Plum Jam Recipe {without Pectin}

Name: Plum Jam Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 2.2 Pounds Plums (fresh); 3⅓ cup Sugar; Juice of one Lemon

Helene Dsouza

An easy recipe to make homemade plum jam. Make your slice of bread for breakfast great again!

Total Time: 1 hour

4.84 from 12 votes

Jump to Recipe

Homemade Plum Jam, all-natural without added pectins.

This is an easy french recipe to make your own fruit preserve at home.

Jump to:

Which plums to use to make jam?
How to make plum jam?
Flavor Variations
Storing
FAQs
More stone fruit recipes:
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

Which plums to use to make jam?

Pick ripe fresh plums that are sweet and rich in flavor.

You can use red plums or yellow plums, like Mirabelle or Reine Claude yellow plums.

I used red plums because that's what we re growing in our garden.

Just make sure to not use rotten or spoiled fruit because one bad fruit is more than enough to spoil a whole batch of jam.

Jams prepared with bad fruits spoil faster and just don't keep that well.

How to make plum jam?

This is hands down teh fasted and easiert and most delicious way to prepare plum jam at home.

This is how it's done in France (and neighboring countries) and I thought you would appreciate a quick overview to get going.

The complete recipe with measurements is located at the bottom of this post.

Step 1

Wash fruit to get rid of impurities and cut into half to remove the stones.

Quarter fruits and place into large jam cooking pot.

Pour sugar over fruits, lemon juice and squeezed out lemon halves.

cut fruits, remove pit and place all ingredients into pot

Step 2

Combine all the ingredient in the pot and heat up.

Bring the jam to a rolling boil.

Reduce heat a bit but continue to reduce jam until it appears translucent cooked.

Step 3

Blend jam to desired consistency.

Keep over heat and test if the jam is set with the help of a thermometer and/or by dropping some hot jam on an ice-cold plate.

Pour hot jam into clean sterilized jars, close with a lid and turn upside down to create a vacuum.

Flavor Variations

You can enhance your jam by adding any of the following ingredients to your jam during the cooking process.

Either add as a ground spice or as whole spice but take out the spices before you blend the jam.

cinnamon
allspice
ginger
vanilla
star anise
green cardamom

Storing

Keep your closed unlocked jam jars away from direct sunlight, in a dry and cool environment.

If you followed all the steps to the T and if you work in a clean environment your jam will be good for more than 1 year.

Once opened, keep in your fridge.

Don't reduce the sugar quantity on the recipe. The sugar helps in preserving the jam.

If you switch sugar with honey or other natural sweetener, be prepared to consume your jam soon.

For those of you who want to add another layer of safety, you can follow my cherry canning water bath recipe.

FAQs

Do you skin plums before making jam?

No I don't because the skin contains pectin and nutritious elements. Besides skinning is tedious and it's anyway not necessary because we will blend the jam.

What's the jam setting temperature?

Your jam sets at 220 Fahrenheit/ 105 Celsius. You can stick a candy thermometer into your jam during the cooking process.

Why is my plum jam runny and not setting?

You need to cook down your jam until it is not runny anymore, that means until it's set. Depending on the heat setting, it can take somewhere between 30-50 minutes, if you use a quantity of 1 kg/ 2.2 pounds of fruits. Just cook it and test if it's set. Jam when hot will always appear liquid, it's only that when it cools down that it will appear set. Hence why the cold plate test is so great! Just drop 1-2 drops of hot jam on an ice cold plate and move the plate around. It it down't run, your jam is set. OR bring it to the setting temperature.

More stone fruit recipes:

Peach Jam
Apricot Jam also suitable for cakes
Cherry Jam
Canned Plums by practicalselfreliance.com

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📖 Recipe

Plum Jam Recipe

An easy recipe to make homemade plum jam. Make your slice of bread for breakfast great again!

