Making Blackberry Jelly

There’s something special about enjoying a delicious homemade treat like blackberry jelly made from fresh ingredients straight from your garden. In this blog post, we’ll take you through making blackberry jelly from scratch, using juicy blackberries picked fresh from the garden. Get ready to indulge in the sweet and tangy taste of summer! We also have a step-by-step video at the end for a more visual guide. We call it jam and jelly but it has more of a jelly consistency. This recipe uses about 16 lbs of blackberries for canning at a 600-700 above sea level elevation, but with a 1:1 Juice to Sugar ratio, you can adjust as needed just use an equal amount of sugar and juice.

Gathering the Harvest

The journey begins in the garden, where ripe blackberries hang like precious jewels. You can see how we made our simple and affordable blackberry trellis here.

These are the first-place blue ribbon blackberries that we won at our county fair earlier this Summer!

These are Triple Crown and Navaho Thornless blackberries. First, we gently pick the berries, taking care not to bruise them, and collect them in a basket or container. For this recipe, we’ll use about 16 lbs of fresh or frozen blackberries as our Blackberries are producing incredibly well after pruning them back earlier in the year. This recipe doesn’t use any pectin because we’ll pick slightly underripe berries as well since they’re higher in natural pectin.

Preparing the Blackberries

Rinse the blackberries in a fine mesh strainer under cold running water, removing any stems or debris. If using frozen berries, allow them to thaw first. We soak the berries in a lemon juice bath for about 15 minutes. We use about two tablespoons of real lemon juice concentrate or one juiced lemon. This will remove debris and also any pests deep within the berry.

We then run the berries through our Weston Food Strainer and Sauce Maker to deseed and juice the berries.

Adding the Magic

In a large pot, combine:

• Blackberry Juice (we had 8 lbs of juice after processing the berries)
• 16 Cups (8lbs of granulated sugar to match the juice amount)
• 3-4 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice

Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat (223-225°F), stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until the juice and sugar combines and the mixture thickens. The temperature of the mixture will increase as the water cooks off. We didn’t start testing until the mixture hits at least 223 F. Test the jelly by placing 1 tsp on a chilled saucer from the freezer and returning it to the freezer for one minute. If the juice is no longer runny and crinkles when you run your finger through it, the jelly is ready. If it is still runny, cook it longer.

Canning the Jelly

Ladle the jelly mixture into clean, sterilized jars and lids, leaving about 1/4 inch headspace. Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes (for our elevation) to ensure proper canning and shelf stability.

Enjoy Your Homemade Blackberry Jelly!

Spread the delicious homemade jelly on toast, yogurt, or use it as a topping for ice cream or pancakes. Share it with friends and family, or enjoy it all to yourself (we won’t judge!).

Making blackberry jelly from your garden’s bounty is a rewarding experience that connects you to the natural world and provides a taste of pure delight. Happy gardening and cooking! There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of enjoying homemade preserves.

See our full step-by-step video here!

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