As I sit here today, winter is beating at our back door.
And I’m here all like, “What. Just. Happened.”
Like, for real. Spring didn’t even arrive until our last frost mid-June. Then came the worst biting insect season I’ve ever experienced. So bad that much of the time we could hardly stand to be out of doors and our only source of entertainment was watching the sheep speed graze and then make a mad dash back to their shed to get relief from the onslaught.
It wasn’t until the second week of August that the bugs subsided enough for us to finally enjoy being outside. But it was already turning cold.
This is northeastern Minnesota. Land of 10,000 varieties of blood-sucking insects and 9 months of winter.
But you know what we also have? Berries. Lots and lots and lots of wild berries.
Raspberries, blueberries, June berries, strawberries, blackberries. They’re all out there for the taking. And often in hoards.
That alone is enough to make all this cold weather and West Nile virus worth it.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve allowed all of the wild raspberries that grow around the outside perimeter of my fenced in gardens to grow. This means they grow up and over the fence, where I can easily pick them from inside my garden without having to wade through scratchy raspberry bushes and dodge ground bees.
And oh, what a rewarding year this has been. I’ve never seen raspberries quite so abundant. Every day, I went out and leisurely wandered my garden paths and picked about half a gallon of wild raspberries. Every day. That’s a lot of reward for living where the air hurts your face.
Naturally, it most often gets turned into wild raspberry jam, which is amazing. Through my years of jam making, I’ve found myself becoming more conscientious of the amount of sugar that jam requires, and I’ve tried out a couple different options which I’d like to share with you today.
I’m far more concerned about sugar content than I am about added pectin in a jam recipe. If you do a search for “no pectin raspberry jam”, you will often find recipes that require equal parts berries and sugar. The sugar helps aid in the setting/thickening process of jam. I would much rather lean on pectin than sugar to thicken my jam, while still being able to make a quick-cook jam (aka one that doesn’t take a lot of time and pot-watching).
Instead, I have tried out two different low sugar pectins: Sure-Jell “Low or No Sugar” pectin (the pink box) and Pomona’s pectin. Although both yielded beautiful results, I do think that Pomona’s is a little more cost effective. Also, which one you choose may depend on the type of sweetener you wish to use (granulated sugar, honey, maple syrup, etc), in which case Pomona’s pectin is a better fit for liquid sugars.
So let’s get to the recipes. This particular raspberry jam features the addition of vanilla beans which I most definitely highly recommend, but if you’re just wanting straight-up raspberry jam, simply omit the beans.
Post contains affiliate links.
Raspberry Vanilla Bean Jam (Sure-Jell Low/No Sugar Pectin)
Ingredients:
- 10 cups raspberries
- 4 cups organic cane sugar, measured out & set aside
- 3 vanilla beans
- 1 box Sure-Jell Low/No Sugar Pectin (pink box)
- Boiling water canner, sterilized canning jars (8 half-pints or 4 pints), prepared lids & bands
Directions:
- Crush the berries with a potato masher. Add the crushed berries to a large, heavy bottomed stock pot.
- Dump the package of pectin into a small bowl. Draw out 1/4 cup sugar from your pre-measured 4 cups of sugar and stir in in with your pectin. Add this mixture to your crushed berries and stir to combine. (You can optionally add 1 teaspoon of butter here to help reduce foaming later on).
- Slice your vanilla beans open from top to bottom and scrape out the seeds; add this to your berry mixture and then throw in the empty pods as well.
- Bring this entire mixture to a boil; remove the vanilla bean pods.
- Quickly stir in the remaining sugar and bring to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute and remove from heat. Skim foam from the top.
- Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace. Place prepared lids & bands; once all jars are filled, put them into your boiling water canner. Lower the rack into the boiling water, cover with lid, and process for 10 minutes.
- Remove from your canner to cool for 24 hours. Be sure all lids have properly sealed, then remove bands and store in a cool, dry, dark location.
Raspberry Vanilla Bean Jam (Pomona’s Pectin)
Ingredients:
- 8 cups raspberries
- 1/2 cup to 1 cup honey -OR- 3/4 cup to 2 cups organic cane sugar sugar (pre-measured and set aside)
- 2 vanilla beans
- 2 teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin
- 2 teaspoons calcium water (included with your Pomona’s Pectin)
- Boiling water canner, sterilized canning jars (4-5 half pints), prepared lids & bands
Directions:
- Prepare your calcium water: measure out 1/2 teaspoon calcium powder (included with your Pomona’s Pectin box) and 1/2 cup water into a small jar with a lid. Shake vigorously to mix well. Any leftover calcium water can be stored in your refrigerator for many months.
