Thursday, July 12, 2012

Canning Fig Jam + A Canning Cheat Sheet {Try New Adventures Thursday!}

Our new home has two lovely fig trees in the front yard. They are fairly large, and mid-June they began producing figs at an alarming rate.

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And even though tropical storm Debby rolled through and ruined about half of the fig crop (the rain caused the figs to swell up and rot), we still had large quantities to eat and cook with. I made fig cake and fig newtons (the newtons were good but too much work in my opinion), but the best thing I made by far was fig jam. Prior to canning it, my husband kept saying, "Honey, fig jam would be amazing." "I would really love some fig jam." "If you made fig jam I'd be such a happy man."

So jam-making had to happen.

This was the third time I canned jam this year (we did strawberry and blueberry jam when those fruits were in season here), and I'm getting more familiar with the process. 

That rascally #debby ruined a lot of our figs, but there are still plenty for a few batches of jam. #tonsoffruit #canning

PickYourOwn.org is a wonderful resource for canning food...she has so many tutorials! I used her fig jam instructions, and made up a little cheat sheet for myself (so I wasn't constantly scanning up and down the webpage for instructions).

Here's the down and dirty for making fig jam: 

-You'll need 5 heaping cups of whole, fresh figs to make one batch of jam (approx 7 half-pint jars worth).
-You'll also need 1 box no-sugar pectin, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 4 1/2 cups of sugar, and cinnamon (optional). Along with your canning supplies: a water bath canner, tongs, funnel, jars and lids. 

1) Sterilize your jars (I do this in the dishwasher).
2) Heat your lids in a pot on the stove in water that is just under boiling.
3) Wash your figs, removing the stems and any yucky skin. I cut mine in half.
4) Crush the figs (5 heaping cups whole figs equals 4-5 cups crushed figs).
5) Mix your box of no-sugar pectin with 1/4 cup of your sugar.
6) In a large pot, mix the crushed figs, pectin and sugar mixture, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and cinnamon and bring to a boil.
7) Once the mixture is at a full boil, add the remaining 4 1/4 cups sugar.
8) Bring back to a rolling boil, boil hard for 1 minute.
9) Remove from heat, skim the foam off the the top of the jam.
10) Fill your hot jars with jam, leaving 1/4 inch headspace at the top. Place the lids and rings on top.
11) Process the jars in boiling water in your canner (covered 2 inches) for 5-10 minutes (5 minutes for small jars, longer for bigger jars).
12) Carefully remove from the canner and allow to cool undisturbed. The lids should seal (any unsealed jars can be refridgerated or placed back in the canner and reprocessed).


2 batches of fig jam. Happy. Tired. #canning

I love the sight of the pretty jars lined up on the counter. :) And my husband is a happy fig-jam-consuming man.

Printable Fig Jam Cheat Sheet 

For detailed instructions and pictures, visit Pick Your Own's Tutorial.
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8 comments:

  1. I can't express how impressed I am that you made fig jam. It seems like a huge undertaking, but the results look amazing! Yeah for you, Alicia.

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  2. This post made me want to go buy a ton of figs just to make this jam.

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  3. It looks really pretty!! I love fresh figs... I wonder if fig trees do well in our area? Speaking of, I need to go check on our lone peach tree that actually has peaches on it this year!

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  4. This makes me want Fig Newtons. :p

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    1. I agree wholeheartedly with you, Joyce! Fig newtons all around

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  5. Alicia,
    Did you every "can" by filling your sterile jars with jam, put lids and rings on, then turn jars upside down for 5 mins, then right side and set for 24 hours? That's right, no canner! I made batches and batches of blueberry jam this year that way. Easy!! Saved me hours. You always inspire me. Thanks for your blog.

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    1. I've never tried this method. From what I've read, the chances of spoilage are much reduced by simply processing the jars in a canner for 5-10 minutes. That part is actually pretty easy, so once I've gone through all the work of making the jam, I prefer to just stick the jars in the boiling water for a few minutes to reduce the chance of them spoiling. :)

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  6. Wow that's an impressive amount of jam and sounds yummy! Figs grow here but they never seem to rippen I wonder if all the trees I have found have rot or worms or something. It's always fun to read about your canning adventures, way to go!

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