1 Jam Pot I mainly use a tall and large stainless-steel pot to cook jam (16 quarts or about 15 liters). My mum has a copper jam cooking pan and that would be the preferred choice. Copper cooks jam evenly and better, and it's also the traditional way in France to cook jam.
1 Long-handled Wooden Cooking SpoonIt's easier to stir jam with a long handle and with a wooden one so that the heat doesn't transfer.
1 Canning ThermometerSo that you know when your jam has reached setting point.A small plate with spoon (optional) – Placed in the freezer to cool. Drop hot jam on the plate with the spoon. This is an alternative method to check if the jam has set.
Rinse your gooseberries in clear water. You can add a dash of vinegar to your berries in some fresh water as this removes impurities and insects.
2.2 Pounds Gooseberries
Top and tail your gooseberries. That means, cut off each end of your gooseberries.
Prep Jam
Place whole prepped gooseberries into a large pot. Turn on the heat and keep over a low setting.
2.2 Pounds Gooseberries
Pour sugar into the pot over the fruits and stir sugar into the fruits. The sugar will melt with the heat.
3 Cups Sugar
Increase your stove heat to a medium-high level and bring to a rolling boil. Stir occasionally.
Once you get to that rolling boil, reduce the stove heat to a medium setting. Leave the jam to simmer and watch the gooseberries pop. Stir occasionally so that nothing sticks on at the bottom.
Cook down until the fruits start to appear glossy and translucent. This can take 30–50 minutes (depends on the pot, heat intensity and ripeness of the fruits).
When the fruits look done (glossy, translucent), blend with a hand blender (aka stick blender) or in a mixer/food processor. You can blend it chunky or smooth, it's up to you.
Take back to the pot and keep over the lowest heat setting for a few minutes. It will bubble a bit and this is very you need to be careful that it doesn't jump up and burn you or that it burns at the bottom of the pot. While it's on the fire, test if the jam has reached the gelling stage, so to say if it is set.
Test setting stage with a thermometer of 220 Fahrenheit (ca. 104 °C) or do the test with an ice-cold plate. Drop some hot jam on the ice-cold plate. Quickly try to move around the jam on the plate to see whether it is running or not. *see notes for explanation and process details.
When the jam is set, pour it still hot into clean sterilized jars almost up to the rim.
Lock tight with a clean sterilized lid and turn jar upside down to create a vacuum. Turn it back face up when the jar is not that hot anymore and store your homemade gooseberry jam as per my instructions (please see storing instructions in post).
Video
Notes
Testing setting stage of jam with an ice-cold plateThe idea is to drop very hot jam on an ice-cold plate so that the jam gets to cool off instantly. You can only see the real consistency of your jam when it has cooled down. Hot jam will always appear liquid, which can be misleading.When the hot jam is dropped on the plate it gets to cool off, and you can see if it's running over the plate. If it's running, it's not set and your jam needs to cook further down until it has reached the perfect setting stage. Rinse and repeat until your jam is finally set.BUT be careful to not overcook your jam or else it will turn out stone hard and fixing a hard jam is difficult. If you are unsure or if you are making homemade jam for the first time, I recommend using a candy thermometer to get the setting of your jam at the right time.