- Measure out 4 cups of mashed raspberries into a heavy bottomed stock pot. Stir in the 2 teaspoons of calcium water.
- Slice your vanilla beans open from top to bottom and scrape out the seeds; add this to your berry mixture and then throw in the empty pods as well.
- Add the 2 teaspoons of Pomona’s Pectin into whatever sweetener you have set aside and thoroughly combine.
- Bring the crushed raspberries/vanilla bean mixture to a full boil. Quickly remove the vanilla bean pods. Add in the sweetener/pectin mixture and vigorously stir for 1-2 minutes, dissolving the pectin & sugar while the mixture returns to a full rolling boil. Remove from heat.
- Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace. Place prepared lids & bands; once all jars are filled, put them into your boiling water canner. Lower the rack into the boiling water, cover with lid, and process for 10 minutes.
- Remove from your canner to cool for 24 hours. Be sure all lids have properly sealed, then remove bands and store in a cool, dry, dark location.
Raspberry Vanilla Bean Jam (Low Sugar/No Sugar Sure-Jell)
Equipment
-
Boiling Water Canner
-
Heavy Bottomed Stock Pot
-
Canning Jars, Lids, Bands
Ingredients
- 10 cups raspberries (whole) Should yield 5 cups crushed raspberries
- 4 cups organic cane sugar Pre-measured and set aside
- 3 vanilla beans
- 1 box Sure-Jell Low Sugar/No Sugar Pectin pink box
Instructions
-
Crush the berries with a potato masher. Add the crushed berries to a large, heavy bottomed stock pot.
-
Dump the package of pectin into a small bowl. Draw out 1/4 cup sugar from your pre-measured 4 cups of sugar and stir in in with your pectin. Add this mixture to your crushed berries and stir to combine. (You can optionally add 1 teaspoon of butter here to help reduce foaming later on).
-
Slice your vanilla beans open from top to bottom and scrape out the seeds; add this to your berry mixture and then throw in the empty pods as well.
-
Bring this entire mixture to a boil; remove the vanilla bean pods.
-
Quickly stir in the remaining sugar and bring to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute and remove from heat. Skim foam from the top.
-
Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Place prepared lids & bands; once all jars are filled, put them into your boiling water canner. Lower the rack into the boiling water, cover with lid, and process for 10 minutes.
-
Remove from your canner to cool for 24 hours. Be sure all lids have properly sealed, then remove bands and store in a cool, dry, dark location.
Low Sugar Raspberry Jam (Pomona’s Pectin)
Equipment
-
Boiling Water Canner
-
Heavy Bottomed Stock Pot
-
Canning Jars, Lids, Bands
Ingredients
- 8 cups raspberries Should yield 4 cups crushed berries
- 3/4 to 2 cups sugar *OR 1/2-1 cup honey, your choice
- 2 vanilla beans
- 2 tsp Pomona's Pectin
- 2 tsp calcium water
Instructions
-
Prepare your calcium water: measure out 1/2 teaspoon calcium powder (included with your Pomona's Pectin box) and 1/2 cup water into a small jar with a lid. Shake vigorously to mix well. Any leftover calcium water can be stored in your refrigerator for many months.
-
Measure out 4 cups of mashed raspberries into a heavy bottomed stock pot. Stir in the 2 teaspoons of calcium water.
-
Slice your vanilla beans open from top to bottom and scrape out the seeds; add this to your berry mixture and then throw in the empty pods as well.
-
Add the 2 teaspoons of Pomona's Pectin into whatever sweetener you have set aside and thoroughly combine.
-
Bring the crushed raspberries/vanilla bean mixture to a full boil. Quickly remove the vanilla bean pods. Add in the sweetener/pectin mixture and vigorously stir for 1-2 minutes, dissolving the pectin & sugar while the mixture returns to a full rolling boil. Remove from heat.
-
Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Place prepared lids & bands; once all jars are filled, put them into your boiling water canner. Lower the rack into the boiling water, cover with lid, and process for 10 minutes.
-
Remove from your canner to cool for 24 hours. Be sure all lids have properly sealed, then remove bands and store in a cool, dry, dark location.
This post contains affiliate links.
What this means is I link to a product (that I love& use and/or
recommend), and if you decide it’s something you want, I will receive a
small monetary compensation with no cost to you- just because you used
my link to find it! This helps support my blogging activities and I
thank you. Homestead on, my friends.
