Canning Blueberry pie filling
Twice already this summer (when I was faced with too many strawberries and when I had surprise cherries), I have wanted to can pie filling. Nature is all backward in this regard: all of the abundance of summer berries lines up perfectly with hot weather where it is absolutely unbearable to turn on the oven to bake a pie. Canned pie filling is the perfect solution though - sweet berries preserved for the colder months when nothing in the store is good for eating anyway.
Unlike apples which I have made into pie filling and canned before, most canned pie fillings need something extra, something that I have never used before: Clear Jel. Clear Jel takes is a type of canning-safe cornstarch that you add to pre-thicken your pie. Most thickening agents, like store-bought cornstarch, are not safe to can with as they can create lumps that keep the product from being processed properly and can lead to spoilage.
I was intreuged and vowed to look into it further, but promptly went on with my life.
Enter Nan, my friend's girlfriend, and the part owner of the sour cherry trees that I turned into jam and cocktail syrup. She bought 10 pounds of Clear Jel to turn those cherries into pie and offered me a ball jar full. Why not?
If there was a pocket in my life made just for future pie making, this Clear Jel has been burning a hole in that proverbial pocket. Finally, last Thursday, my coven mate and I got some pick-your-own organic blueberries and it was time to can some pie filling!
After sifting through two quarts of blueberries, destemming, and drying them, we had the requisite 14 cups that our recipe required. We par-boiled them for 1 minute, draining them and reserving 4 cups of the liquid. (We drank the rest - would recommend, it was very refreshing - similar to birch water except that it tastes like blueberries)
The water went back onto the stove along with 3 cups of sugar and a cup of clear jel. We whisked away until they were combined and the mixture had set to a consistency that was very similar to pudding. This was a great time to add our intention - we focused on generalized protection which is my go-to for food preparation.
After the clear jel had set up, we added in some lemon juice and our blueberries and the mixture was ready to can. It had taken on this gorgeous dark red-purple hue that I associate with blueberries.
I'm not going to go into the safety and specifics of water canning because that's a story all its own (though I can if you want me to in the future). We ended up with 3 full quart jars or blueberry filling and one 3/4 full. One jar is going to be saved for a blueberry concoction for our annual Friendsgiving celebration in the fall because that is how we witch.
And let me tell you - this filling is THICK. Dora and I made the leftovers into a beautiful blueberry crisp for her partner's birthday last Tuesday and it was absolutely divine. Not too tart, not too sweet, just all of the wonder of peek summer blueberry goodness.
Now I'm on the search for a good supplier of organic Clear Jel because this is a thing that I will need to keep in my house for all future canning projects going forward.
