Vanilla Rhubarb Jam

From my food preservation files.

• Ready In: 25 mins
• Yields: 4 pints

Ingredients

• 10  cups  of chopped rhubarb (approximately 2 1/2 pounds of stalks)
• 5  cups sugar
• 1  cup  earl grey tea (you could just use water, I happened to have some leftover tea around and it added a nice note to th)
• 1  vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 1  lemon, juiced
• 1  pinch salt
• 1 (3 ounce) packet  liquid pectin

Directions

1. Sterilize your jars in a large pot of boiling water. If you’re making refrigerator jam (it will keep nicely unprocessed in the fridge for 2-3 months), skip this step.
2. In a 4-quart, non-reactive pot, bring the rhubarb, sugar and tea to a boil. Add the vanilla bean, lemon and salt to the pot and let it bubble gently for about ten minutes (on my stove, this means I set it to medium-high).
3. After ten minutes have elapsed, add the pectin, stir to combine and let cook for a few more minutes.
4. At this point, dip a spoon in the jam and see how it coats the back of the spoon. If you get a nice, even sheet, the jam is done.
5. You can also taste at this point, to see if you like the balance of flavors. Add a little more lemon juice if you feel it needs additional brightening.
6. Pour into hot jars, wide mouth and rings to remove any spillage and apply lids/rings. Process in a hot water bath for ten minutes.
7. Remove from water and let cool.
8. It’s delicious on toast. If yours turns out more syrup-y than jammy, serve with pancakes or waffles and tell everyone you did it on purpose.