How to Make Low/No Sugar Jam - Peach, Plum, Apricot, Blackberry; Pomona’s Pectin Recipe

Make peach, apricot, plum, blueberry, strawberry, seedless blackberry, raspberry, or any other fruit jam or jelly at home without sugar, low sugar, or made with honey, Sucanat, agave, fruit juice, or any other sweetener, using this recipe that sets with Pomona’s universal pectin. See Recipe below.
This is by far the best method I’ve found to make our own healthy, delicious jam, which we eat on toast, waffles, with yogurt, cottage cheese, peanut butter, or just eaten out of the jar.
Other brands of “Low Sugar pectin” call for 4 cups white sugar to 6 cups fruit to set. Pomona’s pectin sets very well and the jam is plenty sweet with 1 to 2 cups Sucanat or honey in 12-14 cups of fruit. Big difference.
Here’s the basic recipe to make 7 pints of jam:
12 to 14 cups mashed fruit or berries (peach, plum, apricot, strawberry, blue/ black berry, or any other fruit or berry)
1 cup Sucanat, or other type of sugar
3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice (or less for tart berries or fruit)
1/8 teaspoon Calcium mixed in water, (or follow Pomona’s recipe for calcium water)
Bring to boil in a heavy 6 quart pot, stirring with a heat resistant rubber spatula
Add 1 tablespoon Pectin, pre-mixed with 1 cup Honey
Bring to a boil again, stirring to dissolve pectin.
Turn down to low and put in sterilized jars, and boil in water bath 10 minutes. Cool.
Notes: If fruit is very sweet, or you want less sweet jam, reduce the honey and/or sucanat to ½ cup.
If sweetening with fruit juice only, follow Pomona’s directions for blending the pectin into hot juice in a blender.
For Peach jam, I add 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg and allspice.
For seedless blackberry, raspberry or grape strain out the seeds first. Cooking berries first will make straining easier.
Do not omit the lemon juice unless your fruit or berries are tart enough, because the acid is necessary for proper setting and canning safety. See Pomona’s directions for list of tart fruit and berries.
Personally I would not sweeten anything with only stevia, but using a tiny bit will reduce the amount of other sweeteners needed and add a little boost in sweetness.
Because I sterilize my jars, lids and utensils first, I only process them for 5 minutes afterwards. Also I re-use my lids about 3 times as long as they are not dented or scratched. I’ve never had a jar go bad or not seal.
I have found Pomona’s pectin for around $5 for a 1.1 oz box in natural food stores, and some grocery stores. If you can’t find it locally, here are the links to Pomona’s Pectin on Amazon:
6 boxes: amzn.to/31u87ZK
3 boxes: amzn.to/2KpfH22
2 boxes: amzn.to/2YW7aI5
One box has 3 tablespoons pectin (plus ½ teaspoon calcium which sets the pectin). I use 1 tablespoon pectin for 7 pints jam. Pomona’s recipes use about twice as much pectin, 4 times more for jelly, so one box will make between 5 and 21 pints jam, depending on what recipe you use.
I like sucanat better than any other form of sugar cane, and a 50 lb bag lasts me about 3 years. The non-organic has milder flavor, which I like best.
3 lb. tub: amzn.to/2YDxone
50 lb. bag of Sucanat: amzn.to/2Kot4jg
Coconut Sugar is also really good: amzn.to/2GVaKMo
Our favorite bread to eat jam on is Dave's bread.
Here's a selection of Dave's breads: amzn.to/2QMMMsv
Of which our favorite is 21 grain bread: amzn.to/35sLhnt
As an Amazon Associate I earn a commission from qualifying purchases. I have not been compensated in any way by Pomona's to produce this video. It's based on my own personal experience.
Please comment below on your experience with making jam, and if this video has been helpful to you.
Please subscribe to our channel for more videos to come, and to support me in continuing to make videos.

[@carole6779]

Soooooo happy to come across this video!!! I've never made much jam because of the crazy fruit to sugar ratio in most "traditional" recipes. Tried Pomona's on and off over the years, but couldn't quite get the softer set I was looking for. Your approach looks like a real winner to me. I've been testing some microbatches of recipes today, hoping to find that perfect combination, and here it is. YAY! 👏 And I'd like to especially thank you for providing a recipe template that actually matches up to the available space in my big water bath canner. That is truly appreciated. 😊💖

[@HartzHomestead]

You can generally adjust how firm the set is by how much pectin you use per batch, though it does vary some by the fruit, it's not real critical. I don't need a real firm set, so I use about half of what the Pomona's recipes call for, and it's perfect for me. I always plan my batches by how much my pots will hold. Glad to be helpful!

