Step-by-Step Directions
Knowing the steps for Water Bath Canning is important if you want shelf-stable jam or jelly that you can store for up to one year at room temperature.
Before you start making your jam or jelly
1. Gather your supplies:
- Canning funnel
- Canning jars (4-ounce up to 16-ounce)
- Rack
- Pomona’s Pectin and directions
- Large canning pot and lid
- Headspace measuring/bubble freeing tool
- Flat lids and screw-on bands
- Jar lifter
- Magnetic lid lifter
2. Wash jars, lids, and bands.
3. Put jars on rack in water bath canner; fill jars and canner with water at least 1 to 2 inches above the tops of the open jars. Depending on how big your canner is, you may want to use a pitcher or tea kettle to finish filling it on the stove.
4. Lower rack into pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn heat down or off and keep cover on in order to keep jars and water hot.
If you want to sterilize your jars, boil for 10 minutes then turn heat down or off and keep cover on in order to keep jars and water hot.
The USDA guidelines say that if you plan to water bath process your jam or jelly for at least 10 minutes, it isn’t necessary to sterilize empty jars prior to filling. Since all of our recipes call for processing for at least 10 minutes, sterilization prior to filling is not required.
5. Put lids in a small sauce pan, cover with water; bring to a simmer; turn off heat and put cover on pan to keep the water warm. You are softening the circle of sealing compound to help get a good seal.
6. Keep the bands nearby.
When you have removed your jam or jelly from the heat and are ready to put it in the jars —
1. Using a jar lifter, remove all of the jars from the canner one-by-one.
2. Dump the water in each jar back into the canner. Place the jars on the counter ready to be filled.
3. Turn the heat up under the canner and put the lid back on. You want the water in the canner to be boiling when you put the filled jars back in. This is important because if it takes too long to bring the water back to a boil, the pectin could be de-activated from too much heat exposure.
4. Using a funnel and a ladle, fill all the jars.
5. Leave 1/4″ of head space in each jar.
6. Wipe the rim of each jar with a damp cloth or paper towel.
7. Using a magnetic lid lifter, remove one lid at a time from the warm water.
8. Place a lid on top of each filled jar.
9. Using your fingertips, screw a band onto each jar until you meet resistance — then a little bit more. This is called “fingertip tight.” Use a hot pad to hold the jar.
10. When all jars are filled and banded, put them all on the rack in the canner. The water in the canner should be boiling when you put the jars in. This is important because if it takes too long to bring the water back to a boil, the pectin could be de-activated from too much heat exposure.
11. The jars should be upright, not touching each other, and covered by 1 to 2 inches of water after you lower the rack into the canner, if using this type of rack.
12. The water will likely lose its boil as you put the jars in. Put the top on the canner and bring the water back to a boil as quickly as possible. Once you have a rolling boil, set a timer, and boil:
- 4-ounce jars for 5 minutes at sea level
- 8-ounce up to 16-ounce jars for 10 minutes at sea level
13. For Altitude For All Jar Sizes: Add 1 minute for every 1,000 ft above sea level. For example, if you are between 1,000 and 2,000 ft, boil for 11 minutes; 2,000 to 3,000 ft, boil for 12 minutes, and so on. If you don’t know your elevation, you can find it by putting in your address or your city name at this website.
14. Remove jars when the time is up.
15. Place hot jars right side up on a mat or a towel. Leave jars alone to seal and begin cooling.
16. When jars are thoroughly cool (12 to 24 hours), remove bands and check seals. Lids should be sucked down and not come off if you pull up gently with your fingertips. Jam reaches its full jell when thoroughly cool.
17. Clean off any jam on the outside of the jars or lids. Label and store jars, preferably in a dark location. Dark storage can help preserve color in low-sweetener jam. Sealed jars should be stored without the rings.
18. Properly water bathed and sealed jam is best eaten within 1 year.
19. It is always a good practice to examine the contents of a jar when you open it. First, be sure that you “pop a seal.” A jar that was safely sealed a few months ago could lose its seal on the shelf, although this rarely happens. Then look for identifiable fuzzy mold, a moldy smell, a fermented (alcoholic) smell, or fizziness that could be a sign of fermentation. If any of these are present, throw the contents of the jar away. It’s not a good idea to eat moldy jam or fermented jam or to scrape the mold off and eat what’s below it.
20. An open jar of low-sweetener jam or jelly can be expected to last about 3 weeks in the refrigerator.
Note: If you don’t want to process your jam or jelly in a water bath canner and you have freezer space available, you can freeze jam for long-term storage. Leave 1/2″ of headspace in your freezer-safe containers and freeze filled containers when jam is cool. Defrost before eating. Best eaten within 1 year of freezing.
