Homemade Apricot Jam made with only fresh apricots, lemon juice and sugar. No pectin needed to make this delicious apricot jam.
I visited the Peach Man again. Remember when I brought home peaches and made Old Fashioned Peach Ice Cream? This time I brought home a box of apricots.
Do you know how many apricots are in a box of apricots? 892 apricots! I'm kidding.... I have no idea how many are in a box, but there are a ton of apricots inside one box. The Peach Man's words to me as he handed me the box was, these apricots are ripe, use them up quickly!
How do you eat a whole box in just a couple of days? You don't! You quickly get to work and make apricot dishes! Apricot jam is one of our favorites so I made several batches of apricot jam.
I make and can a lot of different kinds of jams. When possible, I often make jam without added pectin. There's nothing wrong with commercial pectin, but you have to use an exact amount of sugar in order for your jam to set-up. It's usually a huge amount of sugar. I often want to use less sugar so I make jam without added pectin.
There are a few drawbacks: You have to cook the jam longer than with added pectin. It's a bit more difficult to make certain your jam sets up just right. Some fruits lose their vibrant color with the extra cooking time.
My Tips for Making Jam:
- Always use fresh, quality fruit. Discard soft, bruised or blemished fruit. If it's a small blemish, I just cut off that part and use the rest.
- Always wash and sterilize jars before using.
- Stir often to avoid scorching.
- Test your jam by using a candy thermometer or by using the sheeting test.
- Process all jam jars in a hot water bath for the recommended amount of time and adjust processing time for your altitude.
- After processing, let jars cool undisturbed. Don't be tempted to test the seals yet!
- After 24 hours, remove rings, wash and dry jars (they will often be sticky) and check seals.
- Label type of jam and date.
- Store in a dark pantry.
- Enjoy!
If you are new to canning using a hot water bath, you might want to read Water Bath Canning.
Equipment needed for making apricot jam
A few other jam recipes I make are Strawberry Jam, Blackberry Jam, Rhubarb Jam and Plum Jam.
A great way to use jam is in this Oatmeal Bar Recipe or in these Apricot Bars.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop
Check out all my delicious canning recipes!
Apricot Jam
Ingredients
- 8 cups pitted and chopped apricots
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice
- 5 ½ cups sugar
Instructions
- Place apricots, lemon juice and sugar in a large pot.
- Turn over medium high heat. Stir often at the beginning until the mixture becomes really liquidy.
- Continue cooking until mixture comes to a rapid boil
- Continue boiling for approximately 20-25 minutes.
- Boil until jam is set (220 degrees at sea level and -2 degrees for every 1000 feet above sea level.. 1000 feet 218°).
- Transfer hot jam into sterilized jam jars (half pint size). Wipe top of jar clean. Add canning lid and ring. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes (adjust for altitude - see notes below)
Notes
- If you don't have a candy thermometer, test jam by doing the sheeting test (see description in post)
- Makes 10 half-pint jars or 5 pint jars
- Always adjust processing times for your elevation:
- 1,001- 3,000 ft. - add 5 minutes
- 3,001- 6,000 ft. - add 10 minutes
- 6,001- 8,000 ft. - add 15 minutes
- 8,001-10,000 ft. - add 20 minutes
Nutrition
Sandra Godfrey says
You've inspired me to make apricot jam without much sugar and no pectin this time. My apricots are ripe and delicious.
Kathy says
Wonderful!!! Enjoy and let me know how it turns out!
Kathy 🙂
Sue says
Does it take a few days to setup? I ran short on fresh lemon juice so supplemented with bottled. Hope that is ok? Thanks!
Kathy says
Hi Sue,
Bottled lemon juice is fine. If the jam was still runny while cooking and you did the temperature test or the sheeting test, you should be fine. Otherwise it needs to cook longer.
Kathy 🙂
Bev says
Did you blanch and peel apricots first?
Kathy says
Hi Bev, I did not blanch and peel first. I just halved and pitted the apricots and then chopped them up. Enjoy!
Bev says
Thanks so much! Starting today! Picked two huge bins and my tree doesn't even look like we made a dent.:)
Kathy says
Lucky you! I wish apricots could grow here! Good luck with the jam! 🙂
Amanda says
Getting a huge box of fruit like that is so fun. Like Christmas come early! And I can't think of a better way to use it. I want to put this apricot jam all over my Greek yogurt in the morning.
Kathy says
Over yogurt is a great idea! I will need to try that with a bit of granola!