Jul 24 2022 8 mins 3
Plum Jam and Spicy Plum Sauce.
I went by the recipe found in the Sure-jell brand of low or no sugar pectin. The difference in the makeup is the classic pectin requires a higher amount of sugar in order to set as the low/no sugar pectin will set without any added sugar due to the addition of dextrose in the product. So the pectins can’t be interchanged.
What I used for equipment for the jam was a food processor, cutting board, measure cups, wooden spoon, paring knife, canning funnel, jar lifter, dish towel, dutch oven pot, a strainer, small pot. I also wore my canning apron, because canning and I together are messy. The small pot is because even though companies no longer say to boil the lids prior to using, I do wash and rinse new ones, and I set them in a pot of hot water.
The ingredients: 3 1/2 pounds of plums, 4.5 cups of white sugar, a 1/2 teaspoon of butter and one 1.75 ounce box of low or no sugar dry pectin. I washed the plums, then I cut them around the pit. I didn’t do any fancy cuts, I just did the fastest and easiest way for me. I cooked the plums down slightly in 1/2 cup of water, then I put them in the food processor to chop up finely. It was pretty juicy so I put them in a strainer over a clean pot as I went along. The recipe called for 6 1/2 cups of cooked plums so I measured them out. I added 1/4 cup of the measured out sugar to the one package of pectin, stirred it together then added to the plums in the dutch oven pot. I have my late mom’s pot in which she cooked everything, so it makes me happy to use it. I brought that to a rolling boil, keeping it stirred to avoid sticking to the pot. I added the rest of the sugar, brought back to a rolling boil, let it go for one minute. After removing from heat, I skimmed off the foam, which the added butter was supposed to reduce. I always save the foam to eat.
I had the jars already heated as I always do any hot food into hot jars into hot water to avoid shocking the jars. I used the funnel and a measure cup to fill each jar to 1/4 inch head space, wiped down the rims with a lint free cloth that I kept rinsing off with hot water, finger tightened the lids, and put into the canner. For my elevation above sea level, I water bathed each batch for 15 minutes.
I derived my spicy plum sauce from this website: An Oregon Cottage
The ingredients I used were, but you can find the original on the link provided, which the author indicates she adapted from a Ball canning recipe.
•7 cups chopped plums and juice
1 cup diced onions
- 1½ cups brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 tablespoon dry mustard
- 2 tablespoons dry ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar with cranberry and honey, just because that’s the kind I had on hand
I let all the ingredients simmer until very hot. I was able to fill 4 pint jars which had been heated up, and I did these the same way of using the funnel, used the debubbler, wiped the rims, finger tightened the rings, and I water bathed them for 20 minutes.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sure-Jell-Original-Premium-Fruit-Pectin-1-75-oz-Box/10292609