4.84 from 12 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: French

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Servings: servings

Calories: 30kcal

Recipe by: Helene Dsouza

Ingredients

For the Jam:

▢ 2.2 Pounds Plums fresh
▢ 3⅓ cup Sugar
▢ Juice of one Lemon

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Wash your plums well. Cut open on one side and pick out the core, discard the core.
Cut into quarters, weigh your plums and place them into a large cooking pot.
Add the sugar, lemon juice, and 2 lemon halves to the fruits. Mix the content well.
Keep the pot with the fruits on the stove, cook over a higher heat setting until you can see a rolling boil (lots of foam too!).
Takedown the heat a bit and cook until the jam appears translucent and set. This can take 30 - 50 minutes approximately.
Pick out the two lemon halves and discard them.
Blend jam into desired consistency (this is optional).
Test if the jam is set by dropping some on an ice cold plate, the jam is ready if it doesn't run. OR test with a candy thermometer, it's set at 220 Fahrenheit/ 105 Celsius. If it runs, keep for some more time to cook on low heat and repeat the test until you have the correct consistency.
Drop some rum (or other liquor) into the jar lids. That will help in keeping the jam germ and mold growth free.
Fill your clean jam jars with the plum jam, close well with the lid and turn the jar upside down.
Keep them upside down for a few hours and then store them in a dry and cool place and keep away from direct sunlight. Keep in the fridge once opened.

Notes

1 Teaspoon = one serving, 100 Teaspoons is about 3 jars (roughly). Recommended use is 1 Teaspoon serving on a slice of bread.
If you live in a humid tropical climate, please store the jam in the fridge at all times.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Plum Jam Recipe

Amount Per Serving

Calories 30 Calories from Fat 9

% Daily Value*

Fat 1g2%

Saturated Fat 1g5%

Sodium 1mg0%

Potassium 16mg0%

Carbohydrates 8g3%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 8g9%

Protein 1g2%

Vitamin A 34IU1%

Vitamin C 1mg1%

Calcium 1mg0%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Comments

Cindi says

July 25, 2020 at 4:19 pm

Hello from Wisconsin! I made your strawberry jam, which tasted incredible. That was the first jam I ever tried to make. I’m going to try the plum and peach. Just a couple of questions, 1) in the strawberry recipe, you suggested cook until 220 F, does that hold true for plum and peach? 2) what is the reason for adding lemon in the strawberry, but not these two.

I do not have any experience with making jam, just curious.

Thank you.

- Helene Dsouza says
  
  July 26, 2020 at 12:29 pm
  
  Hi Cindi, Yes the 220 F setting point holds true for all jams. The plum and peach jam are older recipes. I have plans to add more details to the plum and peach jam in the future and to remake them with a video and picture. My newer recipe all includes lemon juice and sometimes also the lemon halves because it helps in setting the jam. Lemon juice and the lemon skin contain natural pectins which help in setting the jam. Not all of our traditional family jam recipes used to include lemon juice when I wrote and published the recipes initially. Over the years, after having made hundreds of jams from scratch for our local farmer's market, we came to the conclusion (me and my mum) that adding lemon juice to all jams is the way to go. That said, I recommend that you add lemon juice to your peach and plum jam too, just the way you did in the strawberry jam recipe. I will fix the peach and plum jam recipe in the coming 2 months when our fruits are done growing in our garden. 🙂
  
  - Cindi says
    
    July 26, 2020 at 4:49 pm
    
    Thank you!
    
    - Helene Dsouza says
      
      July 26, 2020 at 7:39 pm
      
      Thank you for asking, these are legit questions. 🙂
      
Shelly D. says

July 07, 2020 at 12:10 am

Great recipe!

