Easy No-Cook Freezer Jam
The freshest tasting berry jam is made in just minutes with this no-cook freezer jam recipe. Find out the pros and cons about pectin, how you can use it, make your own, or do without using other recipes listed. But if you want almost fresh from the vine flavored jam in the depths of winter, freezer jam is where it’s at!
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When I wrote about how to freeze strawberries for preserving, freezer jam was one of the three ways I shared to enjoy height-of-summer berries through the winter.
Our whole family really loves any type of berry freezer jam instead of traditional cooked and canned jams, so it’s the main way I preserve fruit as jam.
Over the years I’ve tried many different cooked and canned jams (some just using the natural pectin in the fruit) and I found our family just doesn’t like the flavor as much.
Cooked jams are often too sweet with less fruit flavor. Plus, they didn’t always gel and we’d have to use it for syrup instead – especially the ones without any added pectin or gelatin.
I find no-cook jams made with commercial pectins not only incredibly easy, but way fresher tasting, so I’ve continued to use them even after I started reading labels because the ingredients are not terrible and I’m okay with it for the outcome.
We all have to make our own choices here, which is actually a goal I have for the blog – balance. Do what works for your family and make informed choices.
But Can You Make Freezer Jam Without Commercial Pectin?
Yes, as I mentioned in the strawberry preserving article, there are some no pectin methods work with all berries and other fruits, depending (like chia seeds with peaches probably wouldn’t work, but they aren’t noticeable with seedy berries):
- Make a homemade pectin from green apples. This is only so-so, since the jam has to be cooked and you lose that fresh flavor.
- Use chia seeds to thicken fruit and sugar like this recipe for Blackberry Chia Seed Freezer Jam (pictured above). Since the seeds don’t need the sugar to thicken like pectins, you can use a substitute or very little. It only lasts about a week in the fridge after defrosting, though.
- Cook berries until their natural pectin forms. This of course won’t give that fresh no-cooked flavor and different berries have different amounts of pectin (strawberries less than raspberries, for example), so you may end up with a runnier product.
- I’ve even seen recipes that use gelatin, though the consensus is that for freezer jams, the gelatin doesn’t hold the gel after defrosting.
- Low-cook the berries with lemon and a sweetener. I developed this recipe that’s surprisingly close to the fresh flavor I enjoy in freezer jams and it’s made with just berries, lemon, and maple syrup! (Here’s why lemon helps jams to thicken if you’re wondering.)
Looking for a pantry stable option with low sugar?
Oh, and if you’re wanting a shelf stable jam to give as gifts or just keep in your pantry, here’s my 3 ingredient no pectin canned blackberry jam sweetened only with maple syrup that is amazing. And that’s saying something for me who prefers uncooked jams.
That recipe would also work just as well with blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. AND it also works as a freezer jam.
It’s great to have options, right?
How to Make Easy Freezer Jam
Ingredients
You’ll need very simple ingredients to make a batch of jam:
- berries or fruit, equal to anywhere between 1-2/3 cups to 5 cups crushed, depending on number of pints being made
- sugar, 2/3 to 2 cups, again depending, if using the commercial pectin
- pectin for freezer jam or with no-cook options
I like Ball flex-batch pectins, because you can make small batches easily, which is perfect for those of us with smaller home berry patches or if you pick up a couple pints at a farmer’s market.
The two pictured above are “Freezer Pectin” which is a no-cook pectin, and “Low and No-Sugar Needed Pectin” which does have a short cook time.
For freezer jams, I like the no-cook pectin best since it uses less sugar, gives that fresh flavor, and takes less time. But if you’re wanting to try a no sugar jam, go with the other since it’s only a bit of cooking time.
What are the ingredients of commercial pectin?
- Dextrose is the first ingredient, a sugar derived from sweet fruits (though mostly corn now, I suppose). It’s less than a 1/4 cup, so it’s a trade-off I’m still willing to make, even though it probably comes from non-organic corn that I try to avoid now (choices…).
- Next is fruit pectin, usually from apples or citrus.
- Citric acid is the third ingredient. It’s derived from citrus, but not the same as ascorbic acid, which is vitamin C and is needed to work with the pectin to gel (the pectin and acid work this way together in nature, too).
