Experience the taste of summer by making this blackberry jelly recipe using blackberry juice, sugar, pectin, and love!
Why We Love This Blackberry Jelly Recipe
We enjoy farming, gardening, and raising our own meat. We love all the hard work and the delicious, healthy food that we raise to nourish our family. Because of this, we always want to share our favorite recipes and tips with you!
The farming or homesteading lifestyle fulfills us and allows us to bring our kids alongside us to learn these skills, too. Even simple skills like building a corner raised garden bed, setting up an automatic drip irrigation system, or how to easily peel hard-boiled eggs become a part of our kids’ wheelhouse as they learn and grow to love living self-sufficiently.
But we also love using the land and the native fruits it offers. Some years, when we have a good, wet spring with plenty of rainfall, the blackberries grow prolifically. Years like these mean we get to go blackberry picking to make blackberry jelly and cobblers (check out my bonus blackberry cobbler video below!).
Blackberry jelly became a tradition in our family from generations back. Native blackberries grow abundantly on the foothills of the Ozarks in the wooded areas where we live now and where we grew up as kids.
Our aunt used this blackberry jelly recipe and passed it on to us. Picking native fruits is one small step that brings us back to living a self-sufficient life. We encourage you to get out and pick the wild fruits of the land!
Can Frozen Blackberries Be Used to Make Jam
Fresh blackberries warmed in the summer sun taste absolutely wonderful in this blackberry jelly recipe. However, you can freeze the blackberries you pick to make jams and jellies (or cobbler) later on.
You can use frozen blackberries as long as you completely thaw the berries before following the steps of the recipe. You still need to be able to juice the berries for blackberry jelly. If you want to make blackberry jam, you don’t need to juice the blackberries since jams contain seeds and jellies don’t.
Does Blackberry Contain Pectin
Wild blackberries contain high levels of pectin in their natural state. For this reason, many blackberry jam recipes do not call for pectin. They just add lemon juice instead.
But, in this blackberry jelly recipe, we include pectin. You will love the taste of this smooth jelly.
Removing the Seeds
When we make blackberry jelly, we remove the seeds first. When we make jam, we leave the seeds. We have tried two different ways to remove seeds for homemade jelly.
You can use a potato masher and cheesecloth to juice your blackberries (pictured above). Or, you can use a juicer. Whichever method you decide to use, the smoother the juice, the more your end product will resemble true jelly.
Supplies Needed
- Mason Jars With New Lids – We prefer pint-sized Mason jars for jelly but use whatever jar works best for your family. Consider that you’ll want to eat the contents within about two weeks of opening. Be sure to sanitize your jars and lids before using them.
- Cheese Cloth – If you decide to juice your blackberries with a juicer, then you don’t need cheesecloth. This is for straining the mashed berries to catch the seeds and pulp.
- Potato Masher – Use this to mash the blackberries into juice. Again, you don’t need a potato masher if you use a juicer.
- Ball Canning Kit – Having a canning kit that includes a jar lifter and funnel helps make the canning process go more smoothly.
- 2 Large Glass Bowls – You will need to use one bowl to mash the blackberries and one to squeeze the juice into.
- 1 Large Stockpot – Use a heavy-bottomed stockpot to cook up the blackberry jelly.
- 1 Large Stainless Steal Water Bath Canner – These canners have a wire rack in the bottom helps to speed up the process.
- Pot Holder – Use a pot holder to hold the Mason jars when you screw on the lids. Remember, the jars will be filled with hot jelly!
- Wire Rack – This is handy for setting the Mason jars on after canning, allowing the finished jelly to cool to room temperature.
- Large Spoon – Use this spoon for continuous high-heat stirring.
Ingredients Needed
- 10 Cups Fresh Blackberries – Fresh-picked blackberries make the best homemade jelly.
- ½ teaspoon Butter – The butter helps calm down the foam as you make the jelly.
- 7 ½ Cups Sugar – Granulated sugar works best for this recipe.
- 2 Certo Packets – A canning guide in the box gives great information on any fruit you plan to make into jelly or jam. This guide also includes a recipe for jelly.
Blackberry Jelly Recipe Step-by-Step
- Pick fresh blackberries. Make sure to pick shiny, dark blackberries. Leave the unripe fruit to ripen on the brambles.
- Wash your blackberries. You can soak the berries in a tub to bring all the debris or insects to the top of the water. Then, put the berries in a colander and wash out all the grass, bugs, seeds, or leaves.
- Sterilize the Mason jars and lids in boiling water for ten minutes in a large stainless steel pot. Allow them to air dry on a wire rack until ready to use.
- Prepare your water bath canner while you make the blackberry jelly by filling it halfway and bringing the water to just below a boil.
- Measure ten cups of blackberries and put half in a glass bowl.
- Use a potato masher to mash five cups of berries at a time. Mash them really well to create as much juice as possible.
- Line a large bowl with cheesecloth and pour the mashed berries into the cheesecloth.
- Gently gather up the edges of the cheesecloth and lift it so it is hovering over the bowl. Allow the juice to drain into the bowl. Then, gently squeeze the cheesecloth to work all the juice through the cheesecloth and into the bowl. (Be careful, as the blackberry juice will stain your clothes!)
- Repeat these steps with the second five cups of blackberries until all your berries are juiced. Or, if you have a juicer, you can omit this step and just run your ten cups of blackberries through your juicer.
- It should make at least four cups of blackberry juice. If you mashed or juiced all your berries and it didn’t quite make four cups of juice, you can add water to equal four cups of liquid.
- Measure and pour four cups of blackberry juice into your stockpot.
- Add seven and a half cups of sugar to the blackberry juice.
- Add ½ teaspoon of butter to the pot. This just helps to avoid excessive foaming.
- Stir it all together and mix the sugar and butter fully into the juice.
- Turn on the heat to medium and bring the blackberry juice mixture to a rolling boil. Stir constantly.
- Allow the mixture to boil for one whole minute while continuing to stir.
- Turn the heat to low and stir in two packets of pectin.
- Turn the heat back up and return to a full rolling boil. Boil the juice mixture again for one minute.
- Turn off the heat.
- Skim off any foam that developed on the top of the surface.
- Ladle the mixture into the prepared jars. Fill to the first ring on the canning jars. Pro-Tip: Use a funnel to help you fill your canning jars more quickly and with fewer spills.
- Fill all the pint jars to the first ring and set them aside.
- Wipe off the rim of the jars with a damp paper towel.
- Put the sanitized lids on all the jars. The jars will be really hot, so use a potholder to hold the glass jar while making sure you put the lids on to fingertip tight (as tight as you can get the lids using just your fingertips).
- Put the jars in the hot water bath and add additional hot water until the jars are covered with an inch of water.
- Bring to a boil and process the jars at a continuous boil for five minutes.
- Remove the jelly jars with a jar lifter and put them on the wire rack to cool.
- Allow the jars to cool for 12 hours (or overnight).
- The following day, double-check the seals by pressing on the center of the lid with your finger. If the center of the lid pops when you press on it, then the jar is not sealed. Place any unsealed jars in the refrigerator and consume them within two weeks.
- This recipe makes approximately five one-pint jars of delicious blackberry jelly.
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