- Helene Dsouza says
  
  July 07, 2020 at 12:36 pm
  
  thank you for your feedback Shelly 🙂
  
Audrey Plate says

April 25, 2020 at 3:29 am

Successfully done, did add lemon juice as there was not enough natural pectin in my plums but it tastes great

- Helene Dsouza says
  
  April 27, 2020 at 11:31 pm
  
  Thank you for your feedback Audrey! 🙂
  
Monica Reinhart says

July 08, 2019 at 7:38 pm

Since these are not"canned" in a water bath, how long will they last? I've never made jams but would like to and I didn't want to use pectin. Thanks. Monica

- Helene Dsouza says
  
  July 11, 2019 at 1:11 pm
  
  Hi Monica,
  The jams last for about 12 months if you store them properly as described. That means to follow the cooking process until the jam is set, using sterilized jars, filling the jars up to the rim with the jam, adding a few drops of rum or other alcohol into the lid to disinfect further, turning the jam upside down to create a vacuum and lastly to store the jam in a dry and dark place or in the fridge once opened.
  
  I may add that this is a French jam recipe and that we don't do the canned in a water bath method in Europe. Most jam recipes have been further tested in a humid tropical climate in Asia and the jams were always good for over 10 months if stored as described.
  
Craig Cranston says

February 02, 2017 at 6:41 pm

OOh this is fabulous! I've been meaning to make jam for a very long time now! This is the push i needed!

nipponnin says

February 05, 2015 at 11:36 am

I would like to try this jam! Very nice photos!

mjskitchen says

February 04, 2015 at 9:07 am

Your plums look like little Damson plums. We had a Damson plum tree for about 15 years and it was SO prolific! Jam from those plums was the best so you have me smacking my lips together looking at your jar of plum jam and remembering that wonderful flavor. So pretty and tasty!

Kathy says

January 29, 2015 at 2:52 am

Beautiful color and consistency! I love plums and will be saving this recipe until next fall…when plums are in season again in N.J. Love your last photo!

Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says

January 29, 2015 at 12:43 am

I could spoon these luscious jam on everything 😀

Gingi says

January 27, 2015 at 9:12 am

What a fun recipe, thanks for sharing!! <3 -

[email protected] says

January 27, 2015 at 2:09 am

Plums never seemed to come into season this year which is SO disappointing! Your jam looks incredibly glossy and...well...JAMMY!! I could do with some on my scones (honestly, baking up a batch right no!!) 🙂

[email protected]'s Recipes says

January 25, 2015 at 5:22 pm

Pectin is not for me either. This looks fantastic!

Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says

January 24, 2015 at 5:14 pm

I admit that even at my advanced age, I have never made plum jam. I've made every other sort of jam but not plum and I have no excuse nor do I know why I never tried it. I must because yours looks amazingly good!

Choc Chip Uru says

January 24, 2015 at 11:37 am

What a lovely colour and flavour for jam 😀

Cheers
Choc Chip Uru

Hotly Spiced says

January 24, 2015 at 3:27 am

I also prefer my jams with texture rather than being like a jelly. I love the colour of your plum jam and that's a really good tip about the rum xx

[email protected] Riffs says

January 24, 2015 at 1:41 am

I'm really not a fan of pectin in my jam, so I'm always happy to see recipes like yours. Plum jam is wonderful -- never made it though. You're definitely tempting me! 🙂 Thanks for this.

Shashi at Runninsrilankan says

January 23, 2015 at 10:15 pm

Wow - gorgeous jam! I hope one day you sell your jams in your online store too - i sure would like to buy some!

Rosa says

January 23, 2015 at 9:01 pm

Delicious! That's how I make it...

Cheers,

Rosa

marudhuskitchen says

January 23, 2015 at 8:54 pm

Love the deep red color.. Of the plums

Anupama says

January 23, 2015 at 8:14 pm

Jams are something I have always considered making, but never attempted. This easy to follow recipe seems to be calling for action from my side. Thank you for sharing and inspiring me.

PIYALI says

January 23, 2015 at 8:03 pm

This is a truly delightful recipe. It's fresh, with dollops of goodness imparted by the gorgeous looking plums. Loved it.

Which plums to use to make jam?

How to make plum jam?

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Flavor Variations

Storing

FAQs

More stone fruit recipes:

📖 Recipe

Plum Jam Recipe

Ingredients

For the Jam:

Instructions

Notes

Nutrition

Comments

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