[@keeperofthehomeat4dfarms]

Excellent video. Thank you

[@christinesilva3697]

Thanks for making this video! I have some frozen fruit I need to process and the conventional recipes have way too much sugar for my taste. I can’t wait to try this.

[@HartzHomestead]

Yes, traditional jam has ridiculous amounts of sugar, but otherwise regular pectin won't set. I was so happy when I discovered Pomona's, and since I don't need a real firm set, found I can use less pectin than their recipes call for. I make jam every year now.

[@AaricHale]

Really awesome info ! My grandma always made jams and jelly . We made some a couple of times . I was lucky 800 for you !

[@deannacarpenter9939]

Fantastic video, thanks.

[@HartzHomestead]

Glad you liked it! I love our home made jam and can't imagine making it any other way. Glad I was able to share it with you in this video!

[@LWYOffGridHomestead]

Looks so yummy!

[@pabackyardhomesteading6709]

I love Pomonas!

[@stevesgrowingspace]

Hi from the UK, that's an easy to follow recipe, I'll have to look into whether I can get Pomona pectin here. I subscribed for more useful information. All the best Steve

[@HartzHomestead]

Steve, Pomona's website gives a way to order it in the UK. Go to pomonapectin.com

[@HartzHomestead]

Just made 8 pints blackberry fig jam (really good): 3 Qts Blackberries (seeds strained out = 6 c juice), 10 c Fig pulp (removed skins), 1/3 c Sucanat, 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice, 1/4 tsp Calcium (comes with pectin), bring to boil, add 5 teaspoons Pomona's pectin pre-mixed with 1/2 c Honey, boil & can. Here near Seattle the figs and blackberries ripen at the same time. Feel free to combine fruits or berries that are available.

[@Michael-s2p3p]

Nice video, how about doing a video on wild elderberry jam?

[@HartzHomestead]

You can use the method and basic recipe in this video to make any kind of fruit or berry jam. If the berries are very tart, I'd suggest adding about another 1/2 to 1 cup of sweetening. You could strain it and make jelly, or just mash them up and make jam. Sorry, another video is about a week's worth of work for me, and I'm disappointed that making low sugar jam doesn't seem to be a very hot topic.

[@Michael-s2p3p]

@@HartzHomestead I just reviewed and see you only had 2K views on this video a year old, I see what you mean by limited low sugar demand. I’m sorry for the disappointment. But you need to know that you are really helping the sugar intolerant. I just found out my diabetes was mild enough after weight loss to allow me to consume berries without sugar, and Pomona’s pectin and your recipe will really improve the quality of life for me. The blackberries are ripening in Maine and elderberries are soon to follow and your recipes will be used a lot!

[@annedwards358]

thank you!!! i just read in the ball canning booK: " 3.5 cups fruit : 7.5 cups sugar!!!! and about fainted. thank you for your very informative video.

[@HartzHomestead]

Yes, I know, it's ridiculous the amount of sugar most jam recipes call for. I'm so thankful for Pomona's, which makes low sugar jam practical.

[@pieluvr7362]

Shout out from 505 👍

[@HartzHomestead]

Thanks, I think, what does "Shout out from 505" mean?

[@slender_0434]

@@HartzHomestead I believe your 505th subscriber!

[@HartzHomestead]

Note: The lemon juice is very important if your fruit doesn't have much acidity, for safety reasons when canning. With tart fruits and berries there's no problem, but with figs or sweet fruit with low acidity, you can add up to 1 tbsp lemon juice per cup fruit, or 1/4 cup lemon juice per quart fruit.

[@marysmith4811]

Why doesn't anyone ever show that they sterilize jars in the oven? It's so much easier.

[@HartzHomestead]

Thank you, I've heard of that, definitely worth considering. Since I usually process my jam in boiling water for 5-10 minutes after filling the jars, it's just as easy for me to boil the jars in that pot first, then fill them, then boil again. But if I wanted to fill more jars than fit in my pot, the oven would be a good option.