- Sodium citrate, which is the salt of citric acid.
- Potassium sorbate which is the preservative. Looking up what exactly this is, I found this is from Wikipedia: it is the potassium salt of sorbic acid (a natural organic compound used for food preservation that was discovered from unripe berries in the 1850s).
So for us, in our mainly-from-scratch diet, this small amount of preservative is worth it so we can have the best tasting jam in our freezer using our homegrown or wild berries and fruits.
In other words, this is a modern invention I’m okay with, but you won’t hurt my feelings if you disagree, because it takes all kinds to make the world go around, right?
Directions
Let’s make some freezer jam!
1. Wash and crush berries to equal 1-2/3 to 5 cups (or what the package directions call for). I whir strawberries and peaches a couple of times in the food processor to get even pieces quickly, but other berries are easily crushed with a potato masher.
2. Boil some water and pour it into jars or freezer containers to do a quick sterilization while making the jam. This isn’t totally necessary, it just is another way to ensure your hard work lasts.
3. Following the instructions on the packet, mix the sugar and pectin in the amounts you need for your number of pints in a bowl. (Note: this photo was taken when the pectin was sold in packets – now it comes in the Flex Batch containers.)
4. Add crushed fruit and stir for 3 minutes.
Toward the end of the 3 minutes, you will feel that the mixture is already starting to thicken.
5. Pour into the containers, making sure to leave enough room for expansion during freezing, 1/2 to 1 inch headspace.
Note: I’ve used glass containers for freezer jam for years now in an effort to not use as much plastic and I haven’t had breakage. A bonus is they look nicer on the table.
That’s it. Seriously, it’s that easy and quick.
If you’ve been making jam, what’s your favorite way to make jam? And if you haven’t what’s stopping you?
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Easy No-Cook Berry Freezer Jam
Equipment
- Glass measuring cup
- Large bowl
- Wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 5 cups crushed fruit
- 2 cups sugar
- 6 tablespoons Ball Flex Batch Freezer Pectin*
Instructions
- Prepare your jars and/or freezer containers: wash well and pour boiling water into jars and let them sit while making the jam.
- Prepare your fruit: hull strawberries and partially run through a food processor to make the crushing go quicker; other berries can just be crushed with a potato masher, a couple cups at a time. Other fruit like peaches and nectarines will need to be chopped finely.
- Make the jam: Add sugar and pectin to a large bowl and stir together well. Add your prepared fruit and stir for 3 minutes.
- Pour the jam into clean jars, leaving 1/2 to 1 inch headspace (for freezer expansion); place lids on jars and let the jars sit undisturbed for 30 minutes.
- Refrigerate what you want to eat now (they will keep for about 3 weeks) and freeze the rest for up to a year. Be sure to label and date all the containers before freezing.
Notes
Nutrition
More Berry Recipes to Try:
This recipe has been updated – it was originally published in July of 2010.
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Can I use freezer bags to make uncooked freezer jam
Thanks
Sylvia
You could, Sylvia, but it makes it harder to use it – getting spoonfuls of jam out of a bag isn’t easy. I’ve collected small glass jars and that’s all I use now – no more plastic freezer containers. 😉
Hi,
I’ve just been looking up recipes for strawberry jam and come across your website. I’d never heard of freezer jam before but it sounds a great idea. Can I point out an error though – according to wikipedia Vitamin C is not the same as citric acid. Vitamin C is a form of ascorbic acid.
Oh, you’re so right Dean – my bad! While both are found in citrus fruits, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is used to preserve color while citric acid can be used instead of lemon juice to tomatoes to make them safe for water-bath canning (and apparently works with pectin to gel). I’ll update that in the post, too – thanks!
Anonymous- Wow, running out of the containers? I’ve never heard that before. Did you leave an inch of room in the containers?
