Stone-Fruit Jam
Peaches, plums, apricots, or a mix of all three, crushed and set with pectin into a sunny water-bath jam — one recipe for the whole orchard as each tree comes ripe.
Ingredients
one batchFrom the garden
- 3 lb ripe stone fruit (peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines), pitted; peaches and nectarines peeled — to yield 4 cups crushed
From the pantry
- 5½ cups granulated sugar — measured out in advance; the full amount is required for the set
- 1¾ oz powdered fruit pectin — one standard box
- 2 tbsp bottled lemon juice — keeps the acidity in the tested safe range for water-bath canning
Steps
tap a step to dim it as you go- Fill a boiling-water canner and bring it to a simmer. Wash 6 half-pint jars and keep them hot in simmering water; prepare the lids. Measure the sugar into a bowl.
- To peel peaches or nectarines, dunk them in boiling water 30–60 seconds, then straight into ice water — the skins slip off with your fingers. Pit all the fruit and chop it, then crush a layer at a time with a potato masher. Measure exactly 4 cups crushed fruit into a tall, heavy pot and stir in the lemon juice and pectin.
- Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Add all the sugar at once, return to a rolling boil that stirring can't knock down, and boil hard exactly 1 minute. Off the heat, skim any foam.
- Ladle the hot jam into the hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. Wipe the rims clean and screw on the lids to fingertip-tight.
- Process in the boiling-water bath, covered by 1–2 inches of water, for 10 minutes at a steady boil. Altitude adjustment: add 5 minutes at 1,001–6,000 feet, 10 minutes above 6,000 feet. Rest 5 minutes off the heat, then lift the jars out.
- Cool undisturbed 12–24 hours, check that the lids sealed concave, remove the bands, and label. Refrigerate any jar that didn't seal and use it first.