The best homemade cherry jam recipe prepared with fresh cherries, completely without artificial pectin sugar.
This recipe follows the French jam making tradition, and my family has been making these for generations.
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This is a french cherry jam prepared the way my mother and grandmother showed me.
That means we follow the traditional way of making jam, which by the way is 100% safe for consumption if you follow all my tips further below and work in a clean environment.
Choice of Cherries
To make your cherry jam, use only fresh ripe cherries.
You can pick sweet cherries or sour cherries.
Some varieties of cherries are more suitable than others to make jam.
In the sweet cherry section, you will often while find the Bing variety to be a suitable choice to make jam.
Sour cherries like Morello make a great choice too if you want to prepare a tart cherry jam.
I, personally, love sour cherry jam because the tart flavors of the deep red fruits work really well with the sugar in the jam.
We also have a sour cherry tree at home and our cherries ripen in July always, so we are bound to use up all the cherries to prepare a homemade jam.
You can make this into a sweet cherry jam recipe or a sour cherry jam recipe, the choice is yours.
Process Overview
To prepare cherry jam is beyond easy! You just need patience, you need to watch your jam and you need to work clean.
Step 1
Bring pitted cherries, sugar, lemon juice and lemon halves to a rolling boil.
Step 2
Keep over medium heat, stir occasionally. Reduce and cook till setting point.
Step 3
Pour set jam into clean jars and seal lid.
📖 Recipe
BEST Cherry Jam Recipe without Pectin
Instructions
- Rinse your cherries and discard the stems. Pit the cherries to collect the cherry pulp ad discard the seed core.
- Place the cherries into a large jam cooking pot.
- Pour all the sugar over the cherries.
- Cut your lemon into two, squeeze out the juice and pour juice over cherries and sugar. Drop the lemon halves into the pot.
- Mix the fruits and sugar and keep on the heat.
- Stir everything well and bring your cherry jam to a rolling boil.
- Reduce the heat and leave your jam to cook so that the jam can form and gets reduced. This can take 30-60 minutes, depending on your heat setting and pot. Stir occasionally and don't let anything burn on.
- You can choose to blend the jam smoothly. This is optional.
- Test if your jam is set by dropping some of the liquid hot jam on an ice-cold plate (which you kept in your freezer). Then turn the plate around to see if the jam is running or set. If the jam is running continue to cook further and repeat the test later again. Or/And test by checking the temperature of your jam. The jam setting temperature should be 210° Fahrenheit/ 105° Celsius.
- Grab clean sterilized jars and lids. Pour 2-3 drops of rum or vodka into the lids to disinfect further.
- Pout the jam into your jars up to the rim. Close the jars with the lids and quickly turn the jar upside down to create a vacuum.
- Turn the jar back, later on, label with name and date and store in a cool and dry place. Store in the fridge once the jar has been opened.
Notes
- Use only organic untreated lemon halves in your jam because you don't want pesticides in your jam!
- 1 Teaspoon = one serving, 100 Teaspoons is about 3 jars (roughly). Recommended use is 1 Teaspoon serving on a slice of bread.
- Can be sotred for up to 10 months in a dry and cool place away from sun light. Keep in the fridge after opening the jam and use up within weeks.
Nutrition
FAQ
Here are some commonly asked questions that you might have when making jam.
These are often while questions I get from my readers on some of my previous jam recipes.
What's the cherry jam setting temperature?
Your Cherry jam sets at 220 Fahrenheit/ 105 Celsius.
The jam will appear translucent and thick and should not be liquid.
Why won't my cherry jam set?
Your cherry jam won't set if you didn't cook it long enough, to overheat.
Cherry fruits are notoriously low in natural pectin and compared to citrus fruits or green apples, for example, the cherry jam won't set as easily and will need some help.
This is why people will add store-bought pectin enriched sugar instead of regular sugar to help the setting process.
Yet, artificial pectin changes the flavor of your jam a bit and pectin sugar is not always everywhere available.
I add lemon juice to my jam and cook the jam with two untreated lemon half rinds to help the setting process, and this will help your jam to set too.
If your jam is not set, leave it to cook further and test if the jam is set and repeat if necessary.
What is pectin, and why do I require it?
Pectin is a setting agent found naturally in the skin of fruits.
Pectin mainly appears in sour fruits such as lemons, red currants, and green apples.
That means pectin helps in preserving your fruit jam over a longer period of time without it turning bad.
Sweet and sour cherries contain low to medium-low quantities of natural pectin.
However, sour cherries are a tad richer in natural pectin, yet both cherry varieties need the addition of pectin, either by adding pectin sugar or natural pectin to the cooking process.
Why is my jam stone hard?
If your jam is stone-hard, it means that you have over-cooked it.
This can happen when you are preparing jam for the first time, and you are unsure whether your jam has set or not.
In that case, it makes sense to use a thermometer, or else you will miss the point when your jam is set.
You have a large enough window, so if you test your jam if it has set or not, you should be fine.
Keep in mind that jam will appear liquid when cooking hot and that the jam will get thicker the moment it cools down.
Fixing an over-cooked jam is more difficult than fixing an undercooked running jam.
You can always cook a running jam further until it's set, but a stone-hard jam will have to be used differently.
The solution for your hard overcooked jam is to turn it into fruit leather, to cook it again a bit with the addition of water so that you can use the jam within days or to turn it into candy.
