Making Jam Without Added Pectin¹

United States Department of Agriculture, Extension Service²

Wash and rinse all fruits thoroughly before cooking. Do not soak. For best flavor, use fully ripe fruit. Remove stems, skins, and pits from fruit; cut into pieces and crush. For berries, remove stems and blossoms and crush. Seedy berries may be put through a sieve or food mill. Measure crushed fruit into large saucepan using the ingredient quantities specified in Table 1.

Add sugar and bring to a boil while stirring rapidly and constantly. Continue to boil until mixture thickens. Use one of the following tests to determine when jams and jellies are ready to fill. Remember to allow for thickening during cooling.

Temperature test: Use a jelly or candy thermometer and boil until mixture reaches the temperature for your altitude. For more information see "Making Jelly Without Added Pectin," (FCS 8323).

Refrigerator test: Remove the jam mixture from the heat. Pour a small amount of boiling jam on a cold plate and put it in the freezing compartment of a refrigerator for a few minutes. If the mixture gels, it is ready to fill.

Remove from heat and skim off foam quickly. Fill sterile jars with jam. For more information see "Jars and Lids," (FCS 8255). Use a measuring cup or ladle the jam through a wide-mouthed funnel, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process. Recommended process times are listed in Table 2 .

Table 1.

Table 1. Ingredient Quantities
Fruit	Cups Crushed Fruit	Cups Sugar	Tbsp Lemon	Yield (Half-pints)
Apricots	4 to 4-1/2	4	2	5 to 6
Berries*	4	4	0	3 to 4
Peaches	5-1/2 to 6	4 to 5	2	6 to 7
* Includes blackberries, boysenberries, dewberries, gooseberries, loganberries, raspberries, and strawberries.

Table 2.

Table 2. Recommended process time for Jams without Added Pectin in a boiling-water canner.
		Process Time at Altitudes of
Style of Pack	Jar Size	0- 1,000 ft	1,001- 6,000 ft	Above 6,000 ft
Hot	Half-pints	5 min	10	15
*After the process is complete, turn off the heat and remove the canner lid. Wait five minutes before removing jars.

Footnotes

1. This document is Fact Sheet FCS 8324, one of a series of the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Publication date: May 2003. Revised: August 2005. Reviewed: August 2008. This document was extracted from the Complete Guide to Home Canning, Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539, USDA. It was originally published on CD-ROM as part of HE 8153, Guide 7: Preparing and Canning Jams and Jellies. Please visit the EDIS Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu

2. Reviewed for use in Florida by Amy Simonne, assistant professor, Food Safety and Quality, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.

Making Jam Without Added Pectin1

Footnotes

Making Jam Without Added Pectin¹