When it comes to making jams and jellies I make a LOT! We have a big family, I bake all of our own bread and that is a combination for eating a lot of jam…
Each year I do wild blackberry, white grape, apricot, and when I can get organic nectarines or plums I make no-pectin jam with them!
Ingredients.
6 Cups chopped nectarines or Plums(I have found that this works best with fruit chopped by hand…in a food processor makes for a softer set)
3 Cups sugar
4 TBSP Lemon Juice
Combine ingredients and bring to a slow boil for 30 minutes stirring very frequently (I just stand and stir while reading a book)
Remove from heat…at this point you can add any spices you want, cinnamon, ginger, etc. I like ours plain.
Ladle into sterilized Jelly Jars.
Put on hot lids and rings
Tighten (but no overly tight)
Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes
This is super easy, very delicious, and a great way to preserve your soft fruit bounty for the winter.
Thank you for sharing 🙂 I like the jams without pectin for some reason better… maybe its all in my head, but they seem to be more “clear fruit taste” than those with pectin. Thinking about other possibilities… does it work with peaches too?
I should ,but I hate pealing fruit so haven’t tried it…yes lazy I know, lol! Kim
I tried this receipe just yesterday and it did not work. I followed the receipe to a tee and had no luck at all. I am very upset, I wanted jam and what I have is jared nectarines in a very sweet juice. All of my jars sealed, but my so called jam never set. Save your time, and effort, and buy a box of pectin to ensure your jam sets.
It is never too late to save your jam. Sometimes fruit just needs more cooking time to jell properly, or if you try to cook the jam in to large of a batch it won’t jell properly. Just open the jars and dump back into your pot. You can cook them further or add a low sugar or no sugar pectin to your batch. If you decide to cook it without pectin, a good check is to dip a metal spoon into the jam and when it cools it should not run off the spoon with tipped. If you use the pectin, just bring it back to a boil then boil it for one minute, skim any foam. Then ladle back into hot jars and reprocess using new lids.
It works wonderfully for strawberries!.. I will have to try your recpie for the nectarines. Sounds YUMMY!
wonderful – I am hoping for plums on newly planted trees in another 1-2 years.
SO – you aren’t peeling the plums? Just double checking. It sounds so easy! Thanks. Looks wonderful. Emily in So. TX
I have never gotten into jarring or canning things. This year I really want to. However, the pectin puts me off. Thanks for this great recipe! Now this sounds like just what I was wanting!
Rebecca@RootsAndWingsCo
I have been canning plums, peaches, nectarines, and apples so far this year. The peach jam and the plum jam was made without pectin but with lots of sugar. Peaches, plums, and apples were put up doing hot pack and no sugar. So far I have lots of fruit put up. The grapes are due to ripen real soon and I will make grape jam [not jelly]. Does the recipe you listed above for the nectarines and plums also include other fruits such as grapes and berries? I have been using a very thin sliced lemon in the hot pack fruits and they look wonderful. The colors have stayed bright. I am also wondering about lessening the amount of sugar or substituting Truvia [don’t like the taste of Splenda and I am diabetic] when making jams as most fruit is fairly sweet. I was wondering if cooking for a longer period of time would help to make the jams jell or at least make them of spreading consistency. All comments are appreciated. What say you?
Katina – Have you tried Whey Low? I am prediabetic and am careful with sugar. It is available at my Whole Foods and it is great – no aftertaste at all! I even make margaritas and mojitos with it.
This is my first venture into Victoria Plum jam making. I have a small town garden wher I put 2 espallier plums in a few years ago. i have so many plums this year and would love to make some jam. The only thing I do not underatand is how you process it in a boiling water bath and does this help to keep it for longer?
Thank you for your help.
Plums have pectin in them, so its not pectin free. Its just that its already included, which it is not in berries.
I have the same question… what does the processing bit in boiling water actually do? I can’t figure out why you would place the jars in boiling water & get them hot again – why not just cook the mixture for longer?
I’ve just made my first batch of plum jam from the first recipe on line I came accross, it isn’t even cold yet but tastes soooooo sweet! Thought I’d change recipe for batch 2!
Thanks
By boiling your processed foods in hot water you are making the jars seal for shelf preservation. All foods processed in either boiling water or a pressure cooker do not need to be refridgerated or frozen. The shelf life of your product is increased to about 2 years. However, none of mine ever makes it past a year because we eat it all.
My mother and I have never done the hot water bath with our jams – although it is the “proprer” way to do things. As soon as jam is cooked we immediately put it into hot jars, be sure neck of jar is clean and put on the lids which are hot (from pan of simmering water) and rings. The jars seal fine and the jam lasts as good as if it were processed in a water bath.
