Blackcurrant Jelly

4.50 from 16 votes

Blackcurrant jelly has a full of the unique flavor of fresh summer blackcurrants but without all the pulp of a traditional blackcurrant jam. This recipe only requires fresh blackcurrants and sugar, no pectin required.

Course: Canning

Author: Ashley Adamant

Equipment

Ingredients

5 cups blackcurrant juice from roughly 4-5 lbs blackcurrants
2 1/2 to 5 cups sugar see note

Instructions

Extract juice from blackcurrants (see note below). Each pound of blackcurrants should yield about 1 to 1 1/4 cup of strained juice.
Measure the juice and place it in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. For every cup of juice, add somewhere between 1/2 and 1 cup of sugar. Adjust to your tastes, adding sugar at a 1:1 ratio for a full sugar jelly and only using half as much for a low sugar blackcurrant jelly.
Bring the mixture to a hard boil on the stovetop, and cook over high heat for 20 to 30 minutes until the mixture reaches gel stage (Watch carefully and use a large pot, the mixture may boil over). Test it by placing a bit of the jelly onto a plate that's been placed into the freezer. When it's ready, the jelly should firm up enough on the cold plate that it'll wrinkle back when you push it with a fingertip. (Alternatively, use a food thermometer and cook it to 220 degrees, which is a more reliable measure assuming you have a thermometer handy.)
Pour the jelly into prepared canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Store the blackcurrant jelly in the refrigerator for immediate use, or process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes to seal the jars for long term storage. Either way, the jelly will need at least 24 hours in the jars to set firmly.

Notes

Juicing Blackcurrants for Jelly ~ This can be done in one of two ways:

Jelly Bag Method ~ Place the blackcurrants in a saucepan along with enough water to just cover the fruits. Simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes until the blackcurrants have completely disintegrated, then pour the mixture through a jelly bag or a strainer lined with cheesecloth. Do not squeeze the bag or the jelly will be cloudy.
Steam Juicer Method ~ The steam juicer method is much cleaner, assuming you have a steam juicer handy. Place the fruits in the top steam basket and fill the bottom reservoir with water. Steam the blackcurrants for 60 to 80 minutes, periodically drawing off extracted blackcurrant juice through the steam juicer tube. Mine holds about 10-12 pounds of blackcurrants at a time, and makes up to 1 gallon of juice at a time mostly mess-free.

Note ~ I've tried extracting juice for homemade blackcurrant jelly using a juicer (heat free) and it did not work. The fruits do not easily give up their juice while raw, and they need an extended cook. Since you're making jelly anyway, it's going to be cooked so there's no reason to extract raw juice anyway.

A note on sugar amounts ~ The amount of sugar to add is up to your personal taste, and is not necessary for preservation if you're canning. Lower sugar jams won't last as long in the fridge, but they do just as well if you're canning them in a water bath canner. I suggest adding somewhere between 1/2 cup (for a low sugar jelly) to 1 cup (for a standard recipe) of sugar per cup of extracted blackcurrant juice.

Blackcurrant Juice Yield ~ While this varies a bit from fruit to fruit and by extraction method, you can expect about 1 to 1 1/4 cup of juice per pound of fruit.