Canning Cheats

Written by Andrea | Jul 6, 2015 1:30:00 PM

If you have a friend with a fig tree, you likely have been gifted bags of figs from time to time. Last weekend, I was the lucky recipient of an extremely large bag of figs from friends. I kept the good karma going and gifted some to others. As much as I love figs, there was no way I could eat what was left before the figs went bad so I decided to make fig jam.

However, I didn't want to go through the trouble of actually canning. I knew I was only going to make a small batch of jam and that it likely wouldn't last longer than the three months it would stay good in the refrigerator. Plus, I knew I was going to share the jam with the friends who gave me the figs. So, I used a canning "cheat" which is to prepare the jam to store in the refrigerator or freezer instead of in the pantry at room temperature.

I found these plastic Ball freezer jars at the store and decided to give them a try in case someone wanted to freeze their jam.

They have something called EverSeal technology which makes the plastic lid compress to the jar which is supposed to eliminate leaks. I ran them through the dishwasher and I was ready to go. Here's the recipe for Fig Jam that I used and couldn't be any simpler.

Fig Jam

Makes 1 pint

1 pound fresh figs, stemmed and cut into half (that's about 9 medium figs or 12 small if you are like me and don't have a scale)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (around 1 large lemon)

1/4 cup water

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Combine fig pieces and sugar in a large, nonreactive saucepan and let sit, stirring occasionally for around 15 minutes (until sugar has mostly dissolved and figs are juicy).

Add lemon juice, vanilla and water to figs. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved. Simmer over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for around 30 minutes (until fruit is soft and the liquid runs off the side of a spoon in thick, heavy drops).

Spoon jam into clean jars, leaving 1/4 inch space at the top.

Let jam come to room temperature (but don't let it sit out more than two hours) before sealing jars. Store jam in the refrigerator for up to 3 months or freeze up to a year.

It was delicious on plain toast the next morning!

If you don't want to be a cheat and want to really learn to can, check out The Chopping Block's upcoming Canning and Preserving cooking classes.

Our Owner/Chef Shelley Young uses a different method when making jam which I also consider a canning cheat. Check it out in her video.

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