I also never do the hot water bath. Just make sure the jam is put in jars quickly with hot simmered lids as above and when tightened as tight as possible, I invert them on a towel and let the hot jam/jelly help the sealing.
Thanks for the post. I found this looking for a pectin free nectarine jam recipe. Will make tomorrow! Martha, this makes sense and I was thinking about this. If it has boiled, the jam, and the jars are sterile, it all goes in and nothing should survive in there. I did a pectin free raspberry jam, all jars sealed except one. Just ate that one 1st.
My message is for sm. Just boiling for 30 minutes may not have been enough time for the jam to set. If the fruit was overripe, this could be a problem, too. Overripe fruit has less pectin in it. You should do the jel test to assure the set. Put a few small plates in the freezer. After 30 minutes, put a small amount of the jam on one of the plates. Let it cool ever so slightly and then push the jam with your finger. If it wrinkles, it is set. If it is too loose and your finger goes right through it, it has not boiled enough; boil it for another 5 minutes or so. Do not boil it too much or it could turn out like glue.
I usually make sure I buy a peice or two of fruit that isn’t as ripe as the others to assure enough pectin.
I forgot to add, you might have to do the jel test 2 or 3 times before the jam sets. I once had to do 4 jel tests before my cranberry sauce finally reached a set. Be patient.
Made nectarine/plum jam today, came out great! Used the sugar & orange zest w/ Meyer lemon juice- delish!!
Thanks! this looks great! every year our Santa Rosa plum tree bears tons of fruit. I started making jam about three years ago. The jam always a tastes great, but sometimes getting the right set is a problem. I’m thinking that might be because I don’t use the lemon juice. I picked another thirty pounds this morning, and am eager to try your recipe with lemon juice. I’ll keep you posted!
Also, plum orange jam is amazing! We’ve also tried spiced plum and plum ginger. One or two plums can also be added to peach jam for a lovely rosy tint.
Thanks again for the great recipe!
Dang! Failure! It sounded too easy and I guess that it was. Cooked for 30 minutes, gel tested, cooked another 5, tested, cooked another 5, etc, etc. and then after 50 minutes I thought, surely this has to be ready, Unfortnately, not. The syrup tastes good and the consistency is right, it just did not set. So this morning, I will pop the lids and cook again in hopes that it will set this time. As much as I do not like the stuff, is it too late to add Pectin? Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks.
Roger it can be saved. Pour your runny jam into a pot. Wash and sterilize your jars. Cut an unripe organic apple into quarters. I used two small ones. Wrap it in cheesecloth which has been dipped into boiling water. Bring to a boil your runny jam and the apple. Once it reaches the boiling point turn down to a simmer and remove foam if any. Once the apple feels soft and thoroughly cooked do and jam set test. Good luck i hope this helps you Roger.
A little Jeopargy Theme Music Please! I just dumped the whole works back into the pot and starting the boiling process over again. I was tempted to resort to adding Pectin to the brew but restrained myself. I boiled it for another 25 minutes, (that make makes a total cooking time of 75 minutes) and it still did not totally pass the Gel Test but I said “What the Hay!”, lets give it a go. It is in the water bath now and only time will tell if it comes out this time. If not, I guess that Pectin is the only way to save this disaster. The timer just sounded so it’s time to pull the jars. Wish me Luck!
Sorry to hear you had no success, Roger. The no pectin recipes work best with fruit that already is pectin rich. My greatest success is with crab apple jelly because crab apples are loaded with pectin. It only failed once for me, and that was because I didn’t take it off the stove soon enough. My jelly turned out like glue and was a bear to get out of the jars. You couldn’t even get a knife through it. i will sometimes add a bit of high pectin fruit to a jam to help it set. The best recipes for no pectin jellies and jams are in the older Ball canning books if you can find them in a library or an older relatives cookbook collection.
Well, I am in the midst of attempting a new batch of Plum Jam. I went into my back yard and harvested a dozen Firm, Not so Ripe, Golden Plums to add to my Purple Plums to make sure that I had enough natural Pectin in this batch. 30 Minutes has past and it is not looking good. Failed the first Jel Test. My first Batch failed twice so that batch will be subjected to Pectin tomorrow. Let’s hope this batch doesn’t need to join that team. I have never used Pectin in the past and hate the idea of resorting to it this time. Well, it just failed the second test. I will attempt 3 – 4 more before I give up. So Far, not sold on this receipe.
