I shared this recipe 10 years ago. One of the most wonderful things about owning your own food blog is not having to do the death scroll looking for a recipe – lol. This wild blueberry jam is an annual event for me. I making a batch today so I thought I would reshare the recipe. XO
WILD BLUEBERRY JAM or any jam, for that matter, is the least difficult to make of the preserving world.
Really, all you need is the fruit, a little acid, a lot of sugar and I use liquid pectin. Old time cooks would cook the fruit until it ‘jammed’ but I prefer the flavour of less time on the stove.
Liquid pectin reduces the cook time and virtually takes the guess work out of jam making.
The recipe that I’ve shared today came from the pectin package. I added fresh thyme. Truth be told, I prefer my blueberry jam wild and unadorned but my curiosity got the better of me so I threw in the thyme. It’s delicious but not necessary…
This is the last preserving recipe that I’ll be sharing this year. I hope I’ve helped bust any kitchen myths around pickling and jam making. Your mantra should be,
‘YES, I CAN MAKE JAM, JELLY, AND PICKLES OF ALL TYPES!’
WILD BLUEBERRY JAM WITH THYME slightly adapted from the Certo recipe
Makes 9 – 250 ml jars
4 ½ cups wild blueberries, crushed about 4 pints
3 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
2 pouches liquid pectin
7 cups granulated sugar
4 sprigs thyme, optional
THE STEPS
- Prepare mason jars, according to manufacturer’s instructions.
- Chop blueberries in small batches in food processor.
- In a large, deep stainless steel pot, stir together prepared berries, lemon juice and sugar – If you’re using the thyme add it now
- Over high heat, bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.
- Remove from heat and add liquid pectin, squeezing entire contents from pouches.
- Return to a boil; boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat and skim off foam. Discard thyme sprigs
- Ladle hot jam into sterilized jars to within ¼ “of top of jar.
- Wipe jar rim to remove any drips.
- Place disc on jar then screw band on until fingertip tight.
- Repeat until all of the jam is in jars
- After cooling check jar seals. Sealed discs curve downward and do not move when pressed. I store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator.
- Label and store jars in a cool, dark place. Use within 1 year.
THE LOVE: This jam sets quickly so work fast!
Thanks for reading.
4 comments
I made All of my Jams this Summer without Store Bought Pectin and White Sugar!
For my Organic Blueberry Jam:
3 cups of Organic Blueberries
3/4 cups of honey (I used only 1/2 cup) – depends how sweet your blueberries are!
2 tablespoons of Lemon Juice (from Organic Lemons)
1 teaspoon of Lemon Zest
Smash up Blueberries in a pot – to a consistency that you’d prefer.
Add the honey, Lemon juice, and Lemon zest, and bring to a boil over
meduim heat. Stir until it starts to thicken… This process WILL take longer than if you’re using store bought pectin and white sugar.
Skim off the foam, and process as per canning instructions into sterilized jars!! Enjoy!
I will definately be trying this recipe! Thank you
Good idea – I made blueberry rhubarb and really like it, but this might be my next batch. Actually I was out East recently and tried apple-sage jelly from a Fredericton company. It was great!
Have you seen Pomona’s pectin at all? It doesn’t need sugar to gel, it uses calcium (comes in the box) so you can use a lot less sugar – or even honey, maple syrup, etc. My last batch of blueberry only has a cup of sugar in five 250mL jars. Might be worth checking out if you want to try a more fruit-forward tasting jam! I bet this one is delicious too though…
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll be on the lookout for Pomona Pectin. I’m intrigued!