Blackberry Jam Recipe With Pectin
Easy homemade blackberry jam with just 3 ingredients; fresh blackberries, sugar, and pectin. This beginner-friendly recipe yields 8-9 half-pint jars of perfectly set, sweet-tart jam in under an hour, with simple water bath canning for 12 months of shelf life. No special equipment needed beyond basic canning supplies.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds blackberries approximately 10 cups
- 1 package powdered pectin 57g
- ½ teaspoon unsalted butter optional
- 7 cups granulated sugar
Instructions
Prepare Canning Jars:
- This recipe makes 9 half pint (250 ml) jars and does not require sterilization due to the processing time. Prepare your jars, flats, and rings by washing in hot soapy water and rinsing well before setting aside on a clean kitchen towel until you’re ready to use them.
- Fill a water bath canner, and set to boil over medium high heat.
Prepare The Berries:
- Gather 3 lbs of blackberries. If using frozen berries, thaw them before beginning.
- Place fresh or thawed berries in a single layer in a large bowl. Mash well with a potato masher. Repeat adding layers and mashing until all berries are crushed.
- Measure berries and their juice, ensuring you have 5 cups of crushed berries.
Make The Jam:
- Place 5 cups of prepared blackberries in a large, heavy bottomed sauce pan. Stir in one 57g package of powdered pectin, and 1/2 teaspoon of butter, optional – but can help reduce foaming.
- Bring the berry mixture to a full rolling boil over medium high heat, then stir in 7 cups of granulated sugar.
- Stir the jam mixture constantly while it comes back to a full rolling boil – this is a boil you cannot stir down. Boil for 1 minute.
- Remove the sauce pan from heat, scoop off any foam if necessary.
Process The Jam:
- Ladle hot jam into prepared canning jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe jar rims, center a new snap lid on each jar, and tighten bands finger tight.
- Transfer filled jars to the prepared boiling water canner using a jar lifter, ensure the jars are covered by 1-2 inches of water, cover the canner and return to a full boil.
- Once the water bath returns to a boil, begin to process for 10 minutes (at 0- 6,000 feet above sea level, see section above for canning at other altitudes).
- When processing is complete, turn off the heat, remove the lid from the water bath canner, and rest for 5 minutes before removing the hot jars and transferring them to a heat-proof surface to cool untouched for 24 hours.
- After 24 hours, remove the screw bands, wipe down the jars, label, and place them in long-term storage location.
Notes
- I always prepare an extra quarter pint jar when I’m making jelly. Just in case I have a smidge less than I expected I have a jar that’s ready to go when I can’t fill a half pint jar.
- We can eliminate the jar sterilization step in this recipe by ensuring the jam jars are in the water bath canner for at least 10 minutes, so that's my timings look a little different than other recipes.
- Finger-tight is such a vague term, here’s how I tighten my jars: screw the bands on until the jar starts to turn on the counter, then back off about a 1/8th of a turn.
- If you're using frozen berries like me, allow them to thaw at room temperature before crushing, it's much easier than smashing frozen berries! Make sure you mash the berries well - this is the key to smooth jams.
- Blackberry juice stains! So don't wear white, or use a wooden spoon that may never recover from the dye!
