My Simple Blueberry Jam is made with just 3 ingredients and no added pectin. It tastes out of this world good, no wonder it’s so popular!
I have never made blueberry jam before but I’m thrilled to bring you my Simple Blueberry Jam recipe today after a freak bargain find at the weekend! I managed to find 4 trays of blueberries priced up at £3 each for 3 p each, there was a whole crate that were on their sell by date.
We ate one tray but the rest were destined for jam, although I did have to throw away just over a third of the remainder as they were soft and over ripe which is not good for eating or jam making. However, I’m really not complaining at that price, I’ve never seen blueberries so cheap nor so many of them reduced before!
I can’t remember the last time I had blueberry jam! But I have never had home-made blueberry jam!
I can’t tell you how amazing this Simple Blueberry Jam is. The depth of flavour is just incredible and totally delicious.
The Pectin Debate
I was reading about the pros and cons of pectin use in jam the other day and the point was made that although by using pectin you achieve a shorter cooking time and a slightly higher yield, you don’t get the intensity of flavour that you get with a longer cooking time where more moisture is evaporated away.
I had never really thought about this before as I never use pectin or jam sugar in my recipes. Well apart from my first ever jam where I used jam sugar but I didn’t like the stiff texture. Also, looking back, the flavour was not a patch on my One Punnet Strawberry Jam which just uses lemon juice to aid the setting.
Blueberries are naturally low in pectin so apart from using only the firmest just ripe or slightly under ripe fruits you need to add pectin or lemon juice which aids the gelling process by interacting with the sugar.
If you’ve never made jam before it’s never too late to learn, I only started making jam in the last 4 years and just got hooked.
Jam making Tips
The important things are to sterilise your jars, freeze some saucers for testing and always stir your jam or you will burn it to the bottom or your pan.
If you get the set too runny you can always pour back your jam and boil it up again until it reaches setting point. You get better at judging this as time goes on but I’ve only ever got it wrong once. I like a soft set jam but I pushed the boundary a bit far that time.
How long will Blueberry Jam keep?
As with all homemade jams, it’s best eaten in the first year but jam will last years and be safe to eat as the sugar acts as a preservative. Just store in a cool, dark place (I keep mine in a cupboard in my garage). Once opened, keep in the fridge and eat within a few months. Using a clean spoon to serve it will preserve it’s shelf life.
More inspiring Recipes for a glut of Blueberries:
- Apple & Blueberry Tarte Tatin – Fab Food 4 All
- Blueberry & Lemon Soda Bread – Fab Food 4 All
- Blueberry & Banana Pancakes – Fab Food 4 All
- Fresh Blueberry Flapjacks – Tinned Tomatoes
- Blueberry Banana Buckwheat Layer Cake – Domestic Gothess
- Blueberry & Blood Orange Smoothie – Recipes from a Pantry
- Blueberry & Rose Almond Bars – Tin & Thyme
- Blueberry Custard Ice Cream – Kavey Eats
- Blueberry Brioche – Patisserie Makes Perfect
- Blueberry Orange Upside Down Cakes – Family Friends Food
Tutti Frutti Jam
More Blueberry Jam Recipes:
- Blueberry & Lime Jam – Fab Food 4 All
- Tutti Frutti Jam – Fab Food 4 All
- Summer Fruits Jam – Fab Food 4 All
If you grow your own blueberries or ever see a bargain like mine then do try my Simple Blueberry Jam which makes one good sized jar. You can always scale the recipe up to make more if you have more but remember it will take longer to reach setting point!
Let me know how you get on by leaving a comment below or tag @FabFood4All on social media as I love seeing my recipes come to life!
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Simple Blueberry Jam - no pectin, just 3 ingredients!
Ingredients
- 600 g firm blueberries stalks and mushy ones removed
- 400 g granulated sugar
- 1 tblsp fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Wash the blueberries in a colander.
- Put the blueberries, sugar and lemon juice into a preserving pan.
- Place the pan over a gentle heat to slowly dissolve the sugar crystals, stirring with a wooden spoon from time to time.
- As the sugar starts to melt and the fruit warms up, take a potato masher to mash the blueberries, leaving some whole if desired.
- Once the sugar has completely dissolved turn up the heat and bring the pan to a rolling boil and time for 15 minutes, stirring all the while (to prevent the sugar burning on the base).
- Take the pan off the heat and test a few drops of the jam on a frozen saucer and place in the fridge for a minute. If when you push your finger through it the jam forms a crinkle and is gel like then it’s ready. Otherwise boil for another couple of minutes and repeat process until ready.
- Pot up the jam in a sterilised hot jar using a small ladle or jam funnel.
- Screw on lid.
Notes
Sterilise 1 x 450 ml jar by washing in hot soapy water or take straight from dishwasher, filling with boiling water, emptying and then placing in oven for 20 minutes at 140°C then leave in oven until jam is ready. Washed lids should be sterilised with boiling water and then left to drain.
Russol
Thanks for the recipe. I followed it but my jam is pretty runny. I guess because there’s no pectin. Is there any way to get a thicker consistency?
Camilla
Hi Russol, how long has it been since you made the jam? If you’ve waited overnight and on opening it’s runny then can I ask if you got a crinkle on the plate test. If you did then that means that you achieved a gel like consistency which means the jam would be set. I don’t use pectin in any of my jams but opt for using lemon juice instead when using fruits with a low pectin content so that’s no an issue. I do like a soft set jam but even I have pushed the boundaries of this once or twice and have had to sling the whole lot of jam back in the pan the next day and boiled a bit longer to achieve the correct set ie it shouldn’t run off a piece of bread all by itself. The reason I don’t use jam sugar is because the one and only time I used it the resulting jam was more like concrete, my jams are more like Bonne Maman in consistency.
L
Delicious and easy. Managed to make a sixth of this for a specific recipe, and cooked for 6 mins, and it was still perfect.
Camilla
Great to hear, so glad you like the recipe:-)
Janet
This was so easy and simply delicious. Thank you
Camilla
Great Janet, so pleased you like it:-)
Jimmy
Hi, how big is your jar? 12 ounce?
Camilla
Hi Jimmy, I give the size of the jar in the notes which is 450 mls (conversion to fluid ounces = 15.2).
Cynthia
I don’t understand the notes: why are we putting the jars in the oven? Also, what are the saucers for?
Camilla
Hi Cynthia, as stated the jar/s go in the oven in order to sterilise them. You don’t want your jam going mouldy because the jar wasn’t sterile. If you read the recipe you’ll see where the frozen plates come in (for testing the jam for set).
Anahad Kaur
I wanted to know if I had a small batch of blueberries how do I alter the recipe
Camilla
Hi Anahad, just reduce the other ingredients to the same proportion of blueberries and reduce the boiling time, maybe start testing at 7 minutes, hard to know as I don’t know your blueberry quantity. If you have a digital thermometer start testing for set at 104 C.
Anahad Kaur
Thanks for the reply I made the jam it was delicious
Camilla
You’re very welcome:-) Awesome, so pleased you like it!
Anahad Kaur
Hi I wanted to ask again the alterations if you have one cup of blueberries
Camilla
I’m afraid I once weighed cups of blueberries and depending on their size the weight was vastly different and this is why I don’t give my recipes in cups as weight is the only way to ensure I give out reliable recipes. If you want to go down the cup route then there are conversion sites where they will tell you how much a cup of blueberries weighs and then you could work out pro-rata the rest of the ingredients but it’s not a recipe I would put my name to, I stand by the one published as this works.