Raspberry Jam (with Pomona pectin)

This recipe is for delicious home-canned raspberry jam made with Pomona pectin. You can make this with sugar, or an alternative sweetener.

You can also make this with frozen raspberries if you have any in the freezer!

(For these particular photos, we had a glut of raspberries and so had the luxury of straining most of the seeds out. That of course is optional!)

The recipe

Jar size choices: 125 ml  (½ cup / 4 oz) OR quarter-litre (½ US pint / 250 ml / 8 oz)

Processing method: Water bath or steam canning

Yield: 4 x quarter-litre (½ US pint) jars

Headspace: 1 cm (¼ inch)

Processing time: 10 minutes

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Raspberry Jam (Low or no sugar)

Yield: 4 x quarter-litre (½ US pint / 8 oz) jars.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Jam, Raspberries

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 4 x quarter-litre (½ US pint / 8 oz) jars.

Calories 21kcal

Metric - US Customary

Ingredients

• 1 kg raspberries (2 ¼ lbs / 8 cups. Measured after prep with stems removed.)
• 2 teaspoons calcium water
• 2 teaspoons Pomona pectin
• 200 g Sugar (1 cup / 8 oz. See notes for alternatives)
• ½ teaspoon ascorbic acid powder (OPTIONAL: for anti-darkening)
• ½ teaspoon citric acid (OPTIONAL: for longer life after opening)

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

• Wash and stem raspberries.
• Mash the raspberries a layer at a time in something like a pie plate using something like a potato masher.
• OPTIONAL: Press through sieve or food mill to remove seeds, if desired (see discussion in Notes below.)
• Measure 1 litre / 4 cups of juice and put juice in large stainless steel pot.
• If using sugar or Splenda, put them in a bowl, add the pectin powder, and mix. If using a liquid sweetener such as honey or liquid stevia, ladle out about 4 tablespoons of juice and put in a small bowl. Add the pectin powder all at once, and stir it into juice. Whichever combination you made up, set it briefly aside.
• Add the calcium water to the pot.
• Bring the pot to a boil over high heat.
• Add the pectin mixture a little at a time, stirring constantly.
• OPTIONAL: Add ascorbic acid powder and citric acid powder, if using.
• Let boil vigorously for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Remove from heat.
• Ladle into 125 ml (4 oz) or quarter-litre (½ US pint / 8 oz) jars.
• Leave 1 cm (¼ inch) headspace.
• Debubble, adjust headspace.
• Wipe jar rims.
• Put lids on.
• Process in a water bath or steam canner.
• Process either size jars for 10 minutes; increase time as needed for your altitude.

Notes

Sweetener suggestions: 1 cup (200 g) sugar or 1 cup (25 g) granulated Splenda OR ½ cup up to 1 cup (125 to 250 ml) honey or 2 teaspoons liquid stevia. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1tablespoon | Calories: 21kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 24mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 5IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 1mg

Reference information

How to water bath process.

How to steam can.

When water-bath canning or steam canning, you must adjust the processing time for your altitude.

Information about Pomona pectin.

More information about Sugar and Salt-Free Canning in general.

What is the shelf life of home canned goods?

Recipe notes

• If using frozen raspberries, measure before thawing. Then thaw them either on the counter or in the microwave (zap from frozen for 4 to 5 minutes.) Don’t drain any juice off; mash that back into the berries.
• Mash the fruit by hand for best results. Using a machine will damage the natural pectin in the fruit.
• You don’t have to strain any seeds out at all if you don’t want to. Or, you could strain them out, then add a bit back in for “look.” Some people find some varieties of raspberries too seedy for their seed tolerance level — it will depend on your preferences and the variety of raspberry you have to work with. Obviously straining out seeds will reduce your volume yield somewhat. Straining the seed pomace a second time can yield more juice. If you strain and then end up with less than the full 1 litre / 4 cups of juice to work with, then either juice some more raspberries, or, don’t worry about it and just push on with the recipe still using the indicated amounts of other ingredients and processing time.
• Pomona pectin comes with a small pouch of powdered calcium for you to mix with water to make calcium water.
• The pectin powder will clump if you just mix it straight into the fruit; that’s why you mix it with something first.
• Low and no sugar jams can, compared to high sugar jams, darken faster during shelf storage, and spoil faster after opening even in the fridge. The ascorbic acid suggestion comes from Colorado State Extension. “An ascorbic acid/water solution serves as a desirable anti-darkening treatment, adds nutritive value in the form of vitamin C, and does not change the flavor of the fruit as lemon juice may do.  Kendall, P. Food Preservation Without Sugar or Salt. Colorado State Extension. Fact Sheet no. 9.302. October 2012. Accessed March 2015”. Citric acid is commonly used by commercial producers to help extend shelf life. In this instance, it slightly increases the acidity of the jam, making it a bit more resistant to mould colonization once the jar is opened. Both of course are natural additives.

Source

Pomona. Seedless Raspberry-Honey-Vanilla Jam. Accessed June 2020 at http://www.pomonapectin.com/recipes/seedless-raspberry-honey-vanilla-jam/

Modifications: omitted vanilla bean pod, added straining option, added ascorbic acid and citric acid options

Nutrition

Using 1 cup / 200 g sugar as the sweetener.

Per 1 tablespoon: 21 calories

Using Splenda granulated instead of sugar, per tablespoon: 10 calories, 2 g carbohydrates