Persimmon Butter Recipe & Canning

Wash jars and bands. Fill canner with water and bring to a full boil. Add jars and bands, boiling them for 10 minutes.

Make sure all of your persimmons are really ripe; persimmons are very astringent when they are green. In a nonreactive stainless-steel pot add all of your chopped persimmons, juice and pulp. Heat on medium heat stirring constantly so the bottom of the persimmon butter doesn't burn.

With an immersion blender, blend the pulp to desired consistency. If you want it chunky don't blend it at all.

Once the persimmon pulp is hot add in sugar, lemon juice, pumpkin spice and pectin if using. Stir until combined. Taste and adjust sweetness to your taste. Cook persimmon butter until it reaches the consistency you want. For thick butter, cook longer and reduce it down. Persimmons have a middle range PH level which means that it needs acid to be safely water bath canned, this is the reason for the lemon juice. Don't omit the lemon juice unless you are going to freeze it instead of canning. You can also keep it in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks.

Pour hot persimmon butter into hot jars leaving 1/4-inch head space at the top. Remove any bubbles with bubble remover spatula tool and wipe the rims free of anything that might prevent them from sealing.

Apply lid and bands. Fingertip tighten. Don't screw the bands on too tight however make sure they are tight enough so that they can't jiggle there way open during the canning process.

Carefully lower the jars into the hot water bath canner making sure the water is 1-2 inches over the tops of the jars. In the photo there are more jars because I doubled the recipe to give away. Put the canner lid on. Make sure the water is a full rolling boil and begin timing for 15 minutes. When the time is up, turn off the heat, remove the canner from the heat source if possible and remove the lid. Allow the canner to sit for 5 minutes before removing the jars. After five minutes remove the jars and set them on a kitchen towel. Leave the jars undisturbed for 12-24 hours so they can all seal.

After 24 hours, check all the seals and wipe down the jars. Write the name of the contents and the date. If any of them don't seal use them within a couple of weeks and keep them refrigerated. Enjoy!