plum jam recipe? and canning plums ?

[Li27]

Hi,
I'm a total canning newbie, but thought I'd give this a try.

Anyone have a plum jam recipe that's great? I'd prefer not to use sugar if possible....... honey maybe? Anyone tried sugarless? If it's not going to be great, I will use sugar - would just prefer not to if it's going to turn out just as good!

And can I just can plums in water? Or do I need to use some sort of sugar/juice to can them?

Thanks!

[cristeen]

I made honey-sweetened plum jam this year. Yummy.

I never follow a recipe though, because recipes are meaningless with fresh fruit... it's all dependent upon the sweetness of the plums. Pick up a package of Pomona's Universal Pectin, I can usually find it at the HFS - it is not dependent upon large amounts of sugar to gel. Prepare your fruit, and then add honey to taste. The recipe in the sheet inside the box is usually pretty good on pectin amounts needed for fruit, but familiarize yourself with the gel test, just to be sure.

That's really all there is to it. After you do it a few times you'll get a feel for it. It's really pretty simple.

[LeighB]

I don't have any ideas for sugarless jam. Sorry.
I did just can 7 pints of plum jam though. I didn't really use a recipe- I used 10 cups of plums (quartered), 8 tbls lemon juice, 4 cups sugar. I didn't use pectin because I just prefer to do it without. I also crushed the fruit a little with a potato masher before cooking it. There are lots of resources online for plum jam.
Have fun!

[Chicky2]

What kind of plums? I made GOBS of wild sand plum jam this year. MMMMMM. I just googled a recipe, and kind of played around w/it. I've been canning jam for years, though, and I was goofing off and experimenting this year. I had one batch not set up, and it was w/red plums (like from the grocery store) and apricot mixed together. I know what I did, though. I forgot to add lemon.... Anywhoo, we are using it for syrup. I also toss it on meats to roast, on ice cream, etc...

Sorry, I got off track there.

[Li27]

Originally Posted by cristeen

I made honey-sweetened plum jam this year. Yummy.

I never follow a recipe though, because recipes are meaningless with fresh fruit... it's all dependent upon the sweetness of the plums. Pick up a package of Pomona's Universal Pectin, I can usually find it at the HFS - it is not dependent upon large amounts of sugar to gel. Prepare your fruit, and then add honey to taste. The recipe in the sheet inside the box is usually pretty good on pectin amounts needed for fruit, but familiarize yourself with the gel test, just to be sure.

That's really all there is to it. After you do it a few times you'll get a feel for it. It's really pretty simple.

I did it! I LOVE it with honey - so tasty! Thanks for the tips. I used the Pomona's pectin - all in all, it wasn't too hard - but there definitely is a lot of multi-tasking to be done!

[Li27]

Originally Posted by Chicky2

I also toss it on meats to roast, on ice cream, etc...

Sorry, I got off track there.

This is mostly what I use jam for! I love it on roasts - or makes such an easy dinner to throw in some chicken legs with some yummy jam on top!

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Li27

I did it! I LOVE it with honey - so tasty! Thanks for the tips. I used the Pomona's pectin - all in all, it wasn't too hard - but there definitely is a lot of multi-tasking to be done!

So glad it turned out well! Welcome to the addictive world of jam-making! You'll never look at store-bought jam the same again.