Born in the Wrong Century

Last year I canned a lot of rhubarb products that weren’t on the sweet side: ketchup, bbq sauce, stewed, etc.  We ate a lot of what I put up but we tend to go through sweet items much faster   So this year I wanted to keep it simple and make my standby rhubarb-orange butter and a few different jams.

This is a simple jam that can be made plain but I wanted to add some of my lemon thyme since it is growing so well.  Plus the green flecks look really nice when it’s spread on toast or swirled into yogurt.  I’m going to keep experimenting and make a few other flavors.  This did end up a little on the sweet side so next time I’m going to cut back on the sugar as well.

Simple & delicious!

{Recipe} Rhubarb-Lemon Thyme Jam
(adapted from Blue Chair Jam Cookbook)
4 lbs rhubarb, cleaned & cut into chunks
2.75 lbs sugar
3 oz lemon juice
7 springs fresh lemon thyme, stems removed

Put the rhubarb & sugar in a big bowl and stir to mix.  Pour the lemon juice over the top, cover with a towel and let sit at room temperature for a day.  Place the rhubarb mixture into a large pot and bring up to a boil, stirring to dissolve all the sugar.  Place a few saucers in the freezer.  Reduce heat and cook until thickened, stirring often.  This took about 30 minutes for my rhubarb.

Test the set of the jam by placing a spoonful on a frozen saucer, put back into the freezer for 5 minutes and then remove and tip the saucer.  It should slowly slide down the saucer in a glob when it’s set.  If it runs quickly keep cooking the jam and test again.

Remove the jam from the heat and stir in the lemon thyme.  Ladle into sterile, hot canning jars.  Put on lids & rings and process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes (for 5k’ elevation).  Let cool and check seals.

Ready to label & store for later!

Do you have any combo that you like with rhubarb?

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Variations:

Rhubarb-Lemon Balm Jam

Rhubarb-Lemon Balm: I used only 2 lbs sugar for sweetener and it was still plenty sweet.  This time I cut the rhubarb into smaller pieces & finely chopped 12 leaves of lemon balm to add at the end.  They do get a little dark from the heat but the flavor came through nicely.

Rhubarb-Raspberry Jam

Rhubarb-Raspberry: I used 2 lbs rhubarb, 2lbs raspberries & 2 lbs sugar and it is plenty sweet.  You can’t really pick up the rhubarb flavor but it makes the raspberry seem even more raspberry-licious!  Next time I’ll do 3 lbs rhubarb and 1 lb raspberries