I love the fall of the year, the changing of the leaves, Pumpkin Spice and Thanksgiving. One of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving is cooking for the family, a tradition my sister and I started several years ago. Each year we progress a little closer to a NON-Processed Thanksgiving and this year will be the closest year yet. Cranberry Sauce was one of the few things last year that I put on the table that didn’t come from our canned goodies. That won’t be the case this year! I found this recipe, made my own and oh my stars, it’s good!!! I could eat an entire jar – by myself!!!
Get the water bath canner, lids, rings and jars ready. I place my clean, sterile jars in the oven on 250 degrees until I’m ready to use them. Place a few metal spoons in the freezer to get them ready for the “sheeting” process later.
Yields: 7 pints
- 6 cups sugar
- 6 cups water
- 12 cups of fresh berries (1 – 12 oz bag = 3 cups)
Wash berries and be sure to pull out any berries that are soft, bad or simply not good.
In a large stainless steel stock pot, combine sugar and water.
Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil hard for 5 minutes. Add cranberries and bring it back up to a boil.
Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until all berries burst. This will sound like you’re popping popcorn! Boil until the liquid begins to “sheet” from a metal spoon, this takes about 15 minutes.
Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/4 in headspace. Remove any air bubbles.
If necessary, adjust headspace by adding more hot liquid. Wipe rim with sterile cloth to ensure there’s no residue to prevent a proper seal. Center lid on jar. Screw down band until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
Place jars in the canner, ensuring that they are completely covered with hot water. Add more hot water if needed to cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Bring to a boil and boil for 15 minutes. Remove the canner lid, wait 5 minutes before removing the jars. Remove the jars, place them on a towel, on the kitchen counter and cover the jars with a towel. (Be careful not to sit the hot jars on a towel on a wooden table, it will make rings on your table). Let sit 12-24 hrs before moving. You should hear the PING within the 1st hour. If a jar doesn’t seal, reprocess or put in the fridge for immediate enjoyment.
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