By the author of The Prepper’s Canning Guide
Perhaps the very easiest thing to can is homemade jam. It’s not very expensive, it’s simple, and once you’ve learned how to make jam from one fruit, others just cooperatively fall into place for you. It’s a great way to get started canning. These instructions include the use of commercial pectin but if you’d prefer to take it up a notch, here’s how to make jam without any pectin at all.
The instructions for basic jams are all pretty much the same – you only need to make minor modifications for different fruits. So, because we’re all creative people, I’m laying out the basic how-to, giving you a chart with special instructions fruit by fruit, and you can take it from there.
Ingredients
- 8 cups of fresh or frozen fruit
- 1 packet of pectin + ¼ of a package (I like to use the no-sugar-needed, but then still add sugar – just less!)
- 4 cups of sugar
- 2 tbsp- 1/4 cup of lemon juice
Directions
1. Prep your fruit by washing it and cutting it up if necessary.
2. Smush your fruit. You can do this with a potato masher, food processer, blender or food mill. For some fruits I like to puree them and have a smoother jam and for others I like chunkier jam – it’s up to personal preference.
3. In a small bowl, use a fork to mix ¼ cup of the sugar with one packet of pectin.
4. In a saucepan, stir the fruit, lemon juice and pectin together well.
5. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently.
6. Once it is boiling, stir in the sugar and return to a boil for one minute.
7. This is important:
Jam Making Rule of Law:
Always test your jam!!!!
How?
You do this by keeping a spoon in the freezer – to test, drip a bit of the hot jam into the spoon to allow it to quick cool – the consistency it reaches is the consistency your finished product will be. At this point, I nearly always end up adding another 1/4 – 1/2 package of pectin – I use the cheaper pectin to “top it up” – return to a simmer for a couple of minutes and test again. Omitting this step may result in a very tasty ice cream topping or waffle syrup, but not jam!
8. Ladle the jam carefully into your awaiting (sanitized) jars, wipe the rims and cap your jars with snap lids and rings.
9. Process in a water bath canner, according to the ingredients chart and making adjustments for your altitude.
Jam Making Chart
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FRUIT
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SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS
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PROCESSING TIME
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Apricot
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Peel, slice in half to pit
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5 minutes
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Blackberry
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optional step: mill to remove seeds
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10 minutes
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Blueberry
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optional step: puree
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7 minutes
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Cherry
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Pit with a cherry pitter, chop before cooking
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10 minutes
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Grape
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Mill to remove seeds
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10 minutes
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Huckleberry
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Check for stems
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10 minutes
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|
Peach
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Peel, slice in half to remove pits
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10 minutes
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|
Plum
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Slice in half to remove pits
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5 minutes
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Raspberry
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Crush with a potato masher
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10 minutes
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|
Strawberry
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Remove cores, mash with a potato masher
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10 minutes
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If you are using more than one fruit in your jam, follow the instructions for the fruit that takes the longest to process. For example, if you are making a blackberry and plum jam, process for 10 minutes instead of 5 minutes.
What about you?
What is your favorite kind of jam? How often do you make it? Do you have questions or suggestions to add?
Let’s discuss it in the comments and please let me know how your jam turns out!
About Daisy
Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites. 1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2) The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews.
Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.
I have to admit i cheat when i can. i bought a ball jam machine and boy howdy it really helps me out make jam. i followed the instructions ,an made 14 half pints in no time at all plus got my laundry done too. so sometimes it pays to cheat! strawberries are on next is blackberries, then peaches then carrots so have fun gotta go mow hay inbetween !!!
How long will canned jam last? I was over zealous last summer since it was my first time and still have plenty left.
The USDA says that jam will last about one year. It doesn’t usually last that long at our house but I have used jam that was closer to two years and it was fine. I have to recommend that you follow the USDA guidelines, though.
