Some fruits, like bananas, cannot be canned effectively.  I’ve tried and it just doesn’t work.  I’ve heard of a recipe to pickle them, but I can’t imagine that a pickled banana tastes very good.  Frozen bananas, though?  YUM

Most fruits can be easily made into jams and jellies by freezing.  So if you don’t have the time, space, or wherewithal to can/bottle preserves traditionally, there is another method.

The reasons to make your own jams and jellies are many-fold and I won’t get into them too much.  The reasons not to buy off-season, freighted-in fruits at the grocery store are also many.  Store-bought jams and jellies have weird ingredients in them that you might not like.  Besides, there’s no fun in just plunking down three bucks to buy a jar of jam.  Freighted-in, off-season fruits are usually picked very green so they’ll ripen in transit.  This means they aren’t nearly as sweet or tasty as they would be otherwise.  Nevermind the waste of resources in trucking them around.

Locally or home-grown fruits (and vegetables and meats and…) are always better than the ones shipped in.  They’re fresher, usually ripened on the vine longer, and more.

In most ways, freezing berries to make jams and jellies is actually easier than canning them, though it’s obviously more energy-intensive over the long run as they must be kept frozen until thawed for eating.  Another downer is that once they thaw out, you can’t re-freeze them without damaging the product and thus ruining your jam.

For most frozen berries, you’ll want to have equal parts berry and sugar (granulated, natural cane, or preserving sugar).  You can cut out up to 1/3 of that sugar by adding honey instead, which is healthier.  For frozen jam with other fruits like peaches or pears, you’ll want about 1/2 sugar to fruit, so a pound of fruit means a half pound of sugar.  Again, honey can be substituted for about 1/3 of that sugar if you wish.

The good news is that when frozen, fruits don’t require this sugar at all (to remain preserved, unlike canning), so if you’d just prefer to freeze jams without sweetener, that’s entirely within possibility.  Freezing temperatures aren’t discriminatory.  It’s a question of how it will taste when you take it out.  Totally a preference thing.  Most fruits lose some of their sweetness after being frozen.  This is because of the cellular breakdown that freezing causes, which is also why frozen fruits go “mushy.”

That’s the basics of fruit freezing.  Now let’s look at how to really do it and some of the recipes I’ve used in the past.

First, you’ll need air-sealed containers.  This can be Tupperware, jars with screw-on lids, zippered freezer bags, etc.  So long as it’s air-tight and can keep the preserves in, it’s a good container for this.  I like to re-use store-bought jars that used to contain salsa, spaghetti sauce, or whatever in them.  These can’t be re-used for normal canning, but they work great for freezing.  The lid does not need to “seal” in the same way that it does for traditional steam or pressure canning, so if you can fill the jar with water, put the lid on, and turn it over and not have a leak, you’re good to go.

These containers (whatever you use) need to be sanitized.  Everything but the freezer bags or similar containers should be put into extremely hot (preferably boiling) water and left there for about six or eight minutes at minimum.  It’s preferred that you leave them in there up until the moment you’re going to put the jam inside, actually.  This is more important than it is with steam or pressure canning because there will be quite some time between the point where the preserves are put in and they are actually frozen.  That time gives the germs and nasties a chance to start spoiling the jam.

Clean the fruits thoroughly, then trim off any bad bits, pit them (if they are pitted fruits), cut off stems, etc.  Larger fruits are well-served if they are cut up well.  If you would like, a blender isn’t a bad idea either.  The thinner or smaller the fruit is before you begin the next step, the faster the next step will go.  Since that step involves standing in front of the stove stirring, you want it to take as little time as possible.

Prepare your additives to the jelly before you begin working on the stove.  You’ll be glad you did later.  Have your sugar pre-measured, any other additives you might want to throw in (spices, syrups, etc.) ready to go as well.  DO NOT ad pectin at this point.

Put the fruit into a pot, put on medium-low heat, and begin stirring.  If they are “dry” fruits like most berries, ad some water.  Using your spoon or ladle, smash up the fruits as you stir and keep stirring without stopping.  Once the fruits are mushed, bubbling slightly, and thickening, you’re ready to quickly ad the other ingredients.  If you’re adding dry ingredients like sugar, ad a little water as well if the fruit slurry is already very thick.

Once the fruit stew is bubbling and very thick, turn off the heat and keep stirring until it’s cooled enough to stop bubbling and be cool enough to stick your finger in without burning.  This ensures it’s not going to burn to the sides of the pot.  Dipping the bottom of the pot into cool water is not out of the question here, to speed up the process.

Now take your jar, ad a half-measure of pectin (1/2 of what that total jar volume requires), then ladel in the fruit.  Use a funnel if you need to–and you probably will.  When it’s nearly full, ad the rest of the pectin, then top off the jar.  Don’t worry about head space much, but make sure that the lip of the jar is totally clean.  Then put the lid on.

Once all of your jars or containers for your jam are filled, put them in the refrigerator or freezer.  Some people prefer to put the jars in cold water, then ad ice until the jars are extremely cool.  Either way is OK, but the fridge requires less effort. Once your jars are thoroughly cooled (a couple of hours), put them in the freezer.   If you’re using Tupperware or plastic bags, you can skip the fridge and put them right into the freezer.  The pre-cooling is just ot ensure the jars don’t crack or shatter from the temperature differences outside and in.

Make sure the lids are tight, of course.  That’s it, your jam is done!

When you’re ready to use it, just take it out of the freezer and let it thaw.  Keep it refrigerated after you’ve thawed it and be sure to stir it before you use it the first time, to mix in everything well.  Sometimes, in the hours it can take to really freeze, stuff will settle or separate inside the jam.

Enjoy!