Sour Cherry Jam
Sour cherry jam is just packed with incredible cherry flavor.
Servings: 2 half pint jars
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 lbs sour cherries 2 1/2 lbs pitted, or 5 cups pitted
- 1 medium lemon juiced, about 2 Tbsp.
- 2 cups sugar see note
Instructions
- Pit fresh 3 lbs sour cherries. If working with pitted fruit, the total weight should be about 2 1/2 lbs pitted, or roughly 5 cups pitted fruit.
- Place the fruit in a heavy-bottomed jam pot along with lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Cook the cherry mixture, stirring continuously to avoid boil-overs, for about 20 minutes until the fruit has completely fallen apart.
- Add sugar. (If adding pectin, now is the time, see notes).
- Continue cooking the jam until it reaches gel stage, about 25 to 30 more minutes.
- Test for gel stage on a plate that's been placed in the freezer, or with an instant-read thermometer (220 degrees F at sea level).
- Turn off heat and ladle jam into prepared jars. De-bubble, wipe rims and adjust headspace to 1/4 inch. Store in the refrigerator for immediate use (within 1 month), or process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes for a shelf-stable jam.
Notes
* With Pectin - I don't use pectin in my sour cherry jam, but this is how you'd do it:
If you prefer to use pectin in your jams, you can obtain a higher yield by adding it after 20 minutes cook time. Cook the cherries for 15-20 minutes first without sugar, then add the pectin and return to a boil for 1 minute. Add the sugar, then return to a boil for one minute. (This is important, as most pectin won't gel if you add the sugar first, but refer to the instructions on the packet as they can vary slightly by brand.)
After 1 minute of boiling, ladle the cherry jam into prepared jars with no further cooking.
If using sure jell, add one packet (1.75 oz) and double the amount of lemon juice to 1/4 cup, and sugar to 4 cups (because it won't gel at lower sugar levels, and the extra lemon is to help balance out all that extra sugar). Alternately, use low sugar pectin and keep the sugar level the same.
If using a low sugar or no sugar pectin, no need to increase the sugar or lemon juice.
Be sure to follow the instructions on the pectin packet, as they can vary slightly as to the order of operations and total cook times.
Liquid pectin works differently and is added after the sugar. Liquid pectin also requires more sugar to gel. I don't recommend liquid pectin, but if you do choose to use it you'll need to use 7-8 cups sugar and add the sugar first before the liquid pectin.
*Sugar Amounts ~ Most sour cherry jam recipes use between 2 and 3 cups of sugar for every 5-6 cups of pitted fruit. I've found this jam to be quite sweet, and the fruit flavor gets more concentrated when you use 2 cups of sugar. That said, the yield is lower. Feel free to increase the sugar to 3 cups if you like very sweet jams, and you'll get a higher yield (but milder cherry flavor).
*Yield ~ The sour cherries will cook down considerably, and though you're starting with a full 3 pounds of fruit the finished yield is just 2 pints. This results in the best cherry flavor in the finished jam, and though the yield is lower, I wouldn't increase sugar or add pectin to up the yield. Quality over quantity!