What thickens jam without pectin?

If you aren't using pectin as a thickener, the sugar as well as the cornstarch slurry will work to thicken quite well. Feel free to add more for an even thicker jam.

Does lemon juice add pectin to jam?

I do occasionally add a satchel of lemon wedges to a jam when I know there is likely to be lower amounts of pectin , like with strawberries. This helps add extra pectin that the berries don't have, but in lower amounts than if I were adding commercial pectin.

How do you make raspberry jam thicker?

Add pectin . Whisk a tablespoon of powdered pectin (preferably the no-sugar-needed variety) into the pot of cooking jam. Test for thickness and add another tablespoon if needed.

What happens to jam without pectin?

Making jam without pectin is easy, you just have to cook it longer . This recipe produces a very thick, rich tasting jam, but if you like your jam a bit looser, cook it 5 minutes less than the suggested cooking time.

What is the ratio of sugar to fruit for jam?

Tips for the best homemade jam: Jam makers suggest no more than 1 cup of sugar for each cup of fruit, or you won't be able to taste the fruit. Marisa McClellan's (from Food in Jars) favorite ratio is two parts fruit to one-part sugar .

What is the thickening agent for homemade jam?

"[ Pectin ] is what gives a jam its thickness, and a jelly or marmalade its jelly-like consistency," explains Jessica Koslow, author of The Sqirl Jam Book. All fruit naturally contains pectin; it's found in the peel, seeds, and cores. For home cooks, pectin is most often used when making jams and jellies.

Does lemon juice make jam thicker?

Lack of acidity: Acids like lemon juice help lower the jam mixture's pH, which reacts with the natural or added pectin to help thicken the jam . If a jam recipe doesn't call for lemon juice or lime juice, it could rely on another ingredient, like added pectin, to set the jam.

How do you make jam more runny?

Heat small amounts of jam in the microwave, a few seconds at a time, and then use as you would normally. If it's still too thick, add some water while heating in the microwave , and then use it as an unusual pancake or ice cream syrup.

How do you make jam if you forgot to add pectin?

To remake jam or jelly without added pectin Pour jam into a large kettle and bring to a boil . If the fruit was quite ripe and not acid enough, add 1 1/2 teaspoons bottled lemon juice per cup of jam or jelly before boiling. Boil until mixture reaches 220 degrees on a candy thermometer or until it sheets off a spoon.

How to use cornstarch instead of pectin?

Cornflour (or cornstarch) combined with lemon juice is a great alternative to pectin. It thickens up jam really well, combined with the sugar and heat.

How do you know if jam has enough pectin?

Spoon a little of the hot conserve onto the cold saucer. Return to the freezer for 2 minutes or until chilled. Touch the conserve. If it wrinkles and feels gel-like, it's ready to bottle .

What is the thickening agent for fruit jam?

Pectin is often used as a thickener in cooking and baking. It is a natural polysaccharide (starch) product extracted from fruits and is commonly used as a natural thickening and setting/gelling agent that shouldn't affect the taste or smell of your recipes.

How do you thicken jam for filling?

You can boil it down on the stove to thicken it up a bit ... maybe add in some gelatin too. Also, to make it easier on you, you can spread the jam filling thin on a baking sheet and freeze it and then put it on the cake while it's frozen so it'll go on as one sheet.

What did people use before pectin?

The earliest fruit preserves would be made by mixing fruit pulp with honey and allowing it to dry in the sun, creating a texture more like that of a jellied sweet. The high-pectin quince lent itself to making this well-set fruit preserve.

Easy Raspberry Jam (No Pectin!) (2024)

The deliciously sweet raspberry jam will have you coming back for an extra spoonful. With only three ingredients you can make a sweet and jam that you will want to spread on muffins, biscuits, dessert, and everything!

Table of Contents

Why We Love Raspberry Jam
Ingredients For This Raspberry Jam Recipe
How Many Pints of Raspberries Do I Need?
How To Make Raspberry Jam
How To Tell If Your Jam Is Thick Enough- The Drippy Spoon Test
How Much Jam Does This Recipe Make?
Is This Raspberry Jam A Freezer Jam?
How Do I Freeze This Jam?
Can I Home Can This Raspberry Jam?
Can I Make This Raspberry Jam Seedless?
How Long Will This Jam Last?
Other Recipes You Will Love
Raspberry Jam
How Can I Adjust The Sugar?
Can I Make This Jam Sugar Free?
How To Do The Drippy Spoon Test For Jam To Know When It’s Thick Enough

