A few days ago my neighbor Jill stopped by with a bag full of ripened Italian plums just picked from her trees minutes earlier. Instantly I knew I would have to make plum jam using the vibrant orangish-peach flesh. All the jams I’ve made this year have been made without using pectin and are ridiculously easy to make. Plum jam is no exception. All you need is fruit, or in this case plums, sugar, and a squeeze of lemon. That is it. Pretty easy huh? So make some plum jam with the bounty of the season. Enjoy!
Easy No-Pectin Plum Jam Recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups chopped plums, peels removed
1 cup sugar
1 Tbl. lemon juice
Directions:
Cook plums and lemon juice on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add sugar and stir until everything is well combined. Cook for an additional 15-20 minutes until the thickness of the jam has been reduced to the consistency of thick honey or 220 F. degrees stirring occasionally. Skim off the foam, remove from heat, and allow to cool. Enjoy!
Cutting, pitting, and peeling the plums the good old fashion way.. with my fingers and paring knife.
The fruit of my labor.
Just a little squeeze of lemon will do.
Step 1: Cooking the plums by themselves for a few minutes.
Step 2: Adding the sugar to begin the process of reducing and preserving.
Step 3: Watching the fruit break down and reducing the liquid.
Final Step: Nothing. Congrats, you’re there.
Ellen says
Made this tonight but doubled it… I have an Italian plum tree in my yard. You wondered in an earlier comment about them. They are sometimes called prune plums Yellow fleshed, oblong shaped, freestone (so pit easily). I did not peel them. We’ll see how they turn out. Doubling this gave me 2 half pints and 1 pint plus another half pint or so for the fridge. (I processed the rest in 10 minutes hot water bath.) So 5 cups or so.
I remembered reading earlier that the skins and pits provided more pectin, as someone else mentioned. Would be interested in learning more. I did pit these; just didn’t peel them as I like the color and chunkiness (is that word?) of jams with bits of peel.
Nicole says
Thank you for this recipe. My husband and I made it and it was simple and delicious! We will make it again for sure.
Annette says
I made the plum jam in my microwave its FANTASTIC only problem is ive got Loads and want to know if i can freeze some in plastic containers .Thankyou for Great jam
Adrian says
Just made this jam today. I left the skins on as I like my jam to be a bit chunky and I like the deep red colour too.
Picked the plums in my garden this afternoon. From chopping the plums to pouring the finished jam into sterilised jars took about 40 minutes – less time than it would take me to walk to the shops, buy some jam and walk home again.
Although I’m English, I measured everything in cups – well, a mug. Really pleased with the results; thanks for such a clear and easy recipe.
morgan white says
Hi my grandma lives on the isle of wight and i have got some plums here picked from her tree. do you live in brading?
Mommy Moment says
I just wanted you to know that I found this recipe today and linked it to my latest post. It looks wonderful and I can’t wait to make it with our fresh picked plums. http://www.mommymoment.ca/2011/08/fresh-picked-plums-jam-anyone.html
Jody
Peter says
Hi, great recipe. I have been given some plums and I will be trying this today. There seems to be some confusion about pectin for some people. It is as you point out a setting agent. Pectin occurs naturally in fruit. Usually in the skin. That’s why you don’t need pectin when using skinned fruit. When using soft fruits there is often not enough pectin to make the jam set so more has to be added. Pectin is particularly rich in apple and pear skin. Some dietitans recommend eating an aplenty or a pear half an hour before a meal as the pectin is a pro-biotic, in other words it feeds the good bacteria in your stomach.
lizzy says
in the plum recipe I just used..they said to crack open the stones and take the kernels out…blanch them in a bit of water (by boiling for a few mins) and put them in with the plums and sugar and a bit of water…it worked for me…no lemon juice required…as a rule…6 kernels per pound of fruit…i had 4lb so I used 24 kernels…though I did fish them out…you can leave them in…maybe use a little muslin bag next time so I dont have to fiddle about…
sue says
Hi I made this one and the blackberry Jam both turned out really nice and as I had never made Jam before I was well pleased thanks. Such an easy receipe to make.
Tammy Ferguson says
I made this a few times and LOVE how simple it is. However I had 1 batch turn out to runny. Is there an easy way to fix this or do I try plum syrup?
Kimberly says
I love that there is more fruit than sugar in this recipe! I was intrigued by the lack of added pectin so I gave it a whirl. My home-grown plums are very happy in this jam. I will make another batch tomorrow with the skins on. (another recipe I’ve used calls for cooking the plums with stones and skin, then straining after.) Thanks!