Latest Update: It doesn’t look good. I retried a total of 5 additional times to no avail. I bottled the Jam and hopefully there will be a miracle and I will awaken in the morning to 14 Jars of solid Jam. I have no hope of this happening. I will say no more.
Pectin rides to the rescue. As it turns out, I belive that my problem was the fact that I was using fruit that was too ripe. I picked the Plums and felt they needed to ripen a little longer. They were the smaller version of Purple Plums and ripened very quickly. I tried everything and finally resorted to Sure-Jel and Voile, success. Tonight I will be picking a bunch of Golden Plums and they seem to be just right so I will try your brew again. Never one to give up on something that works for others. Now it’s a challange and I am Hard Headed. Hopefully someone will clear these e-mails so that they are readable to all. Thanks, Roger.
Has anyone tried using fresh lime juice instead of lemon. The plum lime jam I make every year is everyones favorite. Try it. This time I will attempt without pection. Will post results.
I made the plum lime jam. It is fantastic!. Perfect consistency. I used 5-6 cups of stewed plums with the juice of 4 fresh limes and 2 3/4 cups of sugar. Also added 4 unpeeled slices of apple for good measure and 1 tsp real butter ( to keep from frothing). Love it!
Lynne, when I skim my jelly, I put it in a bowl and serve it with toast. There is nothing wrong with the frothy stuff. You can even can you jelly, jam, etc. without skimming without any harm; it is just not very attractive in the jar. Just do not throw it away.
Made a batch of Nectarine Jam(my first time) last night came out great , used lime juice instead of lemon and some very ripe and not so ripe but ready nectarines. It does not look like the pic. up top its chunky we like it like that. Did not get any frothy stuff to skim off. After 30 mins of mixing on med to high heat did the jel test set up great. Had some this morning its perfect kids love it .. I also did the water bath wasn’t sure if they should be half way in water or fully covered so i went with fully covered in water. I will make another batch with the next picking and add less sugar . Thank you so much!! =)
Such a fab recipe! I used 3 cups plums and 3 cups nectarines – so yummy!
[…] seems jamming plums is a popular thing to do with us Dabblers. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a heavily laden plum […]
I was wonder, does this need to be made in small batches to turn out right? I am getting a large order of nectarines in and would like it to go faster 🙂 Thanks!
Such a fun comment thread to read. Two days ago, friends gave me plums, and insisted pectin is only way to go. I have NEVER used pectin, and have made wonderful apricot, blueberry, strawberry, raspberry and plum jam over the years. My lovely jam-maker mother taught me to use lemon juice and perhaps a bit of apple.
I wanted to find a good no-pectin plum jam recipe, just in case, as my last plum jam batch, years ago, turned out so hard—-as one woman earlier stated: couldn’t even get a knife through it!
I think it is all about weather temperature, amount of sugar and lemon juice, and having the jam slide off your spoon at just the right consistency. Practice makes perfect. And @Roger—-thanks for making me laugh! Hard-headed is good.
Thanks for letting me know that I was able to bring a smile to someones day.
I ended up making 84 jars of perfectly set Jam and it is a hit with all of my friends and family even if it does have Pectin in it. I have stopped giving it away however. If I continue at this rate I will not have any left for myself. Next up,Peach Jam. I have 2 -3 cases of them on their way to me from the Peach Capitol of the US, Palisade, Colorado and I hear they are some of the juiciest that have ever been harvested over there. I am tempted to try the N/P route again but I am hesitant to even try it with these guys. I will post an update when the process begins.
Happy Harvesting Everyone!
I made peach jam and peach preserves last year. I did not use pectin, but instead put the peach pits in the pan until the jam started to set. There was enough pectin in the pits to help the jam and preserves set. I will post the recipe if I can find it. I am not very good at cataloguing my recipes and have to scurry to find them every year when canning season begins.
I have a wonderful recipe for green tomato mincemeat if there are any vegetarians out there who like mincemeat. No need to use a pressure-cooker, either.
Sounds great, Patricia. Thanks for your input..
Patrica: Were you able to find the receipe for the No Pectin Peach Jam that you spoke of in your post? I have the Peaches and I am ready to start. I will start with the pies this afternoon and leave enough for the Jam tomorrow. Here’s hoping that you were able to find it. Thanks,
Hi Roger, My husband was the one who said that I used the peach pits and I couldn’t remember for sure. It was lemon seeds and peels that I used for a Meyer’s Lemon Marmalade. I did use a recipe for the peach jam that used no pectin and had great results with it. Keep in mind that some of your peaches definitely have to be under-ripe. I think I go for about 1/4 of under-ripe.
