My Aunt & Uncle have a huge raspberry patch and they always seem to go out of town each summer during part of the harvest. They let me pick while they are away and that makes for a lot of raspberries! I broke in my new steam juicer with the first batch I picked and made an assortment of goodies with the raspberries 
Isn’t she a beauty?
The 11 quarts (I put more in after the pic) made more than 12 cups of juice. Raspberry juice is pretty tart so I added 1 cup of sucanant to take the bite out just a little. I canned 5 pints of the juice in a hot water bath for 15 minute. This juice will be great to use as a base for sorbet or to make assorted drinks with… anyone up for some raspberry lemonade?
A nice mix of goods to enjoy later.
With the remaining juice I added another half cup of sucanant and cooked the juice down a little into a syrup. I canned one jelly jar full to take to the next Food Swap I attend and the remainder went right into the fridge to use on oatmeal or to flavor my kombucha.
It was amazing to see how much the raspberries compressed in the juicer but I didn’t want all that goodness to go to waist so I put it through my chinois to removed most of the seeds. Another cup of sucanant was added so the raspberry puree was not too tart (it was about 4 cups of puree and a little more than 1 cup of sucanat, just sweeten to taste but remember it will be sweeter as it dries). I placed 3 Silpats in my dehydrator and spread out a nice even layer on each one. They dehydrated overnight at 135* with some sour cherries and were perfect in the morning. A piece of plastic wrap works perfectly to keep it from sticking to itself, just make it a little longer then the sheets on both ends and wrap tight. When I feel like a sweet treat I can take scissors and snip off a section. There was a little extra puree so that also went in the fridge to enjoy on oatmeal or over ice cream.
A yummy treat!
What else should I make with the raspberries I pick this week? I already have seedless jam in the fridge that needs to be cooked and canned
