Where my husband works there are eight plum trees that bear lots of fruit, but usually no one picks the plums and they fall to the ground for the deer and bugs to eat. My hubby and I loaded up the kids early one Saturday morning with baskets and a step ladder in hand to go and forage some of these sweet baby plums. When we arrived the branches of the trees were full of plums and many branches hung low due to the weight. Some plums were so small they resembled large cherries, but one bite into a plum sent a sweet tarty flavor over your taste buds.
We picked plums for several hours, even our kids got involved in the process of picking and eating them too. We had fun as a family and picked enough plums to can and make jelly.
Canning plums is quite easy and there are several ways to do it by making jam, canning the plums to eat as fruit or even making sauces out of them. My hubby and I choose to make jam and to can the plums whole with the pits. We also made ice-cube trays full of juice pulp to use in smoothies. Follow these steps for beautiful, delicious, and stunning canned plums.
How to make your very own low-sugar plum jam:
Ingredients:
8 tablespoons of Ball® Low or No Sugar Needed Pectin (if not available then use another brand, but double-check recipe conversions)
6 2/3 cups of crushed plums (my husband and I put plums in a big pot and use a potato masher to mash them. Then we put them in cheese cloth to strain and squeeze out as much of the pulpy juice as possible while we kept the skins and pits from the fruit mixture)
1 2/3 cups of no sugar added apple or white grape juice
2 cups of white sugar
Instructions:
1. Submerge and boil about 15 half pint jars in a canning pot with water for at least ten minutes to sterilize.
2. Boil about 15 flats in small saucepan with water. Turn off heat until ready to use, but make sure they remain somewhat hot.
3. Place ingredients into large sauce pan or pot and heat to a low boil. Stir frequently to prevent sticking and burning.
4. You can add half a teaspoon of margarine or butter to help prevent foaming. Skim of any foam off with spoon that does develop, but total removal is not necessary.
5. Boil plum mixture for about ten minutes, then remove from heat.
6. Spread out towel on counter. Remove one hot jar at a time with salad tongs or some other utensil, and set upright onto towel. Be careful to not have any drafts from windows or fans nearby. Hot jars are very sensitive to temperature changes.
7. With a soup ladle, fill the half pint jars with hot berry mixture until about one-quarter inch (one centimeter) from top.
8. Repeat previous step to fill all jars.
9. Wipe rim of jars with clean damp cloth.
10. Place hot flats on top of each jar.
11. Place rings on jars and tighten to finger tightness.
12. Invert jars upside down for about ten minutes. This will help to kill any bacteria or other microorganisms that could have come into contact with the underside of the flat while placing it on the jar or from the cloth used to clean spillage on the rim. After this inversion time, return jars upright and allow to fully cool.
13. Over the next hour, you will hear jars make a popping sound as the flats seal. After all jars reach room temperature, tap each jar with a butter knife or spoon. A nice metallic ringing sound indicates a good seal. A dull thumping metallic sound indicates lack of seal. Also, you can sometimes see raised flats on jars that are not sealed. If any jars do not seal (this is relatively infrequent), then simply refrigerate and use the jam over the next few days to couple of weeks.
14. This recipe makes about 10-12 half-pint jars of plum jam. The extra jars are in case the recipe makes more than expected.
This jam will be a staple at your breakfast table to put on your toast, pancakes, or waffles. Hope you enjoy this recipe and make your own jam soon.
How to can your own low-sugar whole plums:
Ingredients:
Lots of plums, if they are large, you may want to remove the seeds and slice into quarters or halves.
1 to 2 cups of sugar per 10 cups of water.
1 teaspoon of Ball® Fruit-Fresh® Produce Protector per cup of water (I add a little extra to account for the sugar volume).
Instructions:
1. Mix together the sugar water and Ball® Fruit-Fresh® and heat to a low boil while stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cool down to at least a temperature whereby you can touch the side of the pan without burning yourself. I prepare this solution a couple of hours ahead of my actual canning and let it cool while I pack all the jars.
2. Boil flats (lids) in water for about a minute and keep them warm until the jars are filled.
3. Pack plums into washed quart jars until they are about 3/4 inch from the top rim of the jar.
4. Pour in the sugar water until the liquid comes to about 1/2 inch from the top rim of the jar.
5. Slide a knife down the side of the jar to allow any trapped air. Top off with a little more sugar water to maintain the 1/2 inch level from the top rim.
6. Place flats onto jars. Place a ring over the flat and tighten with fingers. Do not over-tighten the rings. Finger snug is good enough.
