

When jam is ready, ladle into sterilized jars, seal and process.