I love eating fresh blueberries when they are in season. They are wonderful in desserts, in smoothies, or just straight out of the container. There are a multitude of ways they can be processed for out-of-season eating as well. Freezing blueberries is probably the easiest and fastest way to preserve the berries for later use, but canned blueberries are almost as fast to process and won’t take up that coveted freezer space. Canned blueberry pie filling takes a little longer to process, but that time is saved when you’re in need of a quick, yet delicious, dessert. As the pie filling name suggests, the filling can be used not only to make a delicious blueberry pie, but it can also be used to top a cool summer dessert or a cheesecake. Think cream puffs filled with blueberries and whipped topping. This blueberry pie filling would even make a nice addition to breakfast yogurt.

makes 7-Litre or 14-500 mL jars

Ingredients

7 pounds fresh blueberries
7 cups sugar
14 cups water

Directions

1. Place water in boiling water canner.  Heat to a simmer.  Place 7 clean, warm 500 ml mason jars on a rack in canner.  Cover with simmering water.  Place SNAP LIDS® in a bowl full of warm water.  Keep both jars and lids warm until ready to use. 

2. Pack fresh blueberries evenly between 7 hot jars.  

3. Bring water and sugar to a boil in a saucepan, stirring to ensure that all of the sugar is dissolved.

4. Boil gently for 5 minutes. 

5. Ladle hot syrup over berries, leaving ½ inch (1 cm) headspace.

6. Clean the jar rims, centre hot metal lid on jar rim, place screw band on top.  Tighten to finger-tip tight.

7. Place jar in boiling water canner. Repeat with all of the jars. Add enough boiling water to the canner to cover the jars with 1 inch of water. 

8. Once water returns to a boil, process for 15 minutes for quarts and 10 minutes for pints, adjusting for altitude*.

9. Cool upright 24 hours.  After cool, check that the jars are sealed.  Sealed jar lids curve downward. Clean, dry and label with contents and date.

   
   

TIP: Berries to syrup ratio is not an exact science.  You may be short or over on the syrup. If you need more syrup, make more.  If you have more than you need, try using it in your homemade lemonade.

If you want to be as exact as possible when preparing the syrup, follow these directions: 

1. Fill a clean jar to the rim with blueberries.

2. Next, add cold water to fill the jar to within ½ inch from the top. 

3. Now pour that water into a measuring cup to determine how much water you need per jar. 

4. Multiply that amount by the number of jars that you will be processing.  The same goes for the blueberries. 

 (adapted from Utah State University, Agricultural Department)

Yields 7-litre or 14 500ml jars 
One litre of pie filling is enough to fill one 8” or one 9” pie shell.

Three good sized pots and a boiling water canner are required so have those on hand.

Ingredients

7 quarts (24 cups) fresh blueberries
6 cups granulated sugar
2 ¼ cups Clear Jel®
2 cups cold water
5 cups hot blanching water
½ cup bottled lemon juice

Directions

1. Place water in boiling water canner.  Heat to a simmer.  Place 7 clean, warm 1 litre jars on a rack in canner.  Cover with simmering water.  Place SNAP LIDS® in a bowl full of warm water.  Keep both jars and lids warm until ready to use. 

2. Fill the first of the three pots with 4 litres of water and bring to a boil.  Wash the blueberries.

3. Place 6 cups berries in boiling water to blanch them.

4. Boil for 1 minute after the water returns to a boil.  Using a fine mesh strainer with a handle, scoop out the berries and place them in a second pot with a lid to keep the berries warm. Repeat until all of the berries are blanched. (DO NOT DISCARD THE BLANCHING WATER).

5. Combine sugar and Clear Jel® in the third pot.  Using a wisk, stir the sugar and Clear Jel®. Add 2 cups of cold water and wisk until the Clear Jel® is completely incorporated, making sure that there are no lumps. 

6. Place on medium heat and add 5 cups of the hot blanching water, wisking constantly as the mixture begins to thicken and bubble.

7. Once thickened, add the lemon juice and boil for 1 minute.  Stir with a large wooden spoon as it boils to keep it from burning to the bottom of the pot.

8. Remove from heat and fold in the blueberries.

9. Fill warm sterilized jars immediately, removing air bubbles as you go. 

10. Leave 1 inch headspace. Clean the rims of the jars. Add warm metal lids and screw bands. Place in boiling water canner. Add enough hot water to the canner to cover the jars completely with 1 inch of water. Once water returns to a boil, process both pints and quarts for 30 minutes (adjusting for altitude).

TIP: to prevent calcium build up on jars, add 1 tbsp vinegar to the canning water.

*Altitude adjustment for boiling water method
Altitude in feet Increase processing time by
1001 to 3000 5 minutes
3001 to 6000 10 minutes
6001 to 8000 15 minutes
8001 to 10000 20 minutes