My Secret Weapon for Making Jam with No White Sugar | Canning Tutorial

Published 2020-08-05
You DON'T Have to use CUPFULS of white sugar to make amazing from-scratch jams and jellies! Here's my little trick for the BEST homemade jam sweetened with honey. CLICK SHOW MORE FOR RECIPE

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Get Pomona's Pectin (it also works with fruit juice or no sweetener at all!) at Lehman's: bit.ly/ppectin
Or at Vitacost: www.anrdoezrs.net/links/8834312/type/dlg/https://w…
My favorite honey: beewildrawhoney.com/shop/?ref=theprairiehomestead

🍓 No-Sugar Jam Recipe 🍓

4 cups mashed fruit
1/4 cup bottled lemon juice
2 teaspoons calcium water*
2 teaspoons Pomonas Pectin powder
1 cup honey

*This ingredient is unique to Pomona’s pectin and is included in the box. Make the water by placing 1⁄2 teaspoon of the calcium powder into a jar with 1⁄2 cup water. Shake well. Will last in the refrigerator for many months.

Instructions:
1. Place the measured fruit into a large pot or saucepan with the lemon juice. Add the calcium water.
2. Place honey into separate bowl and stir in the pectin powder.
3. Bring the fruit to a full, rolling boil, then add the pectin/honey mixture. Stir well to dissolve the pectin completely. (This is also a good point to do a quick taste test to see if the jam is at a sweetness level you like).
4. Return mixture to a full, rolling boil and boil for one minute.
5. Check for gelling (see note below). If achieved, remove the pot
from the heat.

6. Ladle the hot jam into waiting hot jars, leaving 1⁄4-inch of headspace. Affix lids and rings and process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes plus 1 additional minute for every 1000 feet you are above sea level.
NOTES:
+ I added some fresh rhubarb to my jam in the video. Since it’s crunchier than the mashed strawberries, I cooked it down for an additional bit of time before adding the pectin/honey mixture to give the rhubarb time to soften.
+ A rolling boil means a boil that keeps bubbling away even when you are stirring it vigorously with a spoon.
+ If your jam isn’t gelling after the minute of boiling, it’s OK to boil slightly longer. However, keep in mind that over boiling the jam will also result in lack of gel, so try to keep the cook time minimal.
+ Resist the urge to double your jam batches. Increasing the quantity can affect how the pectin works and result in un-gelled batches. If you need to make a larger quantity of jam, simply make multiple batches in different pots.

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All Comments (21)
  • If your jam doesn't set up nicely, no worries, when your ready to eat it, add 2 tablespoons of chia seeds, stir really really well, let sit in the fridge overnight and you have some thickened jam :)
  • You don't need pectin either. I use honey and just cook down until it sets a bit when you put a bit on a plate. It makes less jam per batch, but the flavor is amazing!!! Occasionally, when I've had "help", jam won't set quite as much as I like, so we just use it for syrup. If you do it correctly, it will always set. Just honey and fruit.
  • @kp8174
    I’ve found that when I heat my lids they stay sealed longer than the ones I didn’t heat. I believe that the company started saying there is no need to heat the lids at around the same time they said that they stay sealed for “up to 18 months”. I’ve had lids, which I’ve boiled, stay sealed for years....not just 18 months.
  • @MermieOriginals
    I found a recipe that calls for saving up apple cores (you can freeze them until you get enough). You then boil them up in a bit if water until all the apple has softened. Then strain it and save in fridge or freezer and use that as the pectin! I tried it one year and it worked wonders. Just been a bit lazy this year, plus the geese love the apple cores, lol.
  • I used Pomona’s pectin this year! First time making jam because I am diabetic. I made cherry jam and cherry/blueberry/wild blackberry and raspberry. It came out wonderful! The instructions allowed me to make up my own recipes, in fact they seem to encourage it.
    I would recommend this to everyone!
  • @AngieRichmond
    That faucet over the stove is the coolest thing ever. Great video!
  • I always add a couple tablespoons white vinegar in the water bath canning pot..the jars are cleaner with no mineral deposits.
  • I grew up in Canada. I can remember my mom handing us a stalk if rubarb and a Dixie cup with some sugar. We would sit on the back step eating it raw dipped in sugar. My fav pie to this day is her apple and rhubarb pie with a slice of sharp Cheddar cheese (cheese is a nod to my dad). Thanks fir bringing mom and dad to mind.
  • @kmathis2352
    I've been using Pomona's pectin for several years. I love blackberry jam, but was so disgusted by the 1/2 sugar recipes for the standard pectins. I now either use a fraction of the sugar or monk fruit or some mix of alternate sweeteners. I recommend this stuff to everyone. The directions are a little confusing, but the jams firm up perfectly every time.
  • @hellion1654
    If anyone has trouble reading know that this wonderful creator has put captions on their video! If the music is too loud or voice too low for hard-hearing/ deaf person. Plz click on that little CC button on the bottom right corner. It will save you so much annoyance. I have trouble myself hearing people videos and super happy when they add captions. It makes my life so much easier. :)
  • @FieldFarmForest
    My grandmother always put her rhubarb leaves back around the rhubarb as a weed barrier. I do that too, I just lay them flat around the patch.
    ☮️-Kirsten
  • @RokiMowntinHi
    Hey, to get the honey+pectin out of the bowl easier: when mixing them (h&p) together you could have it sitting in another bowl that has warm water in it. You’re going to heat it anyway.
  • @lattelolly6925
    Just a note: One year I let our chickens dig around in our garden for the winter and early spring. The rhubarb came up and they were eating the leaves off. Knowing they are poisonous I freaked. But after doing some research found that it doesn't hurt chickens. So now I don't worry and they have been eating leaves for years and it never bothers them at all. Don't know about pigs though. We love rhubarb! Love your videos. Thanks.
  • @lrwright8400
    unripe fruit has naturally more pectin. So when you pick strawberries be sure to gather the green ones too. contantly stirring jam with my grandma was awesome; making jam with my grandpa, we ALWAYS forgot the pectin. Good on ice cream and waffles though!
  • @GearMaven
    Quick and easy jam for us has only fruit cooked down with NO sugar at all! We just add a few Tbsps chia seeds at the end. So easy and tastes natural and fresh!! Plus sugar-free for Wheat Belly or keto diets and against Covid-19!
  • @ravenbell3918
    I want to say thank you for the above sea level advice! I grew up canning with my mom, but that was in WA state, at sea level. Now that I live in CO, I never would have thought I needed to extend the time. Thank you for teaching me something new!
  • @glitterhounds
    The foam is the best tasting part with salrine crackers. I remember my grandmother sharing that with me to taste test the product. She was lucky to have to do food preparedness as a young woman and then the economy improved and in her elder years food was always available and reasonably priced....thank you for sharing you honey secret.
  • @cob2384
    I my Mother told me, when I was young, the reason the rings are taken off is because they hold water under them and rust
    I💖your videos, your truths, advice and tip tips
  • @debo4706
    What a beautiful house you have . Thank you for mentioning the rhubarb leaves, you would not believe how many people don’t know.