[derdsgirl]

It is my first year canning on my own (I canned with my grandma growing up, but it has been years!), and this is a late start, but well, it counts right?

A few weeks ago I made 18 pints of strawberry jam. I'm currently canning 80 lbs of san marzanos - I think it will make 30-36 quarts. Not quite enough for a year, but enough to get us to next summer.

Oh, and earlier this summer we froze about 1.5-2 gallons of blueberries. Not NEARLY enough for us for a year. Last year we did about 3 and we ran out. We probably need more like 4. Hopefully next year we can actually make it.

I have to buy everything from farms around here since all we have is a concrete patio at our rental. Even when we lived at a place with a garden, I was terrible about upkeep, so this is probably better.

Question: The new ball book says to simmer for 40-45 minutes. I remember grandma doing a hard boil for 15 minutes (or there abouts). Does anyone know where the change came about? (sorry if this was asked earlier in the thread, I've just skipped to this page ) I'm following the new rules, but still, it seems weird to me, and like it won't actually seal this way.