A Basic recipe for how to make homemade fruit jam with easy step by step instructions to give you a delicious sweet breakfast condiment, great for spreading on hot buttered toast.
I've seen so many fancy recipes to make jam, with all kinds of ingredients and complicated instructions, but I never managed to find a 'basic' recipe for a good, decent, easy jam, which I could use for different fruits and then our friend Carina came along and shared her wonderful jam recipe!
Here, Carina has made Apricot and Strawberry Jams which she has harvested from her garden. Sure looks wonderful! Be sure to make some delicious strawberry scones or cherry scones to eat with your jam!
We've got easy to follow, step by step instructions for how to make the perfect jam at home. You can use a variety of fruits, such as raspberries, strawberries, blueberries apricots, etc.
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We've also got a lovely blueberry marmalade recipe for you to make and a low sugar blackberry jam recipe too.
Jam is such a versaitile condiment. We often use it to spread on crumpets, English breakfast muffins, cakes, cinnamon toast and even crepes!
This recipe uses pectin, so to answer a few questions you may have, see below. pectin is a wonderful ingredient and will certainly make your jam last longer, and the fruits will also taste fresher for longer too!
Is it better to use pectin when making jam?
Any berry jam with pectin added can be cooked much quicker than without pectin, keeping the fresh taste of the berries. Berry jam without added pectin needs to be cooked up to four times longer to reach the gel setting stage, resulting in a much sweeter, less fresh-tasting jam.
How do you use powdered pectin instead of liquid?
Use two tablespoons of powdered regular pectin for every packet of liquid pectin. The difference in usage is that instead of adding the pectin at the end of cooking like you do with liquid, you whisk the powdered pectin into the sugar BEFORE you combine it with the fruit.
Recipe by Carina Duclos and various sources, see end of recipe for further details.
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Yield
Roughly 11 Mason Jars, 250 ml / 8.5 oz in size
Ingredients
5 cups or 600 g of fruit - In this case, Carina made Apricot and Strawberry Jam.
7 cups or 1.4 Kg of sugar
¼ cup or 60 ml lemon juice
1 pouch of liquid pectin
1 Tablespoon butter
Please note,You can use any fruits, just stick to the same ratio of fruit to sugar.
Instructions
1. In a large, deep stainless steel pot stir fruit, sugar, lemon juice and butter. Over high heat, bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.
At that point add liquid pectin, squeezing entire contents from pouch. Return to boil; boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim off foam.
Tip: the butter is to reduce foaming and that really makes a difference. Tried it both ways and enforce that!
2. Fill the hot boiled jars with the hot jam.
Leave a space of about ¼ inch (0.5 cm) of top of jar.
Wipe jar rim removing any food residue.
Centre hot sealing disc on clean jar rim.
Screw band down.
Place jars back in the canner (boiling pot).
Ensure that all jars are covered by at least one inch (2.5 cm) of water.
Cover canner and bring water to a full rolling boil before starting to count processing time. At altitudes up to 1000 ft (305 m), process – boil filled jars for 10 minutes.
3. When the processing time is complete, turn the stove off, remove the canner lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove jars without tilting and place them upright on a protected work surface. Cool upright, undisturbed 24 hours; DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands.
4. After cooling check jar seals. Sealed discs curve downward and do not move when pressed. Remove screw bands; wipe and dry bands and jars. Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place. For best quality, use home canned foods within one year.
Note : I boil by jars before and after. Also altitude is important.
We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our recipe. Did you make any changes or add some other ingredients? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!
See here for the altitude chart for guidance on page 10.
The ingredients proportions are from Bernardin. The jars come with a little recipe book sometimes and fruit proportion has been taken from there as well as some of the boiling instructions.
NOTE: Please be aware that recipes shared by readers of this page are not endorsed, checked or tested by Lovefoodies. Always follow USDA home canning recommendations.
We've found a great recipe if you'd like to make jam in a slow cooker with no added sugar if you'd like to check that out too!
Recipe Card
How to Make Homemade Fruit Jam
How to Make Homemade Fruit Jam.
A Basic recipe for how to make homemade fruit jam with easy step by step instructions to give you a delicious sweet breakfast condiment, great for spreading on hot buttered toast
Ingredients
- 5 cups or 600 g of fruit - In this case, Carina made Apricot and Strawberry Jam.
- 7 cups or 1.4 Kg of sugar
- ¼ cup or 60 ml lemon juice
- 1 pouch of liquid pectin
- 1 Tablespoon butter
Instructions
- In a large, deep stainless steel pot stir fruit, sugar, lemon juice and butter. Over high heat, bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. At that point add liquid pectin, squeezing entire contents from pouch. Return to boil; boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim off foam.
Tip: the butter is to reduce foaming and that really makes a difference. Tried it both ways and enforce that!
- Fill the hot boiled jars with the hot jam. Leave a space of about ¼ inch (0.5 cm) of top of jar. Wipe jar rim removing any food residue. Centre hot sealing disc on clean jar rim. Screw band down. Place jars back in the canner (boiling pot). Ensure that all jars are covered by at least one inch (2.5 cm) of water. Cover canner and bring water to full rolling boil before starting to count processing time. At altitudes up to 1000 ft (305 m), process – boil filled jars – 10 minutes.
- When processing time is complete, turn stove off, remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove jars without tilting and place them upright on a protected work surface. Cool upright, undisturbed 24 hours; DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands.
- After cooling check jar seals. Sealed discs curve downward and do not move when pressed. Remove screw bands; wipe and dry bands and jars. Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place. For best quality, use home canned foods within one year.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 11 Serving Size: 1 jarAmount Per Serving: Calories: 557Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 22mgCarbohydrates: 141gFiber: 2gSugar: 134gProtein: 1g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate
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Joyce
says:Hi Mary, can I cut down on the amount of sugar used in the jams?
Lovefoodies
says:Hi Joyce, I’m not too sure as I think it may affect the consistency and setting point. As you know, when you make jam, it’s important to get the setting point so I’ve only used the ratios you see in the recipe.
Sorry that’s not much help but I don’t want to tell you something I’m not sure will work!
Linda
says:When making diabetic jam I use splenda but then add gelatin to thicken it . Still experimenting with this. Some times I use diabetic jello along with the plain gelatin.
lovefoodies
says:Thanks for your tips Linda! That’s very good to know!
David Polk
says:Where dose the lemon juice come in ?
lovefoodies
says:I David, yes, sorry it should be in step 1. I have corrected so it reads clearer. Thank you so much for asking.
Trudy Higgins- Snyder
says:how would i make this jam diabetic friendly, as i am diabetic? what would the stevia or splenda equivelant be?
lovefoodies
says:Hi Trudy, I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to making this diabetic friendly, is there a Diabetic chart or website you could go to in order to seek advice on suitable substitutes for recipes to make them suit your needs?
Jennifer M Nobles
says:You call for butter in step 1 but it’s not o the ingredient list. How much do I use?
(And Thanks for the recipe! I can’t wait to try it!)
lovefoodies
says:Ji jennifer, thanks for raising that! It is 1 Tablespoon of butter. I’ve just amended the recipe so it shows. thanks so much for asking :) Enjoy your jam!
Jennifer M Nobles
says:Thanks :-) I will be trying it this weekend!!