Blueberry Jelly
Blueberry jelly is a silky smooth homemade preserve bursting with fresh blueberry flavor.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups blueberry juice purchased, or extracted from 4 quarts of fruit
- 4 cups sugar see notes for low sugar variation
- 1 box Powdered Pectin 1.75 oz, such as Sure Jel
- Lemon Juice optional, see notes
Instructions
Extracting Blueberry Juice
- To extract blueberry juice from fresh blueberries, place them in a saucepan with 1 cup of water per quart of fruit. (This recipe requires 4 quarts of berries and 4 cups water.)
- Slowly bring the mixture up to a simmer, mashing the berries as they cook.
- Simmer the mixture for 10 minutes, until the berries have completely fallen apart and released their juices.
- Strain the fruit through a jelly bag or a colander lined with a double-thick layer of cheesecloth. Allow the bag to drain for at least 2 hours, squeezing if necessary to extract more juice.
- This should yield 4 cups juice. If you have extra, save it for other uses. If you're short, make up the difference with another fruit juice (ie. apple, cranberry, etc) or reduce the recipe.
Making Blueberry Jelly
- Prepare jars & lids. If canning, preheat a water bath canner.
- Place 4 cups of strained blueberry juice into a jam pot. Bring the mixture to a boil and add one box of powdered pectin. Whisk to incorporate and fully dissolve the pectin.
- Boil the pectin/juice mixture for 1 minute before adding sugar.
- Add the sugar, stirring to dissolve.
- Return to a boil and cook 1 minute before lading into prepared jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
- If canning, process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.
- For a refrigerator or freezer jelly, allow the mixture to cool completely on the counter before storing in the refrigerator or freezer.
Notes
Lemon Juice - Adding lemon juice is optional, as blueberries are acidic enough on their own for jelly. The added acidity will help balance the sweetness of the sugar, and lemon goes nicely with blueberry anyway. If you choose to add lemon juice, I'd recommend somewhere between 1 tablespoon and 1/4 cup. Add the lemon juice in with the blueberry juice during the jelly making phase.
Low Sugar Variation - For a low sugar blueberry jelly, substitute low sugar pectin such as Sure-Jell Low Sugar, Mrs. Wages Low Sugar or Ball Low Sugar powdered pectin. The sugar can then be reduced but I'd suggest adding at least 1 cup to 4 cups juice. (You can also substitute honey or maple, though they'll really compete with the fresh blueberry flavor.)
If using Pomona's Low Sugar pectin, follow their directions on the package, as there are 2 parts to that pectin and the order of addition is different than with standard powdered pectin.
Liquid Pectin Variation - I don't recommend liquid pectin because it requires exorbitant amounts of sugar to gel properly. That said, if you'd like to make this recipe with liquid pectin use 2 pouches of pectin and increase the sugar to 7 cups (with 4 cups juice).
This recipe can be made with purchased blueberry juice, or with juice extracted from fresh fruit.