Why We Love Raspberry Jam

Make Breakfast, Lunch Or Snacks Amazing– A peanut butter and homemade jam sandwich is so delicious with homemade jam, or try some of my favorite peanut butter and jelly hacks. Enjoy your own jam also on toast or homemade biscuits, it’s an easy recipe the whole family will love.
Enjoy Fresh Raspberry Flavor– Fully enjoy summer fruit flavors when these berries are ripe. Make this small batch jam when raspberries are plentiful at the grocery store or farmers’ market. Or enjoy some fruits in the winter by using frozen raspberries.
Use Jam To Top Desserts– Make homemade jam as a delicious topping for ice cream, cheesecake and cookies. Try this jam next time with my raspberry jam thumbprint cookies or my raspberry swirl cheesecake bars, amazing!

If this is your first time, second time or 100th time making jam, you will love it! This homemade raspberry jam recipe is easy to make, it will be your new favorite recipe. You should also try my blackberry jam, it’s also delicious!

Ingredients For This Raspberry Jam Recipe

5cupsraspberriesfresh or frozen- about 24 ounces of raspberries
2 ½cups sugar
1 ½tablespoonlemon juice – don’t skip the lemon juice, it helps to activate the natural pectin in the fruit while making the jam gel.

How Many Pints of Raspberries Do I Need?

For this recipe, you’ll need 4 of the 6-ounce containers of raspberries or two of the larger 12-ounce containers of raspberries for this raspberry jam recipe.

One 6-ounce pint of raspberries (also sometimes called a dry pint) is about 3/4 of a cup of raspberries.

This is an estimate as raspberries can vary in size and weight for each berry. Berries do not need to be an exact measure in this recipe. If your berry measurement is not exact by a few berries, your jam will still be delicious.

If you are using frozen berries, you can use two 12-ounce bags of frozen raspberries for this recipe.

A dry pint that I mentioned above is simply measuring the fruit in a pint container “dry” as whole berries rather than a liquid version of the same berries. Learn more about the difference between a dry pint and a liquid pint here.

How To Make Raspberry Jam

Turn the stove to medium-high heat. In a medium saucepan, combine raspberries, sugar and lemon juice. Place the pan on the stove.

Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently. Allow the fruit mixture to come to a full rolling boil.
Reduce the heat slightly to allow the jam to simmer. Using a potato masher for a minute can help to speed up the process a little. Continue stirring frequently as the jam thickens until it thickens to your desired consistency. You can also use the drippy spoon technique described in the notes. This should take about 12-15 minutes from the beginning of boiling.

Remove from the heat and allow to fully cool to room temperature before storing or using for a recipe. Enjoy!

How To Tell If Your Jam Is Thick Enough- The Drippy Spoon Test

The drippy spoon test is one of the easiest ways I know to tell if this delicious recipe is done cooking. Simply dip a spoon into the jam mixture and watch the jam drip off the side of the spoon.

Light drips– When the jam first begins to become a syrup after boiling, the mixture will drip easily off the spoon and be light in color.
Drops In Two Drips– As the jam mixture begins to thicken, you’ll notice a small amount of the jam will start to come off of side of the spoon in two drips instead of one.
Sheet of Drips– Once the jam has become thick enough the hot mixture will drop off the side of the spoon in more of a thicker sheet. Once this happens, the jam has reached the jelled portion where the natural fruit pectin found inside the fruit has thickened, and your jam will be thick enough to spread on toast.

Learn more about the drippy spoon test and how to test if the jam is done cooking by temperature here.

How Much Jam Does This Recipe Make?

This jam makes 24 ounces which will fill three 8 ounce jelly jars meant for canning. An ounce is about equal to two tablespoons of jam. This easy raspberry jam recipe is a small batch recipe.

Is This Raspberry Jam A Freezer Jam?

You can store unused jam from this recipe in the freezer but it is not considered a freezer jam. Freezer jam keeps its bright color easier than a traditional jam. This recipe will get darker in color if stored in the freezer Learn more about how to make freezer jam here.

How Do I Freeze This Jam?

If you choose to store this jam in the freezer, pour your jam in a freezer-safe container or freezer zip-top bag.

Glass canning jars can be stored in the freezer without going through the canning process. Make sure before putting a glass jar in the freezer that you leave at least a half-inch of space in the container at the top under the jar lid when adding the jam.

The jam will expand as it freezes. Leaving room at the top of the jar gives the jam the room it needs to expand.

Can I Home Can This Raspberry Jam?