Jam making cleanliness precautions
Make sure that you wash your hands frequently when preparing this easy cherry jam recipe.
Sterilize your glass jars and lids to kill all germs by boiling them in water or by keeping them on a tray in the oven.
I drop some vodka or other alcohol into the lids to kill further germs, as this helps in prolonging the shelf life of the cherry jam.
Do not use damaged lids which are corroded.
The jars need to be filled up to the rim because the jars will be turned upside down after they are closed with a lid to create a vacuum.
French jams are prepared this exact way, and we don't sterilize the jam-filled jars further in a water bath because it's not necessary if you have followed all the cleanliness precautions mentioned.
Yet, you are free to take the filled jars through a water bath canning, that will help your jam to preserve longer.
How long will my cherry jam last?
Follow all the cleanliness points and your homemade jam with no pectin will last you about 10 months unopened, stored in a dry and dark place.
Store your jam in the fridge once opened and used, and use within a couple of weeks.
Do not eat from the spoon and dip the spoon back into the jam, as this will contaminate the jam.
More Fruit Jams
Just made this recipe yesterday with extra large cherries...for anyone wanting a conversion...the recipe requires 50 cherries...and 3 1/3 cups of sugar...also right before bottling the jar...as soon as it comes off the boiling I added 2 Tbsp of Grand Marnier...it mellows the lemon with a lovely flavor!
Thanks for the recipe!
Great! I used my immersion blender at the end to break up the cherries and thicken the jam.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Davia.
First time ever making jam, and it was amazing!!! I love the ease of this canning method as I cannot use the water bath method on my glass-top stove. My kids helped throughout the entire process and thought the jam was great on toast <3
Since this isn't using a water bath canning process, could I reuse jars/lids that have been previously sealed (with proper sterilization)? I know reusing lids is a no-no with traditional water canning but I have some fantastic Bonne Maman Strawberry jam jars I've been saving & replacement lids are exorbitantly costly so I've been looking for a recipe that I wouldn't need new lids for!
You can reuse your lids if they are not corroded or somehow marked by some old stains. You can sterilize your lids as you would do with the jars in boiling water or there is also an oven technique, where you place them in the oven and the heat gets rid of the germs. We always reuse our lids if they are not damaged and never had an issue with that. As long as they are clean. All the best Chantelle!
Made this jam today and it’s lovely we always make jam this way in the uk and we have never got sick from it your recipies are greatJane
Thank you Jane <3
Using sweet cherries and currents wxo additional pectin for freezer jam. Figure to cook Cherri’s to soft mashed stage and then add current juice pulp which has gone thru a sieve. Should sugar go in then or w cherries first?
Sugar always goes in first with fruits. That said you change the recipe by adding additional pectin, so can't comment on that since I don't do artificial pectin.
Can you use sugar substitute..
No for a proper jam that keeps well for a longer period of time, such as a few months, you require sugar. If you use a sugar substitute it will be good for a few weeks only which beats the whole point of a preserve. You can try it with a sugar substitute but consume it within 2 weeks and always store in the fridge or freezer.
Delicious 😋 and easy!! I'm not a huge cherry fan, but we brought home from Washington more than we could eat. I came across this recipe on Pinterest and decided to try it because it has no commercial pectin in it and it's not water bath canned. I must say that this may be my new favorite jam!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
You are welcome Angela! It makes me happy to read that you guys found this recipe useful. 🙂
This sounds great! How much cherries would I need for 7 pint jars? Can I just use lemon juice?
You mean 7 jars with a volume of 1 pint each, right? 1 pint = 16 ounces = about 470 milliliters or about 1/2 liter
That sounds like a whole lot of jam! This recipe with 2.2 pounds of fruits makes about 35 ounces on average. So, that means about 2 pints.
I always recommend working with 2.2 pounds fruits because the more fruits and sugar the trickier it gets to get the setting point right. So maybe you can work in batches? Or simply try it with the recommended quantity first and then take it from there. That way you will get a hang for it and jam making experience is always a plus.
HI there, I have a freezer full of frozen sour cherries, can I use your recipe to make my jam?
Yes you can! Sour Cherries are the best choice when making jam because they contain more natural pectins and the flavor balance turns out better with the sugar. We use sour cherries mainly for our jam.
Can you translate the pounds to cups, etc?
Hi Carol, for this recipe you will need to weigh the fruits and sugar to get it right. Cups are by volume and the ratio will be off because cups are not accurate.
You cannot safely can cherry jam without safely water bathing it. Turning over jam jars is not safely canning it.
It's a french recipe and the way french make their jams. It's a safe method and not something to be scared of if you followed my instructions to the T. Now, of course, you are free to still water bath can your jars, after all, that process if you want.
No. It is not a safe canning method. You need to water bath it. It doesn't matter who does it, it is still not a safe method. And you will be liable if anyone gets sick.
Listen, this is just not for you. Please don't tell people how to do things who have done it like this for centuries. Nobody has ever gotten sick with this method and if I tell this someone in France they will laugh at this comment. You can follow your country's FDA regulations, which I highly assume is the USA, just don't think this is a law everywhere in this world. We have just been doing fine as is. Work in a clean environment and you will be fine. Thank you!
Delicious, thank you!
Made this today. Added a teaspoon of almond extract and about 4 tablespoons of water. Cooked about an hour. Perfect at 220°. Tastes great! Everyone loved it. This batch made 2 pints.
Nice idea to add almond extract! Will try that next time too. 🙂