Autumn Cranberry Pear Jam

Here is to a great time and some fantastic jam-making! It was so fun to see many of you last night!

Autumn Cranberry Pear Jam
(Makes about six 8-ounce (250 ml) jars)

3 cups crushed cored peeled pears (I'm thinking one could use apples as well)
2/3 cup coarsely chopped dried cranberries
1/4 cup unsweetened apple juice
1/4 cup bottled lemon juice
5 1/2 cups granulated sugar (I think we used 3 cups or maybe 2 1/2 - Lindsay, do you remember?)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
a pinch of fresh nutmeg
1 pouch liquid pectin

1. Prepare canner, jars, and lids. (See Boil Method Canning blog)

2. In a large, deep stainless steel saucepan, combine pears, cranberries, apple juice, lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon. Over high heat, stirring constantly, bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Stir in pectin. Boil hard, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim off foam.

3. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubble and adjust headspace, if needed, by adding hot jam. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

4. Place jars in canner (or stock pot), ensuring they are completely cover with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

NOTE: I've noticed our jam is not quite as solid as I expected. I'm thinking that with the additional pears we added to each batch we should have let the mixture with the pectin boil just a bit longer.