Yes, you can home-can this raspberry jam recipe and use jelly jars or other small jars for canning. I recommend using a water bath method for this recipe. You can follow the instructions here on how to can homemade jam. Raspberries are acidic enough that there is no need to use a full pressure canning system to can this jam recipe.

If you are interested in home canning, I highly recommend checking out the book The Complete Book Of Home Preserving.My husband and I used to home can when we lived in Atlanta, and this book helped us a lot. It goes into a lot of detail about how to can different items, has a lot of recipes, and gives great instructions for beginners.

For basic water bath canning of jam you will need pint size glass canning jars (Ball makes the best canning jars), metal lids and rings, a large pot and a pair of tongs. A home canning tool kit like this can be really nice to have if you decide to try canning more but is not necessary to get started.

Can I Make This Raspberry Jam Seedless?

Yes you can make this raspberry jam seedless, though the seeds are just fine to leave in also. To make the jam seedless you want to push the jam through a fine mesh-sieve like this one, preferably one that is metal.

As you push the jam through the sieve, the seeds will stay in the top and the rest of the jam will go in a large bowl you place below the sieve. I personally use a silicone spatula or a wooden spoon to push the jam through the sieve.

For raspberry jam you can also use a food mill to remove the seeds, it’s a little easier and less messy to use than a fine mesh sieve. Use the disc with the smallest holes on the food mill before you run the jam through the machine.

How Long Will This Jam Last?

This jam does not have any preservatives in it. You can store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about 3-4 weeks.

Be careful not to get butter or crumbs in your homemade jam, as they can spoil the jam more quickly.

Other Recipes You Will Love

Strawberry Poke Cake– My strawberry poke cake uses a homemade strawberry sauce layer, but you could also add raspberry jam instead!

Homemade Blueberry (Muffin) Bread– This delicious blueberry muffin bread makes the best breakfast slice. Try spreading your homemade raspberry jam on a slice, yum!

Slow Cooker Apple Butter– Apple butter made the easy way! This delicious apple butter is also perfect for breakfast.

Raspberry Jam

Author Kristy Richardson

Course Breakfast, condiment, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Spread this delicious homemade raspberry jam on biscuits, toast and dessert. Sweet raspberry jam is easy to make and bursts with sweet fruity flavor!

Ingredients

▢ 5 cups raspberries fresh or frozen
▢ 2 ½ cups granulated sugar
▢ 1 ½ tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

Turn the stove to medium high heat. In a medium saucepan, add the raspberries, sugar and lemon juice. Place the pan on the stove.
Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently. Allow the fruit mixture to come to a full boil.
Reduce the heat slightly to allow the jam to simmer. Continue stirring frequently as the jam thickens until it thickens to your desired consistency. You can also use the drippy spoon technique described in the notes. This should take about 12-15 minutes from the beginning of boiling.
Remove from the heat and allow to fully cool to room temperature before storing or using for a recipe. Enjoy!

Notes

This recipe will fill three 8 ounce glass jars, or about 24 ounces total.

How Can I Adjust The Sugar?

The sugar can be adjusted to your own taste. If you don’t tend to like jam on the sweeter side or you have especially ripe berries, I suggest starting with half the listed sugar.

Then taste carefully once the jam mixture just comes to a boil. (blow on it carefully it will be hot!) You can then add the amount of sugar that works for you before the jam begins to jell.

Can I Make This Jam Sugar Free?

Raspberries have natural sugar in them so there is no way to make jam that has no sugar.

You can make a no sugar added jam by using a sugar substitute, I generally recommend using Stevia or your favorite sweetener replacement to taste after the fruit has begun boiling.

How To Do The Drippy Spoon Test For Jam To Know When It’s Thick Enough

The drippy spoon test is one of the easiest ways I know to tell if jam is done simmering. Simply dip a spoon into the jam mixture and watch the jam drip off the side of the spoon.

Light drips– When the jam first begins to become a syrup after boiling, the mixture will drip easily off the spoon and be light in color.
Drops In Two Drips– As the jam mixture begins to thicken, you’ll notice the drips will start to come off of side of the spoon in two drips instead of one.
Sheet of Drips– Once the jam has become thick enough it will drop off the side of the spoon in more of a thicker sheet. Once this happens, the jam has reached the jelled portion where the natural fruit pectin found inside the fruit has thickened, and your jam will be thick enough to spread on toast.

Note On Servings

This jam makes about 24 ounces of jam and the serving size and estimated nutrition in this recipe is for one ounce of jam as a serving. 1 ounce of jam is equal to about two tablespoons.

Nutrition

Did You Make This?

I would love to see it! Share your thoughts with me in the comments below!