Summer Jam’n: Low Sugar/No Sugar Organic Jam Making
It’s 85 degrees in my house (because we do without A/C, but that’s another story!). Despite the heat I’m still in the kitchen because there’s nothing like a slice of fresh, whole wheat bread topped with nut butter and homemade jam. Yum-o! Today I made a double batch of organic raspberry and a single batch of organic marionberry.
Normally, we make a low sugar jam recipe, but that still takes about 4 cups of sugar! This year, I opted to make a no sugar variety and a lower sugar variety. Our resulting jams are tart, tangy and fabulous (not to mention better for your health!). Here’s how to make jam without a canner, because it’s not so cost effective if you have to buy expensive tools!
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To prepare jars-
Wash and dry jars.
Place 3-4 pint size jars and lids in a large bowl (leave rings out). Pour boiling water over and in the jars. Let sit while preparing jam.
For each batch (approx 3 pint size jars)-
- 1 box Ball Natural Gel No Sugar Needed Pectin
- 4 cups crushed organic berries (this took about 2 1/2 containers, I get them by the flat which will make 4-5 batches). You can get all crazy and mix berries as well for a whole new taste sensation!
- 1 cup local honey (we buy ours at the Farmers Market and it’s a Wild Berry flavor) or 2 cups Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Evaporated Cane Sugar
- 1 cup organic non filtered non sweetened apple juice (we used Natural Directions)
Place berries and apple juice in a large pan on high heat, slowly add pectin. Stir constantly. Bring to a rolling boil. Add honey or sugar. Stir constantly and return to a full boil. Boil for 3 minutes, remove from heat. I use a measuring cup to fill the prepared jars, but a ladle will work as well.
As each jar is filled, immediately wipe any jam from the top and sides, place a warmed lid on top, finish with a screw on ring. Place the jar upside down on the counter for one hour, then flip upright. Within a couple hours the top should go down (won’t pop back out if you push on center of the lid) which indicates the jam is sealed. Allow to cool fully (usually overnight), then store in your pantry.
Eat Well. Be Well.
LOL. It’s 85 degrees in my house too, AND we have the air on. It’s Phoenix.
The jam sounds great. However I wanted to add a word of caution. I’ve read that you should never can using the method of just flipping the jars over on the counter. You have a much greater chance of getting bacterial contamination. First the processing in the hot water bath kills anything that got in the jar while you were handling ingredients. Second while upsidedown the liquid can seep under the lid and cause a poor seal allowing it to go bad later.
For my “cheap” method I’ve processed jam in a hot water bath in a regular large stock pot. I tried a folded dish towel underneath to buffer from the bottom of the pan but it always caught air bubbles. If I hadn’t decided to buy a real canner this year I would have spend the ~ $10 for a canning rack insert.