Canning Chokecherry Jelly

This is where my hobby of making jams and jellies all began. I am not sure how old I was, but I know that I had never canned anything all by myself before.

As I said before, my philosophy seemed to be that if nature planted it and it wasn't poisonous, then I had to try it. I knew that chokecherries are not poisonous (even if they are too bitter to be eaten plain), but I didn't know of anybody who actually cooked with them. I figured that if they are not poisonous, then there must be a recipe somewhere that uses them. If the internet had been around at that time, then my search for a recipe would have been a lot easier.

Finally somebody heard through the grapevine that I was looking for a recipe that uses chokecherries and they gave me a recipe for chokecherry jelly. I showed the recipe to my mother and told her that I wanted to make it.


I have since changed my method of making choke cherry jelly. I like my new method because it doesn't call for a specific amount of chokecherries. I can just use whatever quantity I happen to get. The flavor may be stronger or weaker depending on how many I get.

Most recipes call for a lot of water. I have decided to use less water. This results in a very concentrated (and very bitter) juice. I then dilute this juice with apple juice.

Chokecherry Jelly
Printable Recipe
(Yield is about 7 half-pint jars)

Chokecherries (any where from about 1 to 3 quarts)
water
apple juice
6 cups sugar
2 packages liquid pectin


Wash chokecherries and add 1/2 cup water for each quart of chokecherries. Simmer for 20 minutes. Pour this into a dampened jelly strainer and allow it to drip for 3 hours. Add enough apple juice to make a total of 4 cups of juice.

Mix juice and sugar and bring to a rolling boil. Add liquid pectin, return to a boil, and boil hard for one minute. Fill hot canning jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Add lids and process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

High altitude instructions
1,001 - 3,000 feet : increase processing time by 5 minutes
3,001 - 6,000 feet : increase processing time by 10 minutes
6,001 - 8,000 feet : increase processing time by 15 minutes
8,001 - 10,000 feet : increase processing time by 20 minutes
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