Wild Berry Jelly

From the garden

• 3 lb tart preserving berries (currants, elderberries, chokecherries, mayhaws, or any tart fruit you cook for jelly), stems stripped completely, rinsed · these are cooked-only fruits: elderberries especially must never be eaten raw, and every scrap of stem goes in the compost

From the pantry

• 4½ cups granulated sugar · measured out in advance
• 1¾ oz powdered fruit pectin · one standard box
• ¼ cup bottled lemon juice · required: it guarantees safe acidity for the low-acid berries in the mix

1. Crush the berries in a heavy pot with 1 cup of water, bring to a boil, and simmer 15 minutes, mashing now and then. This cooking step is not optional for these fruits: it is what makes elderberries and their relatives safe and palatable.
2. Pour the hot fruit into a dampened jelly bag or a colander lined with several layers of cheesecloth set over a bowl. Let it drip until it stops: an hour at least, overnight is better. Don't squeeze the bag; squeezing makes cloudy jelly.
3. Fill a boiling-water canner and bring it to a simmer; keep 5 half-pint jars hot in the water and prepare the lids. Measure exactly 3 cups of juice into a tall pot (top up with a little water if just short) and stir in the lemon juice and pectin.
4. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Add all the sugar at once, return to a rolling boil that stirring can't knock down, and boil hard exactly 1 minute. Off the heat, skim the foam.
5. Ladle into the hot jars leaving 1/4 inch of headspace, wipe the rims, and screw the lids on fingertip-tight. Process in boiling water covering the jars by 1–2 inches for 10 minutes. Altitude adjustment: add 5 minutes at 1,001–6,000 feet, 10 minutes above 6,000 feet.
6. Rest the canner 5 minutes, lift the jars onto a towel, and cool undisturbed 12–24 hours before checking the seals. Jelly can take a few days to finish setting. Leave it be.