I am about to be up to my armpits in BLACK raspberries, and while I presume I could use a jam recipe for red ones, I have canning substitution paranoia so I thought I would ask. Is there some reason I cannot use a red raspberry recipe for black ones? They are smaller and a bit more seedier, as they are wild, but I was planning on putting them through a sieve to get some of the seeds. There is a patch that us about ten feet by one hundred feet by my house.

I have only ever made grape jam before, last year, but it turned out fabulous and I am ready to expand my jam horizons. Unless anyone has any objections I am going to make "raspberry jam" from the BBB with black instead of red ones.

Carol

I don't know how you feel about adding sugar etc, but from the recipes I've seen it calls for about a cup more sugar for black raspberries as opposed to red...and if you've ever eaten both you know why. So that's the only difference I've ever seen.

I have made seedless jam with the blacks and haven't had any problems... including adding more sugar. I don't think Black Raspberries are as sour as reds -- now I'm talking about Black Raspberries NOT just any old Blackberry, which I find to be more sour.

And these are real deal raspberries, not blackberries. We had blackberries all over where I used to live in Virginia, but around here, raspberries seem to be more common.

I have never used my food strained for berries, the holes are small but I am not sure they are small enough. I have only ever used it for tomatoes (which it does very well). I think I could push the cooked berries through a fine mesh screen if it doesn't work. It's early in the harvest season, I have more patience now!

Thanks for the advice.

The Villaware/Roma food strainers offer optional screens (conical sieves) and one optional type is for berries, with holes smaller than the type that comes standard with the strainer. There is also a shorter grape spiral for big seeds in grapes, so they don't jam. The optional screens can come as an accessory package and one has 3/16 inch holes for mincing tomatoes for salsa, and another to make puree for pumpkin or squash. Way back I used a regular strainer to remove the seeds from raspberries, but it was a lot of work as they jiust didn't get all the juices out. After I use the Roma, I run the strained waste through a second time to end up with a quite dry bunch of seeds. I do that with tomatoes too, when using the tomato screen. My red rapsberry jam is seedless and is enjoyed moreso, compared to seed types. The seeds tend to get stuck in my teeth fillings.

The jam has the nicest color, this super dark red purple. it looks like a concentrated red wine color.