Rainey says
Thank you so much! I picked some organic plums today… Googled Plum Jam and found your blog… That was ridiculously easy! I read your post, went into my kitchen and made the jam!
Thanks again!
~Really Rainey~
Juliette Cagnolatti says
Thank you so much! My neighbor gave me some plums from her tree today and I thought I would make jam, so I googled plum jam because I had never made it before and there was your website! So easy too, I had already added some water so, not much else I could do. It came out wonderful. “Thank you”! Can’t wait to try your Blackberry Mint Lemonade, next! Yumm0′
Megs says
Hi Alice,
Great recipe, I have made it several times. I have 3 plum trees so I wash, seed and freeze to make through the winter. I have also tried this recipe with apricots and it works !!! Thank you ! My variation is that I add cinnamon and a pinch of ginger to the plums whilst cooking.. gives it a bit of spice. I recommend this site to all my friends, again, thank you !
megs
Neil says
I used this method last year with all types of Berries. I live on a small Wine farm in South Africa and I tried this method with some Merlot grapes. It turned out amazing. This year I am setting aside some Cab Sav as well as Merlot grape. I just take the grapes, skin and all, and send them through an home made press stright from the pot when finished. This removes the grape seeds and skin. For other fruits leave the skin in the jam as I think it adds to the taste and looks. I read that there is a lot of natural pectin is in the skin of most fruit and so you dont need to add more.
The cup thing is about Volume not weight. So you can use any size “cup” as long as you use the same size one for each item. i.e. One cup of berries might weigh 100g but one of the same cup of sugar might weigh 200g.
Kidcessory Haven says
I love this recipe!
Can you double or triple it by just doubling (or tripling) the ingredients?
Or should other measurements be used?
I want to make a BIG batch as two ‘cups’ , after simmering for 20 mins, does not leave you with a lot of jam.
Thanks!!
Lisa
Ofa says
I just made some plum jam today using this recipe and it turned out really well. I didn’t peel the plums so the jam came out a rich reddish-purple colour. Thank you so much for the recipe 🙂
Peg says
I was given a bag of fresh plums last night. I don’t really like plums, but I am going to make some jam from them to give to friends. I don’t like to use pectin for jam; I find using a bit of sugar and some fresh lemon juice works fine. I have some extra canning jars to use, so I’ll get started today. Thanks for the recipe! Lovely photos.
As for peeling fruit; hmm, ell I made apricot and nectarine jams without peeling, but when I made peach jam I peeled them (they were drop peaches with bruises so had to be cleaned up). I may try this without peeling.
Nick says
A US cup is half a US pint, more of a mugful than a teacupful
A US pint is 16oz or one pound weight of water*
So half a US pint is 8oz
A UK pint is 20oz or a pound and a quarter of water*
A UK gallon is 10 lbs of water and 8 UK pints
A US gallon is 8 US pints
A UK pound is the same as a US pound and so a UK oz in the same as a US oz
* remember, a cup is a measure of volume not weight. E.g. a cup of rice weighs more than a cupful of roast coffee beans at a density of 762 and 432 respectively, with water at 1000 on the same scale, and molten lead at 11,000!
Tia says
If I was to can this, how many jars (half pints) would this recipe make?
Jaiden Ndlovu says
this was great. I tried it with my plums and I am really enjoying it
Louise says
I’m with Rich! I am from the UK and we dont have cups! What are cups? we drink tea in cups….everytime I find an american recipe I have to rummage through my vast collection of cook books to find one with the conversion instructions (I know, I should write it out and keep it somewhere easy to find!) and Joanne – how to measure a pound of plums? easy – we use ….s.c.a l.e.s! Call me old fashioned…But joy! I found a set of red plasitc “cups” in my local supermarket the other day! yippee, that will make life easier across the divide, and now I am off to make this lovely plum jam as my neighbour has just given me what looks like 200 cups of plums!!!!!
Marjory says
I was delighted to find this recipe. It is a good idea to get the measure after the plums are peeled and cut. I made the jam with Victoria Plums. It is a lovely golden colour. Great success.
jo ussher says
i have just found your website and will give
Joanne says
Rich, I laughed when I read your comment, because I searched all over for a recipe that called for cups instead of pounds or grams. How do you measure a pound of plums? A cup is so much easier! It is 250 ml.
I’m making this recipe this afternoon. It looks so simple.