The lost Art of Making Artisan Jams & Preserves without commercial pectins

The day I realized I did not need store bought pectin was a day for celebrating. A day of feasting on delicious Jams and Jellies I had made myself from all natural ingredients grown or harvested from my gardens and fields.

It’s an added expense that is not needed. One day after adding up all the ingredient costs of making my own jam I decided to go commercial pectin free. After all, how did the early pioneers do it? They did not have store bought pectin.

Pectin is a naturally occurring substance (a polyscaccaride) found in berries, apples and all other fruits and vegetables. When heated together with sugar, it causes a thickening that is characteristic of jams and jellies.

Here is my recipe for making no-fail easy strawberry or raspberry jam. Both are listed as low pectin fruits so this recipe reflects a 1:1 sugar fruit mix. Other fruits that naturally contain more pectin need less sugar to gel. I balance ripe fruits and slightly under ripe fruit together because fully ripe fruit is lower in pectin than slightly under ripe fruit. The other unusual thing I do is cook only enough jam to fill one jar at a time. Each jar is individually made and takes a total of 3 minutes of rapid boiling. I like this method because often I have small amounts of fruit to work with and if I mess up on one jar, it’s not so bad. Keeping  a canning journal with notes of creative recipes make them easier to recreate.

After making sure your fruit is clean, smash it or chop it to a chunky consistency. Raspberries crush very easily and won’t require much. Don’t wash berries until the very minute you intend to use them. They spoil rapidly once wet.

• 1 lb washed berries
• 1 lb white sugar
• Juice of one lemon

Weigh your fruit and sugar and mix with the juice of a lemon into the prepared fruit. Let this mixture set for a couple hours or overnight in the refrigerator to allow the pectins to begin their work.

Place one jar full of fruit mixture into a stainless steel 10″ or larger skillet or non-reactive pan. Bring this to a rapid boil stirring constantly. Boil for 3-5 minutes. (Jelly Jar size is 3 minutes). Start timing when the fruit reaches rapid boil. Pour into a clean prepared jar. Leave a 1/2 inch space between the fruit and the top of the jar. Clean off rim of jar and seal tightly. Set the jar upside down for 5 minutes then flip it back over. The jar will seal as it cools. Label and store in a dark cool place for up to one year. You can also just refrigerate it and eat it fresh!

Continue this process again until all the fruit is used.

Once you have done one batch of jam this way you can start experimenting with using less sugar or mixing a high pectin fruit with a low. The options are endless.