Today we made blueberry jam and did NOT use little boxes of Sure-gel. I’ve made plum jam without added pectin, but this was a first for blueberry jam. It all happened because I got caught out in not reading directions first. I just blithely dumped in crushed blueberries and sugar and turned on the stove. Then I read the little instruction sheet in the Sure-gel box. Shoot. I wasn’t supposed to add the sugar until after the fruit and Sure-gel had done the rolling boil thing. So I switched gears.
It was time to do an experiment and try blueberry jam the old fashioned way. Here’s what I found:
No-pectin-added blueberry jam
Start with a really heavy, large stock pot. The heavier the pot is, the less likely you are to burn the jam. Remember that jam is mostly sugar and sugar burns easily. Crush your blueberries and add equal parts berries and sugar. I chose to cook up six cups of blueberries and six cups of sugar.
I brought it to a boil and then stirred it frequently, although not constantly. It takes too long to cook to be able to stir it constantly! I tried to keep the hot bubbly mixture cooking at a temperature that kept it boiling but not burning. It cooked the berries and sugar for at least 45 minutes, maybe a little more.
As the mixture cooks, you can see it starting to thicken, especially around the edges. There are a number of ways to tell how long to cook it.
Some websites recommend checking the temperature. Because I’m at sea level, I needed to get the jam up to 220°. (You can drop that temperature 2° for every thousand feet up to 4000, then 1° for the increment between 4000 and 5000 and an additional 2° for each thousand feet thereafter.)
A second way you can test if it’s cooked long enough is to put a dab on a cold saucer and put it in the fridge to see if it gels up right away. That doesn’t seem to work for me though.
The third way, and the way that I prefer to use, is by taking a metal spoon, sticking it into the jam and lifting a spoonful about ten inches above the pan. Tilt the spoon and watch how it runs off. When it sheets off the spoon (when two drops form and run together) then it’s done. (I also checked the temperature and it was right at the right place.)
Then I poured the hot jam mixture into the sterilized jars and put on the lids and rings (also sterilized.) I turned them upside down immediately for fifteen minutes and set them on a towel to cool. After fifteen minutes, I turned them back right side up. Within a few hours, all the lids gave that musical little pop as they sealed.
Two interesting things about no-added-pectin jam that I found. First, there was no foam to skim off the top before pouring into jars. Second, there was a very slight taste difference. I can taste that added-pectin contributes its own slight bouquet to jam.
And hey, I saved buying that extra box of Sure-gel!
BK
For another recipe for no-pectin-added berry jam, see this post.
19 Comments
August 24, 2006 at 2:10 pm
Very interesting….I made blueberry jam this year and some of the jars are more like syrup and I hate not knowing why it happened. Last years stuff was brilliant.
C’est la vie….instead of spreading it on toast, we just pour it
September 3, 2006 at 1:47 am
[...] 1. Many fruits have enough to set jam without adding commercial stuff. Plums are, perhaps, the very best fruit for making no-added pectin jam. Many other fruits, though, are also good. Blueberries make lovely no-added-pectin jam. The flavor really IS different and there is virtually no foaming when you don’t add commercial pectin. This is also one time when it actually helps to have some fruit that isn’t quite ripe. Some fruits don’t have enough natural pectin to thicken up by themselves. [...]
September 3, 2006 at 6:27 pm
[...] Recent Comments A word about fruit pectin « My Sister’s Kitchen on Making jam with no added pectinmysisterskitchen on Late-breaking lasagne news:cooknkate on Late-breaking lasagne news:Late-breaking lasagne news: « My Sister’s Kitchen on Basic lasagna, an invitation to embellishmentcooknkate on Homemade Beef Jerky [...]
June 28, 2007 at 1:13 pm
Hi. Liquid pectin is another option–it calls for the fruit and sugar to be boiled together first, then add the pectin and hard boil for a minute then it’s set. Also, if you want to reduce the foaming a little bit, you can add about 1/2 teaspoon of unsalted butter. (I got both of these tips from Blue Ribbon Preserves by Linda Amendt.) No pectin jam is good but sometimes checking for the set point is a little stressful.
June 28, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Hi, Libby,
You’re right about it being a little stressful about getting the set point right. The other thing that I’ve observed this year is that no-added-pectin jam tends to degrade faster in the fridge once it’s been opened. The sugar in the jam tends to crystallize and the texture gets bad. This isn’t a problem if there are lots of people eating the jam rather quickly. If, on the other hand, a jar of jam might sit around the fridge for two months, the no-added-pectin kind might well get yucky.
Barb
August 27, 2007 at 5:20 pm
I forgot to add the sugar slowly and just dumped it in all at once. I brought it to a boil and boiled for longer than 1 minute. The peach preserves did not gel. Can I do anything to save my preserves?
August 28, 2007 at 3:19 am
Heather,
Did they at least thicken up a little? My peaches didn’t form solidly gel’d jam this year either, and that may be due to a higher sugar content and lower acid. If you want to try again, it won’t hurt. What I would do is dump all the peach mix back into a big pot, then add a TBSP or 2 of lemon juice, and maybe a bit more sugar (optional). Bring it back to a boil, let it boil for one minute, and then put it in jars as per usual.
See if that helps. If it doesn’t, then you have either very liquid jam, or a nice peach syrup for pancakes.
