Best Cherry Preserves

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 2 lbs cherries, pitted (6 cups)
• 1 (3 1/2 ounce) box pectin
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon butter
• 3 cups sugar

Recipe

• 1 sterilize your jars and keep them hot while you're cooking the preserves.
• 2 place cherries in a large, heavy duty dutch oven.
• 3 combine pectin with 1/4 cup sugar; stir into cherries, add butter.
• 4 bring to a full boil, stirring, over high heat.
• 5 add 3 more cups sugar and return to a boil , stirring constantly, boil 1 minutes.
• 6 remove from heat; skim off foam.
• 7 immediately spoon preserves into 3 one pint sterilized jars, leaving 1/4" headspace.
• 8 wipe the sealing surface of the jars with a clean paper towel, dampened with hot water, to remove any preserves or sugar crystals.
• 9 place lids and screw on bands fingertip tight.
• 10 process in a boiling water bath for at least ten minutes, depending upon your altitude.
• 11 when the jars have been processed in boiling water for the recommended time, turn off the heat and remove the canner lid; wait 5 minutes. remove jars from canner using a jar lifter and keeping jars upright. carefully place them directly onto a towel or cake cooling rack to protect your countertop, leaving at least one inch of space between the jars during cooling. avoid placing the jars on a cold surface or in a cold draft.
• 12 after jars have cooled undisturbed for 24 hours, remove ring bands from sealed jars. put any unsealed jars in the refrigerator and use first.