step-by-step guide to homemade jam

Making your own jam seems like an antiquated thing your grandmother did. After all, jam is easily found at the grocery or at the farmer's market -- there it's even sure to be homemade (albeit by someone else.) But it's a fun activity to do with all the extra berries you have left over after a trip out to a you-pick farm. Blueberries are easy to preserve since they freeze well. But I've never had any luck freezing strawberries -- they always taste like mush once you thaw them. Jam is a nice alternative.

The hardest decision to make is whether to can your jam or just leave it in the refrigerator. Canned jam has a shelf life of about one year (which is why I can make them now and give them as Christmas gifts), but refrigerator jam should really be used up in a month or so. If you decide to can, you'll need a couple of extra ingredients: a canner (or large stockpot) and canning tongs, which are covered in plastic to grip hot jars securely. I'm not sure where I found my canner, but it was probably at a thrift store for a few dollars. I went ahead and bought the tongs new, along with a wide-mouth funnel for ladling in the hot mixture into the hot jar -- both were very good investments.

I have the easiest jam recipe I can think of. It uses what seems like a lot of sugar, but when you keep in mind that most strawberry recipes use twice as much it's not so bad. This is a combination of several different berry recipes I've tried over the years. I don't like my jam too sweet, so feel free to add more sugar as you see fit.

pen loves paper's All-Purpose Jam Recipe

2 pounds fruit
2 cups sugar
juice of one lemon
6 1/2-pint jars, with screw tops and new lids

Really. That's it. It's what you do with it that makes a difference. First of all, don't bother with a scale. When you're at the you-pick place, ask them to bag your haul in two-pound increments. Extra berries should get their own bag (for nibbling or making mixed-berry jam.)


Add the two pounds of berries to a large glass or ceramic bowl with the sugar and lemon juice. Mix together and let sit on the counter for two hours to macerate, stirring several times. The above photo shows three different batches of jam: strawberry, blueberry and mixed-berry (strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries.) Your strawberries will turn to mush within an hour, the blueberries barely do a thing. This is what the mixed-berries looked like:


If you are canning, place 6-7 newly washed jars into your canner and cover them with water to over an inch above the top of the tallest jar. Put the canner on to boil a half hour to an hour before the berries are done macerating. My canner takes forever to heat up, so I put it on almost immediately after starting the macerating process. If you aren't canning, just add the clean jars to super hot water in the sink about 10 minutes before macerating is over and let them sit until you are ready to use them. Next, add your berry mixture to a saucepan and bring to a boil on medium-high heat, stirring often. Watch it carefully, as it tends to froth and can run over the pan as it reaches a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn down the heat to low-medium and boil for 18-22 minutes, still stirring. Add the lids (not the rings) and enough water to cover them to a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

What you do next depends on what type of jam you like. I like my jam runny since I use it more on ice cream and in cookie recipes than on bread. If you like thicker jam, you will need to boil it an extra 5-15 minutes. It also depends on the berries you use. Blueberries are done much quicker because they don't give off as much liquid during the macerating process as the strawberries.

How will you know when it's done? There are two schools of thought on this (I personally use them both.) One is to stir the mixture and then run your finger down the back of the spoon. If your finger trail stays, it's thick enough. I use this as a primary measure. Then I try this: place a small saucer in the freezer. Once you think the jam is thick enough, spoon a small amount onto the saucer and place back in the freezer for one minute. Pull it out and push the edge of the jam with your finger. The jam should have formed a coating of sorts and ripple when you push it. If it doesn't ripple, boil it for a few minutes longer and try again.


When your jam is ready, turn the heat to low and pull the jars out of the boiling water one by one and lay them on an old towel you have doubled or tripled over (make sure it's old, you will definitely get stains on the towel.) Ladle the jam into the hot jars using the wide-mouth funnel, filling them up to the screw lines on the jar. It depends on the type of jam you are making to how many jars you will fill. Blueberry and mixed-berry jams made six 1/2 pints each, the strawberry only made five. Use a wet paper towel to wipe the edges of each jar. Using tongs, pull the lids out of the water and shake dry before adding them to the top of the jar. Add a screw top to each.


Use the tongs to add the jars back to the boiling water. Allow jars to boil for 15 minutes. Pull the jars out of the water and place on a towel to cool. Do not be alarmed if you hear a strange ping/popping sound coming from the cooling jars. That is the sound of the jars sealing. Let the jars cool overnight on the towel. Then label them with contents and date. If you aren't canning, add contents and date to the lids and store in the refrigerator. Either way, that wasn't too hard was it?