Plum Jam
Plum Jam is a low-sugar cooked jam made with Pomona’s Universal Pectin. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener.
Notes
If using citric acid, 1/4 tsp powdered citric acid is equivalent to 1Tbsp of lemon juice. So 1 teaspoon of powdered citric acid is equivalent to 1/4 cup of lemon juice.
Servings 5 cups
Ingredients
- 4 cups mashed plums about 2 1/2 pounds
- 4 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- ¼ cup lemon juice bottled or citric acid (see note)
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin mixed with sweetener
Instructions
- Before you begin, prepare calcium water.To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well.Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
- Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Wash lids and bands and set aside.
- Wash, pit and chop fruit. Puree in a food processor so that the skins are chopped up well. **To soften firm fruit, bring to a boil with 1/2 cup water, simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Measure 4 cups pureed fruit into sauce pan.
- Bring fruit to a boil, turn down the heat, cover, and simmer about 30 minutes or less, stirring occasionally, until bits of plum skin are no longer visible and the mixture has even color. Remove from heat.
- Add calcium water and lemon juice or citric acid, and mix well.
- Measure sugar into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sugar. Set aside.
- Bring fruit mixture to a full boil. Add pectin-sugar mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the jam comes back up to a boil. Once the jam returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
- Remove hot jars from canner and fill jars with (marmalade/jam/jelly), leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Remove trapped air bubbles, wipe rims and put on lids and screw bands, tightening bands only to “fingertip tight” (until resistance is met, and then just the tiniest bit more). Place jars in the hot water, on the rack inside the canner. (Make sure jars are upright, not touching each other or the sides of the canner, and are covered with at least 1-2 inches of water). Place the lid on the canner, bring the canner to a rolling boil, and boil for 10 minutes. (Add 1 minute additional processing time for every 1000 feet above sea level.)
- Turn off heat and allow canner and jars to sit for 5 minutes. Then, remove jars from canner. Allow jars to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Then, confirm that jars have sealed, then store properly. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.
Hi! I know the lemon juice is essential for maintaining a safe acid level in the jam, but a couple of the recipes like this one that use it have mostly just ended up tasting like lemon juice. They are very tangy and I lose most of the fruit flavor. Is there any alternative or way to avoid this without compromising the safety of the jam and its shelf life?
Thanks!
Citric Acid can be substituted – it will adjust the acidity (lower the pH) of the fruit, which is what you want to do. ¼ teaspoon powdered Citric Acid is equivalent to 1 Tablespoon lemon juice. 1 teaspoon powdered Citric Acid is equivalent to ¼ cup lemon juice (4 Tablespoons). Citric Acid lowers pH and imparts tartness to the fruit mixture, but it doesn’t add a particular flavor.
Shelby,
Can you double the recipe? Will it affect the consistency of the jam? I recall that with regular pectin, they recommend that you do not double the recipe.
Thanks so much!!
Diane Spransy
You sure can! Be sure to double all the ingredients. Happy jamming!
In the instructions it mentions using citric acid, in lieu of the bottled lemon juice, but does not give the amount of citric acid. Is it a 1:1 swap? How much citric acid should I use in place of lemon juice? Thanks.
Thank you Rebecca, we have updated the recipe now. Happy jamming!
Could you use a few drops of liquid Stevia instead of the sugar? Thanks in advance!
Our directions for using Stevia drops can be found HERE on our direction sheet.
What is the calcium used for? What ever happened to the old directions on freezer jam.
At least with MCP, we used to put pectin in the jam, put on stove at low heat. Then it needed to be stirred every 5 min, for 30 min. I made some freezer jam, with MCP pectin this week, and it didn’t set up very well.
The calcium bonds with the pectin to create a gel. Our freezer jam directions can be found HERE.
Could I use a food mill after I’ve heated the fruit mixture in order to get rid of some of the skins and mash the fruit instead of using a food processor? At what point would I use the food mill? Thank you!
You sure can Leia! Either before or after cooking would work, just be careful if you are working with hot fruit. Be sure to measure your plums after you are done milling them. You may need to add 1/4 teaspoon additional pectin since you will be removing a good bit of the skins.
Oh Pluot Jam is wonderful! You are going to love it Scot! Yes, we would recommend using out plum jam recipe for your pluots. Our Special Plum Jam, HERE is also divine with pluots!
Hi! Could this be made with damson plums? Do they even need pectin to set?
Thank you for this recipe as it makes a delicious jam. I’d like to use make something similar, but much less jelled so that it is a sauce that can be poured over waffles, pancakes, poundcake, ice cream, etc. If I drastically reduce the amount of calcium water and pectin the the sauce still safely can for long-term shelf storage?
You are most welcome! Yes, you can fix up some delicious sauce or syrup by following our direction from our website, enjoy!
Is it possible to make this, and the grape butter with NO sugar, rather than just low sugar?
You sure can.
*We don’t recommend making jam or jelly with absolutely no sweetener. The final product is likely to be tart and bland. Sweetener, even in a small amount, brings out the flavor of the fruit.
If you want to try it, however, this is what you do: For 4 cups of mashed fruit or juice, use either ½ cup water or unsweetened fruit juice (if you’re using 2 or 3 teaspoons of pectin) or ¾ cup water or unsweetened fruit juice (if you’re using 4 teaspoons of pectin).
