One of my Brothers is rather fond of Mulberry Jam so I was at his house this weekend making jam with the berries that he and his wife froze last summer. I mentioned before, that frozen fruit makes good jam, but I thought I would take a moment to mention some reasons why you might want to use frozen fruit.This weekend was an example of being able to time the canning so it was convenient for me. I did not have to be at his home at the time that the berries were actually ripe. The timing was also nice because it was cold out and the heat from the stove was much more pleasant than it would have been in June or July.
Timing is also an issue if you want to use two fruits that don't become ripe at the same time. Just freeze one of the fruits and it is ready when the other fruit becomes ripe.
It is also handy if you want to use a fruit that you don't grow yourself. I don't grow blueberries, but that certainly doesn't stop me from making blueberry jam. Frozen blueberries work just as well as fresh ones.
Excellent post! I stock up on fruits all summer, putting them in the freezer as I find a good price, or we get to go pick.
ReplyDeleteThen I make jam in November and December, when it has finally cooled off here in Texas.
I froze our black berries this summer and plan to make jam soon........
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you could do that! LOVE this. Makes a huge difference as I never feel as if the timing is right for me to can. Do you defrost the berries first, or just use them as they are?
ReplyDeleteI thaw the berries first.
ReplyDeleteI use frozen berries all the time. I try to thaw them but am usually too impatient to wait for them to fully thaw. I know this sounds odd but I get a lot of great frozen fruit from my local Dollar Tree (dollar store). Mine has a wall of freezers and they sell bags of organic strawberries, blueberries and tonight they even had peaches (guess who's making peach jam tomorrow?!). Organic. For a buck/bag. The same size bag that sells for $3-6 at the grocery store.
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