Laura
June 9, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Interesting idea, but in my experience the real secret to the best jam, i.e. with the most fresh fruit flavor, is to minimize cooking time, and sugar – i.e. violate the two rules the cookbooks proclaim inviolable…; I suspect that your “slight flavor diff” has more to do with overcooking the bejeezus out of your poor little blueberries than with any “aroma” added by the pectin per se –
Now the degree to which one can reduce sugar/cooking time and still get a good set seems to vary fruit by fruit, and is best determined experimentally, but I’ve found equal parts sugar/fruit and a full minute at a rolling boil is a good place to start (bombproof for raspberries, borderline for other berries, in general a bit too short for peaches), and always provides adequate sterilization for the cold-pack method, which is the only one I ever use -
July 7, 2008 at 12:09 am
i am trying this right now! my 1st batch of jam!
July 25, 2008 at 10:16 pm
I just made no-pectin blueberry jam using the following recipe:
I brought 9 cups of crushed, fresh blueberries to a boil. I slowly added the sugar and stirred until dissolved, then boiled it for about 40 minutes while stirring frequently. At this time, it thickened very quickly, but the temp (measured with 2 different thermometers) was only 216-217 degrees F. Even at this temp, it was VERY thick — too thick! Flavor is good, but too thick. I added no water, no pectin, and no lemon juice. Just the blueberries and water. I live at just about sea level.
Why would this occur? This was my 1st batch of blueberry jam, but I’ve made various other jams in the past and haven’t had this problem. Usually I get the temp to around 220-221 degrees for a nice consistency.
Any thoughts?
August 10, 2008 at 11:19 am
Thanks so much for this handy post! I’m getting ready to move and we didn’t want to waste three very large bags of frozen strawberries and triple berry mix. So to save them, we decided to whip up a batch of jam. My triple berry jam gelled great with no pectin but my strawberries were another story. I couldn’t get them above 203 degrees. After more than an hour of waiting, I started looking and ran across your post talking about the altitude adjustment. It just so happens I’m at 7500 feet. I quickly canned realizing with the correction my strawberries were just fine. Thanks for the help!
August 10, 2008 at 12:35 pm
[...] I stumbled across Laura and Barb’s blog called My Sisters Kitchen. Their blog post on making jam without any added pectin informed me of a temperature correction formula if you’re above sea level. At 7500 feet, I [...]
October 8, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Very interesting post.
I have been making no-pectin MICROWAVE jam this year and I love it. So very simple. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to post links here, but try the ichef website for a basic recipe. I use fruit, sugar, and lemon juice. You need more or less lemon juice depending upon the kind of fruit – the lemon is used to activate the natural pectin in the fruits. I can whip up a batch in the microwave in about 15 minutes total. I cook on high for 6 minutes until it boils – then stir. Then for the remaining 9 minutes, I stir every TWO (2) minutes. I use the cold plate method to test. It keeps for months in the fridge, or a year in the freezer. I’ve made apple, peach, blueberry, red raspberry, black raspberry, blackberry, and strawberry. Only two batches were thin – but they made beautiful syrups. Actually, with the apple variety you can skip the lemon as apple has loads of pectin and doesn’t require an acid. All raspberry and blackberries seem to have lots of pectin, too, but need a bit of lemon. Blueberry and strawberry need the most lemon juice of all. I buy 12-16 ounce bags of frozen fruit, and add 1 or 1.5 cups of sugar to suit my taste. I let the frozen fruit thaw in sugar for at least 30 minutes to an hour. I vary the 15 total minutes depending on how it looks on the cold plate. Hope this helps!
December 21, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Hi. I’ve actually been reading all the jam w/out pectin comments. I’m making Ohelo Berry jam…it’s found up in the mountains near Mauna Kea in Hawaii. It’s suppose to be similar to a huckleberry? I’ve noticed some of said close to cranberry – blueberry…but they aren’t that sweet. Well, the first batch I ever made was delicious and set perfectly (no pectin). Second try- came out more tart or close to bitter (not exactly) so I turned it in to a delicious chutney. I heard it could of been because I picked them at a lower elevation? This sounds odd, but really I’m waiting while it simmers and was wondering if you could tell me what that desert is on top of your header with the pecans…looks like a torte? Thanks
December 21, 2008 at 8:55 pm
huckleberry? I’ve noticed some of said close to cranberry – blueberry…but they aren’t that sweet. Well, the first batch I ever made was delicious and set perfectly (no pectin). Second try- came out more tart or close to bitter (not exactly) so I turned it in to a delicious chutney. I heard it could of been because I picked them at a lower elevation? This sounds odd, but really I’m waiting while it simmers and was wondering if you could tell me what that desert is on top of your header with the pecans…looks like a torte? Thanks
December 21, 2008 at 9:07 pm
The header this month, in December, 2008, is of the pumpkin cheesecake you can find here: http://mysisterskitchen.wordpress.com/2006/11/17/clairs-pumpkin-cheesecake/
December 21, 2008 at 9:23 pm
That was fast. Thankyou… I would of thought brown sugar or caramel. I appreciate the recipe. My husband loves pumpkin. Hmm, I thought I saw a pumpkin cheese cake recipe around here. I’ve never tried that?
March 11, 2009 at 3:04 pm
does anyone know for how long will the jams without pectin once opened and refrigerated be safe to eat?
March 12, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Laura, I’m not sure of the answer to this question. I suspect it won’t keep quite as long, but I’m not sure why I think that. I don’t know that pectin has any particularly preservative qualities. I know that reduced-sugar jams don’t last as long.
The real reason I don’t know the answer to your question is that jam never lasts long at all in my house. A jar of homemade jam inspires a flurry of toast-making and is often finished off in a day or two.
Barb