FAIL | Exploding Blueberry Syrup

Recently I've been very into making jams and jellies. It’s really not too hard to do and the end results have been well worth it! Well, my second attempt in making ‘jelly’ was going pretty well until I decided to involve the blender. I figured that since I was using the whole fruit of the blueberries I could run them through the blender to make sure the skins wouldn't be a problem.

This was a completely STUPID idea as you can see by the photo…the lid exploded off the blender, the contents that flew out, I burned about four inches of my hand/arm area, and everything else landed on the cabinets above and below the blender, all over the floor, all over the counter, all over my jars of baking items (flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, etc.) and on the few dishes that were waiting for me to wash up when I got done making the jam.

Needless to say this is NOT a process I will ever attempt again in the future. I would not suggest it as it created a mess that took almost a full hour to clean up, not to mention the burning I’m currently (as I write this) experiencing in my arm. I did wash off my arm in cold water right away and left it under the water for quite a bit to help with the burning. I also put aloe vera on my arm to help cut the heat. I think those two things for sure helped and probably kept my arm from being worse off. It still hurts though and trying to finish out the jelly making process was really hard, even with a full oven mitt over the burned area.

All I have to say is don’t try to process hot foods in a blender. Food processor? Perhaps, but even I wouldn't want to attempt that after this painful & messy experience!

In case you’re wondering how the blueberry jam turned out….I was so distracted by the mess everywhere and my burning arm that I accidently added only 4 cups of sugar instead of 6 so the pectin didn't jell right and I ended up with blueberry syrup. It was/is really good over waffles though so the whole experience wasn't completely bad!