Christmas Jam Canning Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Do you need to add lemon juice when canning jelly? ›

There's another reason why lemon juice is added to most jam recipes: for safe canning and to prevent the growth of bacteria. Bringing the pH level down means jars can be sealed in a regular boiling water bath in a reasonable amount of time (sometimes as little as 10 minutes).

The Magic of Macerating

One of my favorite tricks for jam-making is macerating the fruit first. Macerating is the process of coating the fruit in sugar and letting it rest for a few hours or overnight, which pulls some of the juice out of the fruit and creates a syrup with the sugar.

If there isn't enough pectin in the fruit itself and you don't add extra pectin, the result is runny jelly or jam. Additionally, if the fruit is overripe, its pectin levels are lower.

Less sugar may allow for greater bacterial growth. As a result, process times may be longer for these low-sugar or no-sugar jams and jellies. Some pectin products include preservatives to reduce bacterial growth, as well as to preserve color.

If your recipe called for lemon juice and you forgot to put it in, your mixture will not be acid enough for safe canning. You have to open the jars and put the mixture into a sauce pan. (If you made the jam or jelly recently and you carefully remove the lids without damaging them, you can re-use the same lids.)

Adding acid in the form of fresh lemon or lime juice is important for two reasons: First, it makes for a more well-balanced jam, returning some of the acidity lost with the addition of sugar. Second, pectin needs acid to properly activate, or firm up.

You will need approximately half the amount of pectin that is indicated by your recipe. Please be careful when adding pectin as too much will leave you with a set that is too solid and it is not possible to rectify this so always add less than you think is necessary and test the set and then add more if required.

If the jam runs right off the spoon and looks thin and runny, it's not done yet. However, if it forms thick droplets that hang heavily off the bowl of the utensil, but don't immediately fall off, it is either nearing completion or is done.

When it comes to canning jam, some people think that sugar must be added in order to preserve the fruit, to achieve a proper gel, or to retain the fruit's color. However, these are all myths. Many fruits can be safely canned without sweeteners at all, although I do prefer to sweeten my jams with local honey.

Why is there so much sugar in homemade jam? ›

In addition to sweetening and helping with gel formation in regular jams, jellies and preserves, sugar plays a very important role in preventing spoilage. The large amount of sugar present reduc- es the “available” moisture for microbial growth.

Splenda is the only sugar substitute in the marketplace that can be added to liquids before canning because it is heat stable. When canning without sugar select fully ripe but firm fruit. Fruit canned in water tends to be softer in texture and the colors aren't as bright.

Substituting vinegar for lemon juice in homemade jam recipes is an easy way to avoid the hassle of dealing with the tartness of lemons, as well as the risk of getting a mouthful of lemon seeds.

Almost all fruit contains some acid, but the natural amount of acid can differ between fruit types, and even from batch to batch of the same type of fruit. To ensure that my jam has a proper acid level to gel properly and limit bacteria growth, I always add lemon juice to a jam mixture.

Lime juice

Lime juice is the best substitute for lemon juice, as it can be used as a one-to-one replacement and has a very similar taste and acidity level ( 5 ). In fact, when canning or preserving food, it's the ideal substitute for lemon juice because it has a similar pH level.

Adding the recommended amount of bottled lemon juice or citric acid lowers the pH of all tested varieties enough to allow for the safe process of water bath canning.