Kiwi Jam

Last night I made a batch of kiwi jam. The process was much quicker this time. (I didn’t have to pit anything!) I sort of made up the recipe as I went, so I’ll share it here for anyone who is interested.

Supplies:

• 5 half pint canning jars with lids and rings
  
• Large pot for sterilizing/processing (the pot must be tall enough to cover the jars by an inch or more of water!)
  
• Saucepan
  
• Stirring Utensil
  
• Ladle
  
• Tongs (or whatever you want to use to handle the jars when hot)
  

Ingredients:

• 2 cups mashed kiwis (about 7 whole kiwis)
  
• 4.5 cups of sugar*
  
• 1 box of Sure-Jell
  
• 2 tsp. Lemon Juice
  
• 1 tsp. butter or margarine to prevent foaming (optional)
  

Preparations:

The packaging around the canning jars should have instructions for sterilizing the jars. You can either follow those instructions or use my method:

1. Thoroughly clean your hands and all surfaces you will be using.

2. Set a freshly laundered towel on your countertop/table to protect it from the heat of the cooling jars.

3. Fill a large pot with water (enough to cover the jars by an inch or more) and turn on the heat.

4. Remove the lids and rings from the jars and set aside. (VERY IMPORTANT! If you leave the rings and lids on during sterilization, the jars will seal.)

5. Place the jars into the pot using tongs or whatever is most convenient for you.

6. Boil the jars for 10 minutes to ensure that anything lurking inside is dead.

7. Carefully remove jars from pot without touching the insides/rims and place them right side up on the towel.


Method for Jam:

Peel, rinse, and chop kiwis into small pieces. Lightly mash kiwis until they become a chunky, pulpy blend. Place mashed kiwis, lemon juice, Sure-Jell, and butter into saucepan. Turn on heat and bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. (From now on, you’re going to have to keep stirring.) Add the sugar. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil, and let boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and ladle into jars.



Kiwi jam on the stovetop!

Processing:

1. Wipe down the rims of the jars with a clean, wet paper towel to ensure a tight seal.

2. Place the lids on the jars and screw on the rings “finger tip tight.”

3. Place the lidded jars into a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

4. Remove jars and allow them to cool.

5. Check to make sure your jars have sealed about an hour or so after they’ve left the boiling water bath. Usually you can hear them seal as they cool. Any unsealed jars must be put into the refrigerator immediately.



My kiwi jam!


*I know that it sounds like an awful lot of sugar, but if you mess with the amount of added sugar, the jam will not set. If you want to try making jam with less sugar, or a sugar substitute, you’ll have to get special pectin.