Black and Red Currant Jam

[@mollysmith6055]

Thank you for sharing this lower-sugar recipe. I had to make it with only red currants because my blackcurrants aren't ripe yet (and no freezer space for the red). Just love that the tartness of the fruit isn't overshadowed by pounds of sugar. Hoping that next year I'll have freezer space to save to try it your way. I couldn't tell from the video but you do want to keep one inch of boiling water above your jars in the canning pot. My hot jars are out of the canner now and have all pinged...what a great sound. Thank you again for the great video!

[@wisgardener]

Hi Molly. I did have the water at least an inch above the jars. My plants didn't over winter very well, the red doesn't have hardly any fruit on it. I do have some frozen though, from last year. The black does have some fruit on it but a lot of the plant died out. Thanks for watching and good luck jamming.

[@terrykingsallotmentgardening]

Hello my friend, thankyou for sharing your knowledge and experience and hopefully this will help me next year when i start making jam. 🍇Happy Gardening, Terry.

[@SandyKH]

Thanks for this video. It's a very nice recipe. I am in Denmark... and I must say black current is the jam of choice in Europe. It's at least as popular as your grape jam. Red currents are much easier for us to grow...but I will happily try to make this jam. Love that it's got no additives!

[@wisgardener]

I think it is better than grape jam. It isn't one of my favorites. Not enough body to it. Thanks for the comment.

[@jackiecrispin]

Thanks

[@kingjames4886]

idk what you're talkin about with the juniper, black currants taste and smell amazing. kinda like a blackberry crossed with a blueberry but a little more tart IMO. and black currants have plenty of pectin.

[@jsmith2121]

A tip I heard was when cooling the jars place them upside down. That way, when you turn right.side up a vacuum creates

[@wisgardener]

I heard that too, years ago. But it isn't really necessary, especially if you do the hot water bath. As long as everything is hot and your lids have been kept hot, they should seal just fine. I tried it a couple of times and what I didn't like about it was that the inside of the lids got coated with jam and and after some time it would get discolored. Don't think it hurt anything but just didn't care for it.

[@thanu005]

Made some lovely delicious jam. We've managed to get through a bottle already. My first time making jam from scratch and I'm glad it turned out well. Thank you so much for the recipe and a very clear video! How long would you say we can store unopened jar of jam for?

[@wisgardener]

If the Jar sealed it should be good for a couple of years. Otherwise it should last at least 6 months if kept refrigerated. If you see any mold starting to grow in your bottle it went bad and should not be used. I tried making elderberry jam one year but it didn't set up and ended up being like a syrup. That sat on the shelf for almost three years before I started to use it on ice cream and pancakes. It was still good.

[@thanu005]

Great! thank you for your reply :)

[@GlacialRidgeHomestead]

I find picking currents tedious. And I think I’m allergic to the plant. But I do want to try to make jam out of them to see what they taste like with the sugar. I know that are way too tart to eat raw.

[@wisgardener]

It is pretty tedious, that's for sure. Some people like eating the red ones raw, but not a lot all at once. I eat a few when out in the garden. The black ones, now those are definitely a different taste. Not sure how to describe it but not really very good raw. Robins been getting most of my reds.

[@Pokegalkk]

Do you have any tips on growing currants? Ours always had a very low yield, not like yours. They're monstrous!

[@wisgardener]

Not really. They are not too picky about soil but don't like it to be very acidic or alkaline. Right around 6.0 to 6.5 is what they prefer. I have some big pine trees on my lot and when I get a lot of needle fall I will use that as mulch. This past winter was hard on them and they did die back quite a bit. Hopefully they will recover.

[@jsmith2121]

my red currant bush grows in my compost pile. Bursting with fruit. Never bothered to check PH but am sure pine needles work well. Just feed them