Cranberry juice is one of those fruit juices that holds a punch in health benefits: it contains plenty of antioxidants, vitamins, and polyphenols that help the heart and body.

It’s easy enough to find cranberry juice in the stores, but it’s even easier to make it at home with fresh, frozen or even homegrown cranberries (and cheaper!).

And you are in a hurry to put these berries up on the shelf, rather than the freezer, than this Raw Pack method is for you.

In this post, I go into tools you need, ingredients, and instructions on how to turn fresh or frozen cranberries into sweetened cranberry juice, using the Raw Pack water bath canning method.

Let’s Dive in…

Cranberry Juice Canning Recipe | Raw Pack

Depending on where you purchase your ingredients, each jar of cranberry juice costs about $1 to make, jar included!

Mine, in particular, 30 cents of cranberries, 15 cents worth of sugar, and we have free well water. The jar, at today’s price is about a dollar depending on the brand you buy (thrifted jars are obviously cheaper).

The only thing is that cranberries are a seasonal food; so, make sure to grab plenty when they are available!

Tools You Need

Large stockpot or 2 kettles to boil water in
Quart sized Mason jars, lids, bands, jar lifter
Water bath canner

Ingredients

For each quart sized jar, you will need:

1 cup cranberries
1/3 cup sugar
1 quart of water

Depending on how many bags, or how much you were able to grow, you can estimate how many jars you can make by following how many cups of berries you have on hand.

One 12-ounce bag (standard size) of cranberries has about 3 or 4 cups of berries in it, depending on the brand.

Example: If you have 10 cups of berries you will be able to fill 10-quart size jars for juice.

If you are wishing to make pint sized jars, simply cut the ingredient measurements in half and follow the instructions as listed.

Instructions

Wash your berries. If frozen, allow to thaw.
Set up your water bath canner for quart sized jars. Place on the canner on medium high heat and place your jars in a sink full of hot water with a splash of vinegar in it. Let them soak and get hot while we put together the jars.
Set up your large stock pot or tea kettles to Boil your water. You need 1 quart of water for each jar being done.
Once water is boiling, pull your jars out of the sink.
Place 1 cup of thawed, washed cranberries into each jar.
Then place the 1/3 cup sugar in each jar.
Top each jar with boiling water leaving 1/2-inch headspace.
Place lids and bands on finger tight.
Place quart jars into hot water bath canner, and water bath can for 25 minutes. Follow your specific water bath canner’s instructions on the correct way to use the equipment.
Once completed, place jars on a dry tea towel to cool.
The next day, check seals, wash jars, and store on your shelf. Allow the cranberries too steep for 2 months before drinking.

Growing Cranberries at Home

Anyone can very easily grow their own cranberries right at home.

They are a cold hardy perennial that thrives in your soggy parts of the garden.

Give them ample sunshine, good compost, and plenty of water, you can easily grow your own cranberries year after year right in your garden spaces.

Video

That’s It!

If you want to have it be lower in sugar, use 1/4 cup of sugar. Do not use any less or the juice will not be extracted from the berries very well.

Let the berries steep for 6-8 weeks (about 2 months) before drinking. The juice has not yet been extracted from the berries at the time of canning and needs time to extract.

Use the leftover berries in any baked good or cranberry sauce recipe that you wish to use.

Enjoy!

-Chelsea, The Cottage Vegetable