Using plums is kind of a new thing for me. Last year my mother-in-law gave me some and I made jelly and LOVED it. So today when I went in to Kent's market for bread (and left with a van full of food - but that's another story) I saw plums 3 lbs for a dollar and thought I'd try some more jelly or maybe jam this year. I'm not sure if that's a good price for plums but it made me happy.
I've been wanting to try making freezer jam and thought this would be a good opportunity. I already had containers, sugar and pectin. I made one batch of freezer jam and one batch that I processed in a water bath. I took pictures in case anyone else is new to this and wanted to give it a try.
Freezer Plum Jam
Ingredients
4 cups crushed fruit (this worked out to be about 2 1/2 pounds or 9 or 10 plums)
1 (1.59 oz) package of Ball Instant Fruit Pectin
1 1/2 cups sugar (or you can use SPLENDA
5 (8-oz) freezer jars (I used the plastic containers)
1) Wash and remove the pits but don't peel the plums, then chop them into small pieces. Because I have kind of picky eaters I ran mine threw the blender. (Actually I tried the food processor, baby food chopper and finally the blender).
2) Stir together the package of pectin and the sugar then add in the crushed fruit. Stir for 3-min.
3) Spoon into jars and let stand for 30 min. Jam can then be frozen for 1-yr and refrigerated for 3-weeks.
Overall this was a quick process (even with the various trials, at chopping, blending, etc.)
Canned Plum Jam
First, I put my jars in the dishwasher, this gets them clean and makes them nice and warm when I'm ready to put the jam in. Then I filled my canner up about 1/2 way because I was making a small batch and put it on the stove to start heating the water. Finally I began the actual process of making jam.
* If you are using pectin - use the directions that came with the box. These are the directions for Kraft SURE JELL, different boxes may have different directions. I thought it was worth typing it up here because with the directions for all the different types of jams / jellies sometimes the directions in the box are confusing, that said, I may have done it wrong!
Ingredients:
3 1/2 pounds of pitted, but not peeled chopped plums to make 6 1/2 cups plums
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 box ( 1.75 oz) SURE JELL (Kraft)
4 pint jars and one 8oz jar.
Also you need a water bath canner (usually a big black pot with white spots, but I've seen people do it in a regular (deep) sauce pan with something in the bottom to keep the jars from sitting flat - I've never tried this though)
rings (reusable) and lids (not)
1) Chop / mash your plums (or throw it in the blender/ food processor if you don't want it chunky).
2) In a large sauce pan mix the chopped plums and 1/2 cup of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5-minutes.
3)In a separate small bowl, mix 1/4 cup of sugar (from the 4 1/2 cups you need) with the box of pectin.
4)Stir this into the fruit mix (add 1/2 tsp of butter to avoid foaming).
5) Bring mixture to a full rolling boil (one that doesn't stop, even when you are stirring, this is where an oven mitt comes in handy, especially a silicon one, this stuff is HOT!), keep stirring
6) Dump in all of the rest of the sugar (4 1/4 cups). Return to a boil and boil exactly 1-minute. Remove from heat and skim of any foam.
7) Spoon into your warm jars, wipe off the tops of the jars and put the lids on, then screw the rings on tight.
8) Put the jars on the wire rack in your canner and process (boil) for 20 minutes. That's 10 minutes for jam and an additional 10 minutes for the altitude here (about 4000 ft)
I've been wanting to try making freezer jam and thought this would be a good opportunity. I already had containers, sugar and pectin. I made one batch of freezer jam and one batch that I processed in a water bath. I took pictures in case anyone else is new to this and wanted to give it a try.
Freezer Plum Jam
Ingredients
4 cups crushed fruit (this worked out to be about 2 1/2 pounds or 9 or 10 plums)1 (1.59 oz) package of Ball Instant Fruit Pectin
1 1/2 cups sugar (or you can use SPLENDA
5 (8-oz) freezer jars (I used the plastic containers)
1) Wash and remove the pits but don't peel the plums, then chop them into small pieces. Because I have kind of picky eaters I ran mine threw the blender. (Actually I tried the food processor, baby food chopper and finally the blender).
2) Stir together the package of pectin and the sugar then add in the crushed fruit. Stir for 3-min.
3) Spoon into jars and let stand for 30 min. Jam can then be frozen for 1-yr and refrigerated for 3-weeks.
Canned Plum Jam
First, I put my jars in the dishwasher, this gets them clean and makes them nice and warm when I'm ready to put the jam in. Then I filled my canner up about 1/2 way because I was making a small batch and put it on the stove to start heating the water. Finally I began the actual process of making jam.
* If you are using pectin - use the directions that came with the box. These are the directions for Kraft SURE JELL, different boxes may have different directions. I thought it was worth typing it up here because with the directions for all the different types of jams / jellies sometimes the directions in the box are confusing, that said, I may have done it wrong!
Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 box ( 1.75 oz) SURE JELL (Kraft)
4 pint jars and one 8oz jar.
 | |
| Notice how small this pan is I had to switch before I could add the sugar to avoid scalding myself while boiling. |
rings (reusable) and lids (not)
1) Chop / mash your plums (or throw it in the blender/ food processor if you don't want it chunky).
2) In a large sauce pan mix the chopped plums and 1/2 cup of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5-minutes.
3)In a separate small bowl, mix 1/4 cup of sugar (from the 4 1/2 cups you need) with the box of pectin.
5) Bring mixture to a full rolling boil (one that doesn't stop, even when you are stirring, this is where an oven mitt comes in handy, especially a silicon one, this stuff is HOT!), keep stirring
7) Spoon into your warm jars, wipe off the tops of the jars and put the lids on, then screw the rings on tight.
8) Put the jars on the wire rack in your canner and process (boil) for 20 minutes. That's 10 minutes for jam and an additional 10 minutes for the altitude here (about 4000 ft)
- add 5min for altitudes 1,000 to 3,000
- add 10 min for altitudes 3,000 to 6,000
- add 15 min for altitudes 6,000 to 8,000
- add 20 min for altitudes 8,000 to 10,000
