How To Make Blueberry Juice: Blueberry Week

What's a perky gramma to do with all these blueberries? I have dehydrated blueberries, I have pressured canned them with simple syrup...my girlfriend at Gold Hill Blueberry Farm recently made blueberry juice so I decided why not learn a new skill! She has a fancy juicer, which I now have on my wish list to purchase. Piecing together how to make blueberry juice wasn't too hard and the process wasn't difficult, but after making three fairly large batches of juice, it definitely seems worth the money.

I only found one place that gave details on how to make blueberry juice, but I modified half the steps so here goes.

1. These berries needed complete cleaning, removing the unripe berries, leaves and twigs. Plus they were frozen in bulk. The berries then went into a pot with enough water to just cover the berries. Bring to a slow boil, mash the berries, then bring back to a boil and remove the pot from the heat. I used a small strainer to catch an occasional twig or unripe berry I missed as it boiled to the top of the pot. Cool the juice down. This was very helpful for the next step.

             

2. Pour the juice and berries into a jelly bag. Collect the juice in another container. Since I was doing multiple batches, I actually used my canner for the juice. I had a lot of juice! When it is cool enough to handle squeeze the bag to get all the juice out of the berries. You might consider wearing gloves, as I did after my first batch. As you know blueberries stain. LOL. What is left in the bag (mushy pulp) put in your compost container.

                   

 

3. These blueberries are sweet (not acidic), so I felt it was important to use caution and I decided to pressure can my jars of juice. I also decided to not add additional sweeteners at this point. I added the juice quart jars. I pressure canned them at 10# of pressure for 10 mins.

                             

While I personally haven't made jelly, I find my jelly strainer bag indispensable. I have used it when separating my milk kefir and today for juicing. I also have spare bags, which is great. After today my first bag is stained blue. Also, the Presto 23 quart pressure canner is a good deal if you are just starting out canning.
If you like learning vintage skills like this blueberry juice, I would love to have you join our community at Perky Gramma Teaches on Facebook.

  

And I have added this Stainless Steel Juicer/ Steamer to my list of things to buy. I watched my girlfriend use it and it looks like it is worth the investment.

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