I know there are all sorts of freezer and low sugar recipes out there for raspberry jam, but this one {and all it’s sugar} is still my favorite. For the most part, we don’t consume a lot of sugar. But when it comes to raspberry jam, I like mine sweet, and in my opinion, this recipe is da’ bomb.
If you live in the Pacific Northwest, then you’ve probably been to the Puyallup Fair and had a Fisher Scone slathered with raspberry jam. Be still my heart. Scones + raspberry jam will always = love.
This recipe comes from Kraft, and I’ve been using it for years.
6 cups raspberries, crushed
1 box of pectin
1/4 tsp. butter {I used unsalted}
8 1/2 cups sugar
Directions
Bring a boiling-water canner, 3/4 full with water, to simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.
Crush raspberries, and measure 6 cups prepared fruit into 6- or 8-qt. sauce pot.
Stir pectin into prepared fruit in sauce pot. Add butter to reduce foaming. Bring mixture to full rolling boil {a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred} on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 4 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.
Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. {Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.} Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 10 min. Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middles of lids with finger. If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.} Recipe Credit
Looking for more canning recipes? The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook
If you are looking for a canner, I used the Granite Ware 11-1/2 Quart Covered Preserving Canner with Rack
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Celia says
I just started using Pomona’s Pectin for my jam. It is made from citrus and takes much less sugar. I have used it to make peach, blueberry, and blackberry jam, as well as hot pepper jelly. I used 12 cups of peaches and 2.5 cups of sugar. Every kind of jam/jelly is wonderful! Check your local organic grocer,co-op or farm stand, or google it. They sell it in bulk too. I am never going back to my old pectin. (Pomona has never heard of me, and this is an unbiased review.)
Colleen says
Hi! I just found your blog today. Since you mentioned the Puyallup Faire, you must be pretty close to me; I’m in DuPont! 🙂
I had a question about the recipe… I’ve always been taught to avoid the 3 B’s when canning: Butter, Bananas, and Bacon. So I’ve never canned with butter, but am curious… Have you ever had a jar go bad?
Mavis says
Hi Colleen, I’ve never had a problem. 🙂
LisaB says
Holy crab pots that’s a lot of sugar! I only use 5 1/2 cups myself. No butter because I don’t mind the foam.
Neat trick: if you want to be lazy, er, more efficient, pop your clean jars in the oven on a cookie sheet, turn the oven to bake on the lowest temp so the jars get nice and hot, cook your jam and take out the jars one by one to fill, slap on a lid, tighten on a ring, and then place the jar on a towel on your counter/table. They’ll seal perfectly.
Wynne says
We did this when I was a kid (inverting the full jars for 5 min) and always had great seals. But Ball now says (on behalf of the USDA?) that this isn’t good enough to kill bacteria in the jar, and boiling water baths are needed. A bummer but not impossible to do.
I vote for a 1/4″ headspace. I always used to use that until I read 1/8″ in the pectin instructions. At 1/8″ half my jars overflowed during processing.
Gwen says
YEAH!! I have been waiting for this post :). Thank you so much for all the great recipe posts you put up. They are super helpful and oh so yummy 🙂
Robin Welch says
If you search Amazon and find a used copy of the Blue Chair Jam Cookbook you will not be sorry (I’m too frugal to buy any new books usually, frugal = cheap!). My family is still raving over a couple of the recipes I tried last year (esp. plum jam,yum). I’m doing inventory on my freezers and found lots of raspberries (we’ve enjoyed a great season) so this recipe is in my future, thanks for sharing.
Elizabeth F says
I have never used the butter either. Foam doesn’t seem to be a problem.
My daughter had 40 pounds of blueberries and called for help last weekend. She had never canned blueberry jam before so when I arrived she had grabbed some of each kind of pectin (we had 4 different kinds) . So we had to follow 4 different recipes. One of them was the “low sugar-no sugar” kind. She didn’t realize it called for juice (and I had never used it myself) so had to run out to get apple juice before starting that batch.
The rest of the berries were washed,dried and frozen, then put in freezer bags. We made a double batch of blueberry muffins too. I left her trying to make a batch of blueberry syrup. If you have access to fresh local blueberries you are very lucky. We go in with a group that orders from Michigan and when the truck arrives …it is blueberry time. I freeze all of mine in quart bags.
Mavis says
40 pounds? Wowza! 🙂
Becca C. says
This may sounds silly, but can you can without sugar? I’m allergic to cane sugar and I’m trying to find an alternative for canning. Thoughts?
Ree says
Great question, Becca…I would love to know the answer to that since I have to reduce my sugar intake. Also, Mavis, is it possible to use less sugar in this recipe or will it throw it off? Thanks so much! (I found your site today and I am loving it! 🙂 )
Stephanie M. says
I would try Coconut Palm Sugar instead as I am gluten-free this is what I have replaced white sugar with. There are other versions of sugars in the gluten-free sections of the grocery stores.
Katie C. says
I was invited to a neighbor’s to pick their excess raspberries and I had an allergic reaction with neat-o hives included.
I just made this jam with said berries and the taste test off of the spoon was sublime! Worth every hive! I can’t wait to pop a jar open. I made bread this evening, so I’m thinking that toast and jam are on the breakfast menu.
Thank you for taking the time to post recipes daily. I’ve used so many of them and they never turn out poorly or even mediocre. They’re all good or great!
nicole jochim says
^^ Hahahaha!! You made me laugh! I do this with kiwi’s. Just a little, but I can’t help myself….even with a few hives!
Robyn says
recipe worked great, it’s seriously delicious and really wasn’t hard, but a tip for inexperienced jam makers like myself… When the raspberries start boiling at both stages, there is a lot of really HOT splatter, kinda all over. So I recommend wearing an oven glove on your stirring hand and an apron (even old clothes, I got splatter on my neck!). But all in all worth it, I’m feeling pretty pumped about my jam!! 🙂
Mavis says
So glad you liked it. Maybe we should invent a canning turtleneck to protect from those splatters! Ha.
Paige Talley says
OMG! I just made raspberry jam tonight for the fist time and the splatter got me twice! My finger is still in pain so great advice to use a mitt! Cotton or silicone works great!
Carla B. says
I just love this site and Mavis, you make canning very easy. I just started canning last fall and this site helped so much! I am going to try my hand at strawberry jam soon and while I am nervous about it, I am looking forward to the experience. Thanks for all the information on your blog!
Mavis Butterfield says
You can do it!!