Blueberry Jam

Why is that we rarely hear about blueberry jam? Does the grape have such a stronghold on those jam jars that the blueberry gets pushed aside? I almost always have blueberries in the fridge for topping my breakfast oatmeal, and that means that I sometimes have blueberries about to turn bad. Yet, it never occurs to me to make blueberry jam, as it does when the strawberries are getting overly ripe. So I decided to try it.

The best part about making your own jam – especially if you are a food-allergy family – is that you can control the ingredients. My basic jam recipe is super-simple. In Learning to Bake Allergen-Free: A Crash Course for Busy Parents on Baking without Wheat, Gluten, Dairy, Eggs, Soy or Nuts
I include strawberry, raspberry, and blackberry versions. Here’s the blueberry version:

Blueberry Jam
 

Combine ½ cup of sugar for each cup of blueberries in a stainless steel pot. Heat on medium-high, stirring frequently, until the jam starts to thicken. This will take 10-15 minutes. Add up to 1 tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice for each cup of blueberries. Let it cool and then transfer to a storage container. Or, transfer to prepared jam jars and boil for ten minutes.

I just started “canning” my own jams, and will talk more about that at a later date.

For now, I’d like to know why it’s called “canning” when there are no cans involved. Does anyone know?