Make liquid pectin by measuring the correct amount of water or juice into a small sauce pan and bringing it to a boil. Put boiling liquid in cup for immersion blender, or in food processor, or in blender. Add pectin. It is very important to vent the lid (if there is one) to let steam out. Don’t use an enclosed blender that can’t be vented. Blend for 10 seconds, then stop and scrape down the sides so all pectin clumps are in or on the liquid. Blend for a full minute until all powder is totally dissolved.
Add the liquid pectin to the boiling fruit or juice mixture, which should already contain the calcium water and lemon juice (or lime juice or vinegar) if called for in the recipe. Stir while mixture returns to a full boil. If you taste your jam before jarring and it isn’t sweet enough, you can add however much sweetener you want at this point. Stir well and return mixture to a boil, remove from heat, jar and process according to the recipe sheet that comes with Pomona’s Pectin.
These instructions are also on the recipe sheet that comes with your box of Pomona’s Pectin.
I don’t have time to do this all today and have a huge pile of ripe plums (the tree is just dumping them!). Can I do the wash, pit & chopping of the fruit today and finish the rest tomorrow? Should I boil and add the calcium water with the lemon juice today before refrigerating overnight?
Hello Jeanne,
Yes, you. can certainly prepare your fruit and store it in the fridge until tomorrow when you are able to make your jam. You will add the rest of the ingredients to your plums when you make the jam.
We are using Satsuma plums, which are sweeter than some other varieties. Should we add more lemon juice? If so, how much more? And since we squeezed our own lemons, how much should we increase the lemon juice since it isn’t bottled (although we know they are regular lemons, not Meyer lemons)?
Hello Denise,
Thanks so much for reaching out! We would recommend increasing the lemon juice by 2tbsp to 1/4 cup since you are using fresh lemons. We believe that you will not need to add additional lemon juice for your Satsuma Plums.
Sometimes after adding the pectin/sugar mixture to the fruit that has boiled, I get little hard white lumps in the jam. No matter how hard I stir the lumps remain. I have used an immersion blender as well as strained the jam. Help!
Hello Janis,
We would recommend adding the pectin/sweetener more gradually, be sure to stir it and allow it to dissolve between each addition.
Happy jamming!
Have you had any luck using Lakanto Monkfruit sweetener.
Very interesting! Would you mind sharing what recipe you followed?
We have made a lot of jams and jellies with Monkfruit and have never had it not jell.
Would it be beneficial to add monkfruit sweetener to your website’s FAQ section…. Unless I’m not seeing it.. this is awesome another one to use.
We do not have a ton of information about jamming with monk fruit, xylitol or a number of other alternative sweeteners that are new-er to the market.
Can this recipe be used for Beach Plums? Or a mix of the Beach Plums, Apple and Ginger? Would any changes be needed to the amount of Lemon Juice?
Thanks,!
Hello Mary,
Great question! If you just stick with the Beach Plums, the lemon juice is not needed, and you are welcome to add 1 teaspoon ground ginger or 1 table spoon fresh grated.
If you decide to add the apples, the lemon juice is needed.
Happy jamming!
We do not have a ton of information about jamming with monk fruit, xylitol or a number of other alternative sweeteners that are new-er to the market.
I have noticed that you call for bottled lemon juice. Can I use fresh instead?
We call for bottled lemon juice because it has a known pH. If you wish to use fresh lemon juice, you may wish to add a little extra just to be safe since you are working with an unknown pH.
What alternative sugar like Splenda etc would you use?
Hello Becky,
Thanks so much for choosing Pomona’s Pectin! It really depends on your preference. We have used Stevia as an alternative sweetener most often.
Happy jamming!
What is the function of the calcium water? Can it be deleted with no side effect?
Hello Deanna,
The calcium water is what tells the pectin to “jell”. It is an essential piece of jamming with Pomona’s Pectin.
Can you use honey instead of regular sugar?
Absolutely! You can use 1/4-1/2 cup of honey. Happy jamming 😊
is that amount instead of regular honey or you can replace that amount with honey making it to total the 1 cup?
Hello Emma,
If you are wanting to use honey instead of sugar in this recipe, we would recommend using between 1/4-1/2 cup. If you would like to add more, you can do so once the initial honey/pectin mixture is mixed in and dissolved.
Happy jamming!
I noticed that all of your recipes call for the fruit to be mashed. We like chunks of fruit in our jam. When we make jam with Ball pectin, we chop fruit like peaches or plums,, then measure. it. Next we start cooking the fruit with the pectin until it comes to a boil, then add the sugar and cook until it return to a full boil. The end product has some chunks of soft fruit – it does not look like applesauce. How would we go about making the jam using Pomona Pectin without mashing the fruit.
Hello Kay,
We would not recommend replacing all the mashed fruit with chopped fruit because the pectin tends to cling to the chunks of fruit, resulting in kind of a mess. You can reserve some of the 4 cups of mashed fruit and replace it with chopped fruit, it will just need to be added at the end once the pectin/sugar has been dissolved.
If you decide to go this route, we would also recommend that you only add 1 cup of sugar with the pectin into the jam. You can then add additional sugar when you add the chopped fruit.
Happy jamming!