2 quarts crushed, peeled peaches
1/2 cup water
6 cups sugar
Combine peaches and water, cook gently 10 minutes. Add sugar; slowly bring to boiling, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves. Cook rapidly until thick, about 15 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Pour hot into hot jars; leave 1/4″ headspace. Adjust caps. Process 15 minutes in boiling water bath. Yields about 4 pints.
This one has worked well for me. You can always add lemon juice if you are worried about the set. I use small peaches that a friend lets me pick from a very old peach tree. You can try adding a couple of the pits to the mix, just take them out before canning. When I add things like that, I tie them up in a cheesecloth bag and hang it into the pot from a large wooden spoon suspended over the pot.
Hope this helps! Let me know how it comes out. Mine was wonderful and set beautifully.
Thanks Patricia, I am getting ready to start this evening. I will keep you posted. I may have to run to the store to pick up some Green ones to throw into the mix. These are ripening very fast. I just opened the box and one of teh Big Boys was starting to mold already. WOW, I only received them late Friday evening.
Well, Jam Team, Next up, Apple Butter. My Aunts used to make it and I loved it as a kid and the Store Bought Stuff does not seem to stand up to what I remember. I have another neighbior with a Tart Apple Tree, (gotta love my neighbors), and I just cannot allow his apples to go to waste. I really do not want to go through the hassle of peeling and coring these puppies. I have a Food Mill so I should be able to eliminate that tedious process. I am off to the store to pick up more jars, Cider and Vinegar. I think that I have everything else that I will need. Any suggestions or advise would be appreciated. How ripe should they be? I don’t want to make the same mistake that I made with the Plums by waiting too long. I will post my updates as this process proceeds. Thanks Team, Roger
I forgot to add, the Peachs have yet to arrive. It seems that the person who said they would pick them up for me Over Promised and Under Delivered. I am planning a trip to get them myself after Labor Day Week. It’s a 300 Miles trip through some of the most beautiful Mountains, Canyons and Valleys in the West. The Highway follows the Colorado River and leads directly to Colorado Peach and Wine Country. It will make for a better story when all is said and done. Later!
Roger, I just made two batches of apple butter in my crock pot. They turned out wonderful! I don’t really have anything to compare it to, I had never had apple butter before. But it made my house smell fantastically fall for days! Here is a link to that recipe:
And I am getting ready to make my plum jam! With a vanilla bean added, we’ll see how that goes!
Thank you, everyone for all the tips!!
I literally just made this…….. It is so good. I didn’t add any spices to it as I likemy jam just fruity and without any extra add ins. It jellied just fine for me and I will definitly be making this again. My husband is excited that I made jam and for me never actually making jam in my life I was very impressed with the results. Can this recipe work for other fruits not just nectarines and plums? I am 34 weeks pregnant and I want to get all my canning done before baby arrives. 🙂
This worked perfectly for me . Thank you !! I used ripe not over ripe Italian prunes diced them and left skins on .
Does one peel the plums?? I am just about to make my first batch ever, and am not quite clear about what to do with the skin…does it not contain the pectin?
Thank you Kerry Sotelo, I had missed your advice on leaving the skins on.
I know it is a little late now, however, you can bring water to a boil in a stock pot (~6-8 cups) and put plums in batches into boiling water for 2 minutes and then the peels come right off.
Hi, I was wondering if I can make this recipe with pink guavas as well with no Pectin???
I made the mistake of covering the fruit with water. It seems there is too much water for the fruit to gel.
Great recipe! Made my first batch of sugar plum jam and it is perfect – just needed an extra 5 minutes to pass the set test, poured half through a sturdy sieve to make jelly and bottled the remainder as a full bodied jam, they way everyone should be happy 🙂
I just did this recipe using slightly firm nectarines. I tested at 30 minutes and then after another 5 minutes the jam suddenly turned really dark. It was already quite red from the skins, but it lost it’s fruity color. I got scared the sugar was burning so I jarred it up. I only got 3 8 oz jars out of this batch..is that right? Anyway, they are in the water bath now. Hope they turn out. I will report back.
Thanks to everyone for all the advice and encouragement. Just made my first ever jam with plums from my daughter’s backyard. Turned out great and it was easy! Thanks to Patricia and Lely for set tests, Lynne for less sugar and sliced apple advice and to Roger for smiles and fun reading. I’m interested in less or no sugar recipes for these tart plums – Michele, I’m intrigued about Whey Low, but my daughter is lactose intolerant so I’m not sure if this will be something we can use.