Blueberry-Lime Jam

I tried this recipe out of the Ball Blue Book of preserving and was pretty pleased with it. I thought I'd post it for you, but I did a little tweaking when I came across a website that I felt had a better recipe. The blueberries make a semi-thick paste if water isn't added to the recipe, which I felt it needed.

Blueberry-Lime Jam

10 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen) (If using fresh, make sure to pick over the berries, removing stems and soft or unripe berries)
1/4 cup lime juice
2 Tbsp. grated lime peel
1/2 cup water
7 cups sugar (if using No-Sugar pectin, use only 4 1/2 cups sugar)
1 box pectin

Crush blueberries one layer at a time. Mix 1/2 cup sugar with the pectin to help keep it from becoming clumped when added to the blueberries. Combine crushed blueberries, powdered pectin/sugar mixture, water, and lime juice in a large pot. Bring to a full boil (the kind that can't be stirred down.) Add the rest of the sugar (6 1/2 cups for regular pectin, 4 cups for No-Sugar pectin), stirring until dissolved. Stir in grated lime peel. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot jam into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

Yield: I got 11 half-pints using regular pectin and the 7 cups of sugar. Darn odd number! :-)

Note: If you want just regular blueberry jam, omit the lime juice and lime peel and add 1/4 cup lemon juice where it calls for lime juice.