7. Place jars into large canning pot and cover with water until they are submerged about one inch.
8. Heat jars to a boil. Maintain a low rolling boil for 20 minutes and then remove from heat.
9. Allow to stand submerged for at least 5-10 minutes. I prefer to go about 15 minutes before lifting from the water bath.
10. Make sure there are no air drafts in the room. Slowly lift jars from the water bath until you can hook the rack onto the sides of the pot. Allow the jars to cool for about 5 more minutes before removing them entirely from the pot.
11. Place jars gently onto towels spread onto a table or counter and allow to cool to room temperature.
12. Over the next hour, you will hear jars make a popping sound as the flats seal. After all jars reach room temperature, tap each jar with a butter knife or spoon. A nice metallic ringing sound indicates a good seal. A dull thumping metallic sound indicates lack of seal. Also, you can sometimes see raised flats on jars that are not sealed. If any jars do not seal (this is relatively infrequent), then simply refrigerate and use the jam over the next few days to couple of weeks.
If you want to U-Pick with your family here are some helpful resources and links to get you canning in your kitchen too.
About.com (For farms in New England area)
FieldTrip.com (For Farms PA, NJ, NY)
XOXO,
Amee
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Hi, I’m sorry, what did you do to can your plums, I can only see your awesome recipe for plum jam…
Hi Amanda,
The plum recipe is right after the jam recipe if you keep scrolling down. 🙂 Amee
Thanks for this awesome post. I decided to cut my canning teeth this season. I do have a question…can I use this same recipe for pint jars? Or must I use only half pint jars?
Hi Kristy,
Yes you can use the same recipe for pints I would give ac1/3 more head space, but that is not necessary. Glad you enjoyed the post! Amee
Don’t you need to process the jam for 5 minutes in a hot bath? Everthing else I have read says to process, why is your recipe different?
We have never used the method of processing jam for five minutes because we always pre-sterilize our jars and fill them quickly with boiling fruit jam mixture. I would never not use a hot bath if the jam and the jars were not sterilized first. The inversion method we use for ten minutes is acceptable, and has never caused any issues with lack or weak seals or mold growth. In our house we never make more jam than what we will use for the season, so if people plan to store longer than one season I might recommend the 5 minute processing in the hot bath simply to remove the oxygen. More details on our method and the hot bath method can be read in this document: http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/uga/uga_processing_j_j.pdf. This was a great question. Thanks!
“Some other methods of sealing jars call for inverting a closed, filled jar of hot product for
anywhere from thirty seconds to one hour. (Inverting is turning the filled jar upside down on its
lid.) While this inversion process can be successful in producing a sealed jar, it works best with
very hot product. Individual variation in practic
ing this procedure or unexpected interruptions
can result in delays between filling jars, getting lids screwed on, and inverting the jars. If the
product cools down too much, the temperature of the product can become low enough to no
longer be effective in sealing jars or preventing spoilage.
When the inversion process does work, the vacuum seals of filled jars still tend to be
weaker than those produced by a short boiling water canning process. A larger amount of
retained oxygen in the headspace may allow some mold growth if airborne molds contaminated
the surface of the product as the jar was filled and closed. More complete removal of oxygen
from the headspace also offers some longer prot
ection from undesirable color and flavor changes
with some types of fruit products. A weak seal may be more likely to fail during storage. ”
Given the issue is related to more oxygen and related aerobic spoilage rather than toxin production by the anaerobic bacteria Clostridium botulinum, this again is a safe method.
We can something or other every year. We almost always make salsa and grape jelly, and last year we also canned crab apple jelly! Home canned stuff always tastes so amazing!! 😀 This looks really good.
Hi Inna,
Yes canning is so good and glad you stopped by! 🙂 Amee
Love plum jam! My sister makes us several jars worth each year. Thanks so much for sharing at Mom On Timeout!
Hi Trisha, thank you for hosting!
Your post was a very interesting and informative read. I’ve never canned and always wondered the exact process for sterilizing and if there was anything special that had to be added to the mix. After they’re canned, is there a set time for how long are they good? I know it’s a long time, but I wonder if there’s a basic time frame. Thanks for posting this. I’ll pin it for future reference.
Liz
Hi Liz,
Thank you I never knew how to can until I met my hubby who grew up doing it with his mom and grandmother. For shelf life it really depends on what you are canning, but for jams no more than two years for low sugar jams. Thanks for the pin as well! Amee
Amee … this is the best instructions ever! Great job and thank you for sharing your talent with us at The Sunday Stop!
Hugs,
Bj
Thanks Bj!