Recently a friend asked if I wanted to pick any of his Black Currants to make jam and my first thought was 'I didn't realize currants came in different colours'. I was hesitant. I'm not sure why, maybe it felt like an elderly person food like liver, or prunes, I have no idea... But it's damn delicious and right up there with Strawberry Rhubarb Jam! After he kindly gave us a jar to taste test as a family, we all agreed we needed to take advantage of this free food and preserve it for the winter months.
If you are new here, we live off the grid in a tiny farmhouse we built from scratch, without a refrigerator. Learning to forage and grow our own food and preserving our harvest without a fridge is necessary for our survival and its a way of life out here in the forest.
It wasn't too long before we were back with a basket of these black currants and their floral aroma filling our home. We ended up going back the next day to grab more for another batch in the pantry. Needless to say, we are set for jam until Strawberry season next year! We're on our way to food independence, folks!
Making the Black Currant Jam is quite easy and similar to making any other jam although it has a thicker texture to it which I imagine would be great for those short bread thumbprint cookies I've never made.
Black Currant Jam Recipe
Makes about 8 half pints
You'll need:
8 cups of freshly picked Black Currants3/4 cup of filtered water
5 cups of sugar
Powdered* or Liquid Pectin**
Method:
Prepare your water bath canner on the stove to boil and start sterilizing your clean canning jars.I also like to get ready another small pot of water with the lids nesting in the rims and set that aside on the counter and when the jam is done cooking, then I place this pot on the burner and turn the heat low. This ensures I don't over boil the seal on the lids.
In a large pot, you will need to boil the Black Currants with the water and smash with a potato masher to break the berries open and release the juices for about 5 minutes.
Add sugar and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. *If using Powdered Pectin, add with sugar. **If using Liquid Pectin add after the berries and sugar have been boiling for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and place pot with rims and lids on low heat.
Carefully take your jars out of the canner and fill your jars with jam.
Wipe rims of the jars with a damp cloth and vinegar.
Place lids and rims on jars and slightly tighten.
Water bath can for 10 minutes.
Remove from canner onto a counter and tea towel to cool.
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