Easy Old Fashioned Blackberry Jam

This easy old fashioned blackberry jam recipe is an easy and simple recipe. It has two ingredients: berries and sugar, it doesn’t get easier than that! This recipe fills three pint sized ball jars.

Reasons To Can Blackberries 

Blackberry jam is an easy starter canning recipe, it’s very diverse. You can use it for freshly baked bread, in your yogurt, or as a gift for a loved one.  Imagine that it’s been snowing all day and you’ve been out playing in the snow. It’s time to come in and eat dinner, you pull out fresh bread from the oven and have a hankering for something sweet. You go to your cabinet and pull out a beautifully colored jar of homemade blackberry jam. Sitting around a table with family drinking hot chocolate, eating old fashioned blackberry jam on freshly baked bread all while laughing and talking about the memories you made that day. Doesn’t that sound amazing?

Fresh or Frozen? 

Now that I have you craving a cozy day with family over homemade blackberry jam let’s get to the directions. For this recipe you can use either fresh blackberries or frozen. I prefer fresh because you just can’t beat that taste of fresh blackberry jam. Since we have blackberry vines here at The McGuire Homestead we used nine cups of fresh blackberries. You can also use this recipe with other berries you have on hand as well. 

Natural Pectin 

This recipe relies on the berries natural pectin and the ability of the sugar to form a gel when heated to 220 degrees Fahrenheit. Now this Jam recipe takes patience and time BUT it is totally worth it. I love making this jam, maybe I’m weird but I like being able to slowly stir and watch fresh blackberries turn into yummy scrumptious spreadable jam. Not to mention the smell of berries taking over your house! 

Recipe 

To make this easy old fashioned blackberry jam, you need 9 cups of crushed blackberries. That should be around 5 pounds of blackberries. If you use fresh blackberries you can start right away by crushing the berries with a potato masher Or a spoon works just fine. If you’re using frozen blackberries you’ll want them to unthaw a little before you start smashing. Then transfer them to a measuring cup until you’ve reached 9 cups. 

Once you have the sufficient amount of berries transfer them to a large non reactive bowl. Use a large bowl with a wide surface area. Which allows the water to cook off quicker and the jam will reduce quicker. Which will allow the sugars to concentrate and start elevating the temperature towards the set point. Also put your canning pot filled with water,and turn on the heat so once you’re done cooking your berries that water will be ready to sanitize and can! 

Next add 6 cups of sugar and stir it all together. Place your pot on the stove and bring to a boil. You’ll want to stay near the stove and continue to stir often. Once it reaches a boil continue to cook it and stir regularly to ensure it doesn’t stick and burn. A few signs to look for when the bubbles start to change , it will start coating the walls of your pot, and the fruit will begin splattering on your stove top. Plus you’ll notice a difference in the total volume. 

Spoon Method

Another tried and true sign is the spoon method. This method is where you take a cold spoon, dip it in the pot and watch how the droplets fall off the spoon. My Mother In Law taught me this trick. Now what you want to do is watch the droplets fall off the spoon, if the droplets begin to form thick bases and move slowly as they drop, it’s a good sign you’re reaching the gelling point. Last but not least is to use a candy thermometer once it reaches 220 degrees it should have reached the gelling point. 

While you’re letting your jam cook down you can prepare your jars.  You’ll want to add your jars, lids , rings to the hot water in your canner in order to sanitize them. Leave them in there for a few minutes while you prepare your working space to pour your jam into the jars. Now you’ll want to use your tools to get out the jars from the canner and place them on a towel on your countertop. Use your wide mouth canning funnel and a ladle to pour the jam into the jars. You’ll want to leave a ¼ inch headspace. Make sure to wipe the jars with a cloth so there’s no jam on the lid. Secure the lid in place with a ring , but don’t over tighten it. 

Then place the jar in the canner and repeat till you’ve got all your jars filled. Make sure the jars are covered with 1 inch of water. Process the jars for 15 minutes. Remove the jars from the canner onto a towel on the counter top and let them sit for 24 hours. Once the 24 hours is up, test the jars by taking off the ring and holding them by the lid and see if it holds up. 

We hope you enjoy this perfectly scrumptious and easy old fashioned blackberry jam.