Seedless Blackberry Jam {no pectin recipe}

Seedless Blackberry Jam doesn’t use pectin

This lovely Seedless Blackberry Jam, just has three ingredients – blackberries, sugar and lemon juice.

Why not use pectin?

I don’t use pectin in any of my jams or jellies. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, using pectin means using more sugar. Pectin requires a higher percentage of sugar to set, and I don’t care for that sweeter taste. It mutes the fresh flavor of the fruit.

Pectin can also be tricky to use. I belong to several homesteader and canning groups on Facebook and it is very common to see posts where people are complaining that their jam using pectin came out thin. I have never had that problem with jams using just sugar and lemon juice to set.

Start with fresh berries

You can use frozen berries for this jam, but they won’t work quite as well. Frozen fruit loses some of its natural pectin, and we want all the natural pectin we can get since we’re not adding any. If frozen berries are all that you can get your hands on, it will likely take long to cook the jam down.

How many berries will I need?

There is not an easy answer to that question as it turns out. The moisture content in blackberries can vary by quite a bit. I made a batch after we had a lot of rain, and they were much juicier than ones we picked after a week or two with little rain. I began with about 20 cups of berries, which yielded 6 cups of juice.

Why seedless jam?

While I don’t mind some seeds in my Raspberry Preserves [I do take about half of the seeds out of that]. the seeds in blackberries are another matter. They are bigger and harder for starters. And, in the course of cooking down the jam, I think they take on a somewhat bitter undertone. Just not as tasty with them in is how I look at it. We also have our own blackberry bushes, so we do have a good supply of berries. If on the other hand, you like the seeds, leave them in. You may need more sugar, because the overall volume of the finished product will increase.

Why is this jam, not jelly?

There 3 main kinds of spread made from fruit – jam, jelly and preserves. Preserves, like my Strawberry Preserves use whole fruit, seeds and all. Jelly is made with just the juice, which is extracted from the fruit by one method or another. This, however is jam – I began with whole fruit, and just removed the seeds, leaving the pulp in with the juice.

Recipes I have seen using juice, mashed the berries raw and ran them through a food mill or something similar. We’re going a little lower tech than that today. I like to put the berries in a large pot, mash them and then bring them to a simmer for a few minutes. This breaks the fruit down a bit better and then you can get more of the juicy puree.

To remove the seeds, I like to use a mesh strainer and the back of a stainless steel ladle. Put the slightly cooled fruit in the strainer, and swirl the ladle around the bottom to push the juice and pulp out. Keep pushing the remaining seeds around until no more juice is coming out the bottom. This does get a little messy, and blackberry juice will stain, so an apron might come in handy.

Measure the resulting juice 

You are going to be returning the juice and pulp you just extracted to the pot, but measure it as you do. I used approximately half as much sugar as juice. So 6 cups of juice, 3 cups of sugar. Stir well to dissolve the sugar.

Bring the mixture up to a medium simmer

I always view jam and preserve recipes with exact times with a big measure of skepticism and so should you. There are so many variables involved here. How juicy was the fruit? How big is your pan? How high is the heat? I can tell you what I do, and how I define things, but that doesn’t mean my medium simmer is going to be the same as yours. If your berries had a high water content, it stands to reason that it is going to take longer to drive off enough of that moisture for the jam to have a nice set.

Learn how to tell when jam is “done”

What you need to do is learn how to tell when your jam is ready. The most accurate to do that is with an instant-read thermometer. Jam does take on a particular “look” when it is ready, but I still check it for the correct temperature every time. You are looking for 218°F. That is going to give you a nice firm set, that won’t be runny, even after months in the pantry. You need to be patient and stick close while you’re cooking it down. One you have some up to a simmer, it will take anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes. This batch took about 40 minutes.

Afraid you’ll forget?

There are a number of kitchen tasks that I don’t trust just to memory, like making yogurt, or this jam. If I have to remember to periodically check on something, I always use a kitchen timer, set at 5 or 10 minute intervals, so that I stay on top of things.

How to make Seedless Blackberry Jam

Easy to can

As mentioned in the recipe, jam is one of the easiest and safest things to waterbath can. You can check for details on that in my post for Blueberry Preserves. Otherwise, this will keep quite a while in the refrigerator.

If you want to make cute labels for yours, I love this little thermal label maker.