I always do one batch at a time, as I’ve read that doubling up doesn’t work. So use only one box of pectin and make one batch at a time. As for the current batch, I’ve always used jam that didn’t turn out as syrup, just freeze it and use as needed. Sorry, I don’t think there’s a way to firm it up now…
Nice site for making freezer Jam. I got my first crop of rasberries this year, so I thought ” Oh No Problem I’l make Freezer Jam, well I made it to the directions on the package and was sitting out as it says for 24 hrs. left home , came back and Jam was running out of my containers. I have never made this before, so I don’t know what I did or How to correct. I did use 2 boxes of pectin which asks to boil with 3/4 cu. H20, but I didn’t pour all pectin in my rasberries. Do You have any ideas as to what happen and should i just freeze it now ?? Mistified
This looks like a wonderful recipe. I’ve been looking for freezer jam recipes to use:)Thanks for sharing…
Always nesting- I bought the plastic “freezer containers” years ago and so continue to use them, but freezer-safe glass is great (some would say better). Use what works for you!
Just this year I learned to make freezer jam. I used the end of last years frozen blackberries with strawberries and blueberries. Fabulous mixture. I was so proud of myself – like a kid 🙂
So, I’ve picked blueberries (28 pounds in the freezer) and I’m anxiously awaiting the sweetening of our local wild blackberries to make more jam. I love the photo of your strawberry jam.
I noticed you use plastic containers – my neighbor does as well. I used glass that are freezer safe. Since I’m new to this freezer jam experience, is one better to use than the other? I’m so glad you did this post and I’ve been able to learn more about freezer jam.
Thank you for posting! Just just made freezer no sugar preserves last wekend using strawberries. It came out not thick, which is how I like it, because I didn’t use any pectin at all. It uses three cups of white grape juice that you boil down to one cup to give a concentrated sweetness to the fruit. It is quite tasty–we went through two pints already!
Oh no, glass would work great, Heather. Just like I mentioned, you can pretty much use anything in the freezer and canning jars are made to freeze, too. I just find them harder to store in the freezer and usually need all my jars for regular canning.:-)
Do you have to use special containers to freeze the jam?
It would be sad – I have tons of canning jars!
So far this summer I have made cherry jam, strawberry jalapeno jam, strawberry jam, grape jelly, and mojito jelly. Just as soon as my peppers are ready I will be making hot pepper jelly as well. I love that I can control the amount of sugar and other stuff in our jelly. My kids would rather eat my grape jelly on their PB&J than anything from the store now.
Thanks for doing a post on this. I’ve wanted to do freezer jam for a while but didn’t know it was that simple to make. Does this method work with saskatoons as well. I live near a ravine where they grow wild so I have easy access to them!
Another great post…I hope you do more “Back to Basics” posts in the future..I really like these!!! I’ve never tried making any jam…canned or freezer jam. Not sure why…:( !!! I like collecting ideas that I know I’ll use…if not right away, than definitely in the future!!!! You’ve got lots of real useful tips…I like that!!!…especially since I’m living on a soda pop can budget..hee hee hee :)…
Back to the freezer jam, could I also use glass containers for the jam? Or is plastic better in this case?
Hugs from Oregon, Heather 🙂
That sounds lovely. I am scrutinizing labels myself, so I appreciate that you’ve already checked the Ball brand out.
Yummy!
Jenny- You go, girl!
Elizabeth- unfortunately, that’s the pectin we tried that had the aftertaste we didn’t like. I’m glad you had a good experience with it though.
Adopted- Oh No! You can use anything you want- canning jars are made to go in the freezer, so you’re good. 🙂
Bread and jam. Will be linking back to your bread post tomorrow. Would this freezer jam work with plums if we get a harvest again nest year?
I tried Pomona’s Universal Pectin for strawberry jam this week and it is delicious. I used a little bit of Splenda but the recipe said that honey, sugar, or even no sweetener could be used. The jam jelled up very nicely (compared with other low-sugar pectins I’ve tried in the past) and the strawberry flavor is pronounced. I’ll definitely be using it again!
Shirley- I was writing the answer to Elephant’s Eye at the same time you posted the comment, but the answer works for you, too- any fruit. Go for it!
Elephant’s Eye- Oh yeah- it works with any fruit, just mash/chop/etc. to the 4 c. measure.
YUM! We love freezer jam too! Really anything strawberry!