Why butter?
Yes., the manufacturer of the food mill.
I think of the lemon in most jam recipes as insurance that the pH is low enough to safely can.
If I have doubt, I usually use citric acid powder instead. Its more neutral, shelf stable, and dependable. Then I don’t feel like I’m making xxxx lemonade flavored jam.
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I agree. Most of the fruits grown here have ample acid so I skip the lemon juice. But I like your approach with citric acid powder. I make preserves of herbs in water and have been using lemon - but the powder is a better choice.
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The butter is supposed to reduce foaming during the boil. I have never confirmed it. My parents and grandparents used it in their jam, so I do as well. It could just be superstition.
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The white currant extract is plenty sour. I believe the acid also helps the pectin set. I have considered trying phosphoric acid in place of lemon juice. I have read that it has antimicrobial properties. I may have to try a small batch to see if it has a bad flavor.
I totally agree about the lemonade taste in jam. The white currants have a good acid profile.
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Well, not a bumper crop this year, maybe a couple of pounds. But it was incentive to tame the vegetable garden where they were located, and I pruned them way back:
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Can’t wait to see the jam! I know you will enjoy the wild flavor.
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mine are just about ready. been tasting them for several days. selenchenskaya 2 is the 1st to ripen then consort and tiben. real big berries on the 1st one. its only a 3 year bush but loaded this year. my perfection and johnkeer von teets reds are nearly ripe if i can keep the damned crows out of them.
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Thank you. I made jam in 2017, 2019 and 2020 at least, that was outstanding. But we can use more than that by spring.
Got this much from 2.5 lbs in 2017, almost 2 week earlier, apparently:
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That is a lot! But it goes very quickly. I learned over the years to only give homemade jam to those who will eat it an appreciate it. So many wasted jars!
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ive been making and freezing the juice instead of just making jam for that reason. better to benefit us than to be wasted on someone else.
Totally agree. If I don’t hear back that it knocked their socks off, last jar gifted 
I can eat a lot of it in a year
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Okay, 28 oz of berries resulted in 20 oz of smooth puree. I think if I’d started with more, my yield ratio would be better, since I think the amount that gets left behind in in the colander/strainer would be a smaller proportion.
It did work well though, and was much less labor intensive than pulling each little stem from every berry as I’ve done in the past. I’ll see which final texture I prefer. Looks like I have a tiny jar left over, hiding in the back of the cabinet, from 2019.
The process seems well suited for 3+ lbs of fruit.
Looks like a pint, half pint, and 1/4 pint plus several tablespoons didn’t get canned.
In Action:
Almost done straining:
The seeds are borderline for the sieve. I suspect that most of them stayed with the pulp. We’ll see. I don’t mind the seeds and they are purportedly very nutritious:
Puree plus sugar. I put about 18 oz of sugar. And I did heat to 220F on the instant read. I suspect my past versions had more solids and more pectin from blitzing the skins and seeds with an immersion blender, didn’t want to underdo it.
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I used the miller food mill because what I threw out was seeds, skin and stems. The gop I threw out was bone dry. No liquid.
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I’m having a hard time locating the Miller product. Can you supply a photo of it with some identifying info, or even better a manufacturers or store website?
Ugh. If you go to the very top of this post you will see it. There are no identifying marks on it. I also had an OXO which was excellent. Since I now live in France, I threw all of those things out before I left. No one except for me made jam in Newport, RI. LOL.
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Ok! It appears identical to the pictures of the OXO product. I’ll buy one and give it a whirl … literally!
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I have an OXO and when I started reading this thread that is what I thought she had pictured. The OXO is a fine tool to have.
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