Making Jams and Jellies

Plum Jelly
without added pectin

• Plum juice (1 pound plums and ½ cup water)
• Sugar (¾ cup to each cup of juice)

Yield: About 8 or 9 half-pint jars

Please read Using Boiling Water Canners before beginning. If this is your first time canning, it is recommended that you read Principles of Home Canning.

Procedure:

To Prepare Juice—Wash plums well. Crush fruit, add water, cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until fruit is soft. When fruit is tender, pour everything through a double layer of dampened cheesecloth or a damp jelly bag. Suspend the bag over a bowl or pan, using a stand or colander to hold the bag. Drain the juice without pressing or squeezing, which will cause cloudy jelly. If a fruit press is used, the juice should be restrained through a jelly bag.

To Make Jelly—Sterilize canning jars. Cook juice down until thick and cherry colored. Measure juice into a saucepot, add sugar and stir well. Boil over high heat until the temperature measures 8°F above the boiling point of water (220°F at sea level), or until the jelly mixture sheets from a metal spoon. (See Testing Jelly Without Added Pectin.)

Remove from heat; skim off foam quickly. Pour hot jelly immediately into hot, sterile jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel; adjust two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a Boiling Water Canner.

This document was adapted from "So Easy to Preserve", 5th ed. 2006. Bulletin 989, Cooperative Extension Service, The University of Georgia, Athens. Revised by Elizabeth L. Andress. Ph.D. and Judy A. Harrison, Ph.D., Extension Foods Specialists.

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