Raspberry Jam Recipe

Directions

Makes 4 Pints

Take the bowl with 1/4 cup of sugar and mix in the full box of Sure-Jell pectin.
Add crushed berries, salt, butter, and sugar-pectin mixture into a heavy bottom dutch oven over medium heat
Cook until mixture comes to a roiling boil (this means when you stir the mix the large bubbles won’t go away)
Add remaining sugar and cook until mixture comes back to a roiling boil (this will take a few minutes as sugar really reduces the temperature), and once it reaches that roiling boil cook for exactly 1 min
Remove from heat. Spoon off the foam and discard if desired.
Ladle jam into clean canning jars. Leave 1/4 inch headspace.
Wipe down the rim of each jar with plain distilled vinegar and a paper towel. (You can use water but vinegar cuts the sugar better. This step is important because if you don’t remove all the jam from the rims it will interrupt the seal. Any chips in the rim will interrupt the seal as well so check for those too)
Place a new canning lid on the jar and screw on a ring
Place jars in a water bath canner. Use the trivet or a dishtowel on the bottom of the canner under the jars. Once the water gets to a roiling boil, set the timer for 10 min
Turn off the heat and let jars cool in the hot water bath canner for 5 minutes
Remove jars from the canner and set them on a clean kitchen towel for 24 hours
Once cool, remove rings, wipe down jars, and put in the pantry!

Notes

This low-sugar recipe has 5 cups of berries and 4 cups of sugar. It still has a lot of sugar but it’s much less than the full sugar recipes which are usually 4 cups of fruit and 6 cups of sugar. When you make jams you have to be careful to follow the sugar to fruit ratio so the jam sets.
You don’t want your jars sitting directly on the bottom of your canner because they are too close to the heat. A trivet or a dishtowel will protect the jars from cracking. You can stack jars 2 high with an electric canner or 1 high with a water bath canner.
Make sure you check your elevation and the proper processing time because it can vary depending on the elevation you live in. A great resource for this is the National Center for Home Food Preservation (https://nchfp.uga.edu). Find your local chapter and get elevation questions answered directly!
I like to have everything pre-measured and quadruple this recipe. It makes about 18 1/2 pints if you do this. I have 2 pots cooking at once with a doubled recipe in each. 12 cups of strawberries and 8 cups of sugar in each pot.
I used to make jam in 1/2 pint jars but I started using pint jars during the canning lid shortage as it halved my lid usage.

Directions

Makes 4 Pints

Take the bowl with 1/4 cup of sugar and mix in the full box of Sure-Jell pectin.
Add crushed berries, salt, butter, and sugar-pectin mixture into a heavy bottom dutch oven over medium heat
Cook until mixture comes to a roiling boil (this means when you stir the mix the large bubbles won’t go away)
Add remaining sugar and cook until mixture comes back to a roiling boil (this will take a few minutes as sugar really reduces the temperature), and once it reaches that roiling boil cook for exactly 1 min
Remove from heat. Spoon off the foam and discard if desired.
Ladle jam into clean canning jars. Leave 1/4 inch headspace.
Wipe down the rim of each jar with plain distilled vinegar and a paper towel. (You can use water but vinegar cuts the sugar better. This step is important because if you don’t remove all the jam from the rims it will interrupt the seal. Any chips in the rim will interrupt the seal as well so check for those too)
Place a new canning lid on the jar and screw on a ring
Place jars in a water bath canner. Use the trivet or a dishtowel on the bottom of the canner under the jars. Once the water gets to a roiling boil, set the timer for 10 min
Turn off the heat and let jars cool in the hot water bath canner for 5 minutes
Remove jars from the canner and set them on a clean kitchen towel for 24 hours
Once cool, remove rings, wipe down jars, and put in the pantry!

Notes

This low-sugar recipe has 5 cups of berries and 4 cups of sugar. It still has a lot of sugar but it’s much less than the full sugar recipes which are usually 4 cups of fruit and 6 cups of sugar. When you make jams you have to be careful to follow the sugar to fruit ratio so the jam sets.
You don’t want your jars sitting directly on the bottom of your canner because they are too close to the heat. A trivet or a dishtowel will protect the jars from cracking. You can stack jars 2 high with an electric canner or 1 high with a water bath canner.
Make sure you check your elevation and the proper processing time because it can vary depending on the elevation you live in. A great resource for this is the National Center for Home Food Preservation (https://nchfp.uga.edu). Find your local chapter and get elevation questions answered directly!
I like to have everything pre-measured and quadruple this recipe. It makes about 18 1/2 pints if you do this. I have 2 pots cooking at once with a doubled recipe in each. 12 cups of strawberries and 8 cups of sugar in each pot.
I used to make jam in 1/2 pint jars but I started using pint jars during the canning lid shortage as it halved my lid usage.