Daisy
Daisy, I love the spoon trick..thanks. Our last jam set up like cement, because the batch before that was as you said “waffle topping” but not jam, and so we added too much pectin that time. One thing you omitted in your recipe was the amount of lemon juice to add. thanks
Oops – thanks – I will fix that! 🙂
Daisy
Can raw honey be used as a sugar substitute?
Yes…from the Pick Your Own website, here’s how to sub honey for sugar in canning recipes:
“To use honey in place of sugar, use 7/8 cup for every cup of sugar, and don’t change the other liquids. According to food labs, honey may be substituted effectively for up to half the sugar called for in a canning syrup recipe.”
Link: http://www.pickyourown.org/SubstitutingHoneyForSugar.htm
What about figs? I have a bunch. 🙂
Hi, Meg – YUMMY!!! I’m so jealous!
For figs, mash them “chunky” with a potato masher then cook them down for about 10-15 minutes before stirring in your lemon juice, sugar, and pectin. Water bath can them for 7 minutes, adjusting for altitude.
Enjoy!
Daisy
How do I mill grapes to remove the seeds? I have Concord grapes.
do we need to have a machete to mill the grapes
I personally own a Nutribullet that comes with a milling blade, it’s the best appliance I have owned. The seeds hold most of the nutrients of the grape itself, if you can mill it you benefit more.
I made all my jams, jellies, and fruit butters, and leathers from what grows in nature this year. Wild grapes, crab apples, autumn olive berries, quince, wild apples, plums, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. I even found out the kousa dogwood (not in the wild) an ornamental tree has a large berry the size of a ping pong ball is edible and makes wonderful jelly and fruit leathers. I picked two five gallon buckets in about a half hour from the local park. Some for Christmas gifts, some for the food bank and some for my family.
I’m interested in making my own jams, I’m curious to know have you ever tried jalapeños with a fruit? I have tasted a raspberry-jalapeño jam before, it was delicious, and would like to know your suggestions on balancing the spicy and sweet.
Hi Sara~ I love sweet and spicy also. This article has a recipe for peach and jalapeno jam. You could modify it and make it with whatever fruit you had available.
https://www.theorganicprepper.com/this-weeks-harvest-peaches-08202013
Happy canning!
Daisy
Hi Daisy, after my jelly comes out of the water bath, will it be firm a little runny?
It will firm up a little bit as it cools but not a whole lot. I made a really great batch of strawberry rhubarb syrup one year so don’t despair if it doesn’t. Just think pancakes. 🙂
My hubby is out picking a ton of blackberries, unfortunately, because of a back condition I’m not going to be able to make the jam until this coming weekend.
I want to combine different fruits just for some variety. I make a lot of jam and am wondering what combinations work well. I have made strawberry and rhubarb but that is the only combination I have tried so far. Any suggestions please.
Hi Janet!
It really depends what you have on hand. I am a big fan of adding lemon or lime to other fruits – I just made some blueberry-lime jam. I’ve also made mixed berrry jams before that turned out wonderfully. Another one I made that was truly delicious was cherry and peach. I think that if you might eat the fruits together in a dessert or a fruit salad, they’d be delicious together in a jam.
Let me know what you end up creating! 🙂
Daisy
I think I am going to try some rhubarb combinations as might get a supply of rhubarb…raspberry/rhubarb, blackberry/rhubarb. Has anyone made any of these. Think I feel more comfortable sticking with fruit I know as am a bit concerned if I mix fruit there may be no definite flavour.
Janet, I went on a rhubarb binge a couple of years ago. Rhubarb blueberry, rhubarb blackberry, rhubarb strawberry. The rhubarb strawberry is my all time favorite.
The commercial pectins like sure jel require a lot of sugar because the sugar aids in the preservation and gelling process. There’s a product that has been around forever that I prefer called Pamona Pectin. It allows much less sugar which for me, produces more of a fruit taste vs too sweet.
I we shocked to find that adding blueberries to pretty much any fruit makes a killer combo!
