I've been making blackberry jam without pectin (it was $3/box in the one grocery store I found it in, and I've been making *lots* of jam!). Very similar recipe -

5C ripe berries
1C barely ripe (a little red, but still soft/juicy) berries
4C sugar

Mash berries and add sugar, let sit overnight. In the AM, put a saucer in the freezer, start the jam in a Dutch oven on High heat, add 2 Tbsp lemon juice, stir to prevent sticking. I've found that when it starts foaming up you can lower the heat slightly, stir it down, and after a while (it takes a while as you said to get the knack, but roughly 25-30 minutes) pull it off, dribble a little on the saucer, if it runs off right away you need to cook it more. If it looks like it's starting to set up, put the saucer back in the freezer a couple of minutes (with pot still off the stove) and then pull it out - it should be firm, if not, put the pot back on the stove and turn the burner back on, give it a few more minutes at a boil and test it again.

I set my DW to come on in the wee hours and run it on "Sanitize", time it so the cycle is done about 30min after I plan on starting the jam so everything's hot when the jam is done. I also start the stockpot boiling when I start the jam. The first couple of lids I pull out of the DW basket after I fill the jars, and put them on, I start a teakettle boiling and put hot water in a Pyrex cup, put the other (2, I only make 4 jars at a time) lids in there while I fill the last 2 jars, this means that the first 2 jars get processed a couple of minutes longer than the last 2, but I process at a rolling boil for 8-10 minutes, then turn off the burner and let them set for another 5 min, usually the lids seal as I'm lifting them out or shortly after. Put them on a cake rack over a towel (to catch drips), and when they're cool enough to handle I carefully unscrew the rings so I can dry them off - otherwise I'm afraid they'll rust. Then I leave them alone for 12 hrs or so til I need the counterspace to make dinner, I put the rings back on and put them in the original box in the basement.

I've made 30 jars (28 half-pints and 2 pints) of jam in the past 2 weeks. The first batch came out thin (I forgot to test for gel), the 2nd too thick (I used a meat thermometer and I think I let it boil too long), the rest (20 half pints) has turned out just fine using the saucer method.

I *did* make 1 jar of "syrup" this AM for my niece who likes it to soak into the bread and doesn't like seeds, and 1 of the first pints I poured the liquid off through a sieve, reused the fruit today and used the syrup to make seedless jelly (boiled in the microwave, then processed with the jam) for my parents. I had to add some sugar to the jelly to make it a little sweeter, but didn't add any to the syrup so I hope the 4-yr old likes it. If not, I'll tell her mom to heat it in the MW and add sugar, she can make jelly (and just refrigerate it).

I don't know if it's just the difference b/t blackberries and raspberries, or maybe the lemon juice, or the pectin recipe, but my aunt's raspberry jam using pectin is much sweeter than my blackberry jam.

I did find low-sugar pectin today at Walmart and want to try making low-sugar jam for my DS - but that's another thread.

ljpother, I also have had success using about a 1:2 ratio of sugar to fruit and I like the flavor much better, it's more fruit and less sweet, if that makes sense.

However, I do waterbath process all my jams and spreads because I get a more consistent seal. After all that work and ingredients I don't want a jar to come unsealed and spoil.

Annie

Jams with commercial pectin require more sugar to set. That's because setting is a consequence of a balance of pectin+sugar+acid. Using commercial pectin improves the likelihood of a set, which is helpful for inexperienced preservers, but it also means the jam will be higher in sugar and less "fruity" in flavor.

There's nothing new in these methods. People have been preserving jams without commercial pectin and without a boiling water bath for hundreds of years. In the process they developed many strategies for creating preserves with all sorts of fruits, including "unreliable setters" with low levels of pectin and/or acid.

It used to be very common to apply the alcohol test to determine pectin levels (i.e. potential jell strength) or to use a jelmeter and test for viscosity. There's probably a good argument to be made that the average preserver knew a lot more about preserving in 1910 than they do now.

Berries will vary in their pectin levels depending upon variety, ripeness, growing conditions that season and also the region of the country. Some regions produce fruit with higher levels of pectin; it's a function of climate.

Carol

Andrea Chesman recommends adding a mild tasting apple in with low pectin fruits for lower sugar jams. I had a lot of luck making her strawberry jam that way and I have yet to make another good batch after 3 more years of trying other recipes. I wish I hadn't lost her book, she had a great blackberry jam recipe in there too, which used apple.

lpink, have you tried a Google search? There are a lot of recipes out there with apples, not sure if any of them are from that book.

So, how long will a 2:3 or 1:2 ratio of sugar to fruit keep if processed in a BWB?

ajsmama

I've had some keep three or four years with just the hot pack. I'm not a big volume producer.

OK, now I'm confused. I use a dry measure for the berries, and b/c they don't pack tight I make them heaping cups. But just to check, I rinsed, drained, and measured 4.5 C of ripe berries (all I had, didn't quite make the 5C), then put them in pot and mashed them, then scooped them into Pyrex (liquid) measuring cup. Just over 2 cups! So I'm guessing my 6C (I don't mash or macerate the less-ripe ones) will come out b/t 3 and 4C liquid measure "prepared". So when a berry jam recipe like on NCHP calls for 4C of berries and 4C of sugar, is that 4 liquid measure cups of mashed berries (which would be 2qt dry or more)? Or 4C (dry measure, same cup as used for sugar) of whole berries, which is about a quart and a pint?

I'm not sure my "low-sugar" recipe is low-sugar at all. Not that it has to be, just want to know how long it will keep (and to tell people I give it to the right thing). TIA

Most recipes stipulate "mashed" or "macerated", not fresh. The ones that don't stipulate it assume it as macerating the berries before using them to make jam is pretty much standard practice becasue you need the juice to be there..

EX: the Blackberry Jam recipe at NCHFP says "6 cups crushed blackberries (about 3 quart boxes berries)". The berry jam recipe says "9 cups crushed berries", etc.

In addition to the recipes, there is a lot of basic jam/jelly making info at NCHFP you might want to read through - General Info, Extacting, Trouble shooting, etc.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - How to make jams and jellies

Table 1 on the NCHFP link says 4C crushed fruit (guess I missed the "crushed" part), I've seen that table on other websites but didn't even stop to think if the measuring cup was different from the one used for the sugar?

Didn't know macerating was assumed, I just started doing it b/c I figured that would yield more juice and allow less cooking time than the recipes I read that said to crush the berries in the pot and start cooking them, *then* add warm sugar and finish cooking. That recipe might have used pectin though, so the sugar would have to be added later?

Still like to know what kind of measuring cup (liquid or dry) most recipes assume, so if my jam using 6C dry whole berries is full (lots?) of sugar or low-sugar and how long it should keep. We like the taste of this ratio so I don't really want to change it.

I did read the "remaking jam" section of the website last week when I was having trouble with setting, but the saucer method seems to work for me now.