I'm the canner in my house. The wife says, the only canning she will do is picking up cans at the local grocery store! Every year I can at least 6 cases of fig jam. I consider myself an expert canner. :) I have a technique or tips that might help those who want to learn how to can.
Boil some water, turn off the heat, add your figs, cover and let them set and bathe for about 20 mins. This will remove any fuzz and kill and bugs, ants, spiders, etc. Next, drain them rinse with cold water and place them back in the original pot after rinsing it.
In the video she soaks her jars in warm water. Me? I wash my jars with hot soapy water, rinse then place them face down in a hot oven at 150 or 180 degrees. Like she said in the video, you don't want to place hot liquid inside a cold jar. It could cause the jar to crack or explode. I also set my lids in very warm, almost hot water just before I cap the jars.
I always bathe my jars for a good seal. In the video she's correct about the time it takes to "jell up" ...45 mins. I also use a candy thermoter with a tall pot and it takes about 45 mins for the jam to start jamming up. Trust me! When you're ready to fill your jars, do your self a favor and buy these items...you will be glad you did:
Wide Blue canning funnel, it its any jar size
Canning magnet--- to pull the lids out of the hot water
2 Ove-Gloves from your local pharmacy
1 Spatular
1 good strong ladle---one ladle holds 1/2c of jam
2 wet cloth kitchen towels
To keep you wife happy with a clean kitchen, Place 1 wet towel behind the pot covering the back of the stove. so that when the jam is almost ready, it will spit and splatter a little. The wet towel keeps the back of the stove clean. Place your hot water canner on the right front burner. Wet the second towel and lay it on the counter adjacent to the stove. Place your very hot jars on the towel. This is used to keep the hot jars from burning your counter tops and also catches the hot jam that may spill or drip when filling. When you're ready to fill your jars, put on the gloves, turn off the heat and using the ladle and funnel, start filling the jars leaving 1/4in of space at the top. Note the jars out of the oven are screaming hot! But you can't tell cause you have on the gloves. When the hot jam meets the hot jars, and placed in boiling hot water provides a guarantee seal. The most time consuming thing about canning is the time it takes for the jam to setup. You do have to watch it and stir occaisionly because when it's ready, it will start to stick! Just take it off the stove, stir and start canning. Also, in the video, she took a lot of time slicing up the strawberries and peeling the figs. Me? I just crush just mine with a hand blender while they are cooking. I also add fresh lemon juice and a little salt in mine. Also one last thing, Jam is crushed fruit, Jelly is juice of fruit and Preserves is whole fruit. What she made was Strawberry Fig Jam.....aka crushed fruit. one more thing, when you remove the jars from the bath, let them cool AWAY from the stove. I use a cookie cooling rack and it works great! When the jars pop, they are sealed! good luck!