I have just made a load of pots of blackberry jam but it doesn’t appear to have set well can it be re heated and re jar or is it to late
Mandy – you can take it out of the jars and reheat with more pectin if you want to. The best rule of thumb is not to jar it until it’s a consistency you’re happy with. I learned this the hard way 🙂 Other uses for runny jam: pancake topping, yogurt topping, smoothie addition – think syrup!
If you do decide to add more pectin, when you process it, be sure and do it as though your processing it for the first time. Use the full amount of time recommended for safety.
Daisy
Can you use any type of jar? I have several of the glass pasta jars sitting around and was wondering if those could be used and if so, is there anything differently I’d need to do (storing) and will it have the same shelf life as a “jam” jar would 🙂 also, is it necessary to add lemon or lime juice? I’m a first timer and am planning on making my first small batch of strawberry jam! Thanks in advance!!
I would not suggest using old Pasta jars as they tend to be thin walled vs the thicker walls of canning jars. Plus finding a sealing lid and ring that would fit it further complicates that. Even in water bath canning, the jars jiggle and bump up next to each other so you would want the security of the canning jars.
The good news is that they are reusable forever unless they break. So initial start up cost that serves you for many years.
Yes to the lemon. It is part of an activation for the gelling and preservation that raises the acidity to ward against bacteria and molds.
Daisy, I am new to your site and enjoying it, thank you for sharing your knowledge. I am wanting to make my own jams/jellies to get away from so much sugar. What about Stevia in the Raw? Would you recommend and/or what would be the measurements? Thanks.
Kim: I haven’t tried using Stevia so I can’t give you specific advice on it. I’d suggest that you Google it and for at least the first batch, follow a recipe to the letter. Once you have that one turn out okay, you can do some experimenting with other recipes. I’m positive it can be done, but it’s definitely going to change some things as far as thickening the jam is concerned.
Let us know how it works out! I’d be very interested to hear about your results.
Daisy
Here is a great stevia jam recipe. My mom uses it for all her homemade jam. https://www.kraftheinz.com/surejell/recipes/575420-no-sugar-needed-strawberry-jam-with-stevia
Instead of pectin powder what can I use which is easily available for making Fresh fruit Jam
This year I experimented with no pectin at all and had fantastic results. Here’s a link to the how-to:
https://www.theorganicprepper.com/how-to-make-jam-without-using-added-pectin-07292014
~ D
I was using sucralose as a sugar substitute to make a jam but the jam doesn’t set properly.How can i fix this problem?
Hi, Parveen. I’ve never tried making jam with a sugar substitute so I can’t guarantee this will work. But try this method next time – it may work better. 🙂 https://www.theorganicprepper.com/how-to-make-homemade-artisanal-jam-without-pectin-08032016
Thanks for jam information. I remember waiting for the “foam” when my mom made jam and she would spoon it on bread for us kids -what a treat. I’m going to make some peach/plum jam
I like to add a little nutmeg to peach jam. And ground ginger to apricot jam. Grated orange peel will go great in blueberry jam.
When we lived in town we had a big raspberry patch and made enough jam to last us years – we still have a dozen jars left. It’s getting old for sandwich making, but the Baltimore Orioles in our yard are crazy for it. A second life for old jam.
Here’s a comment that I hope makes you laugh.
I could not read this article, because I am jam phobic. I don’t just dislike it: I cannot bear to be near it. I am absolutely serious! I don’t know how I developed it, but I did. I cannot touch an opened jam jar, or a plate that has had jam on it unless I wear rubber gloves. The sight of jam makes me nauseous and the smell causes me to run outside for fresh air. I can eat fruit, and sugar substitutes, but not in the form of jam.
I can handle just about anyything, even dangerous or stinky substances: really, the only thing I cannot handle is jam.
My family have prepped 2 years of food, but I guarantee you there is not one single jar of jam!