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
Cheyanne @ No Spoon Necessary says
Hahahahaha! 892 apricots is a lot! Too bad I'm not your neighbor or I'd gladly take 165.2 of them off your hands. 😉 Love that you decided to make jam with your fresh and ripe surplus of apricots! Your jam looks absolutely perfect, Kathy! Love your tips too! I've been meaning to make jam with some of summers produce, so this post came at the perfect time! Cheers, friend!
Kathy says
Trust me...there were too many to count!
Anu - My Ginger Garlic Kitchen says
What a wonderful post, Kathy. I have a confession that I have never used fresh apricots — I have tasted only dried ones. I know that sounds weird. Everything you make looks so inviting and delicious! And this jam is no exception!
Kathy says
I love dried apricots, but there's something amazing about the fresh ones too.
David @ Spiced says
Great tips about making jam...it's been so long since I've made fresh jam, and you've inspired me to do it again. 🙂 I'm guessing some of this apricot jam might be excellent spread between layers of chocolate cake! Yum!
Kathy says
Oh my goodness....with chocolate cake! No you're talking 🙂
Ami@NaiveCookCooks says
This looks so yumm! I love apricots everything so this is my kind of jam!!
Kushi says
Love how delicious this jam looks with just 3 ingredients. Thank you for sharing this.
Nicoletta @sugarlovespices says
That is our kind of jam! Just the fruit, some lemon and sugar. It looks divine! Perfect idea to use up a lot of apricots when you have a whole box 😉 .
Mary Ann | The Beach House Kitchen says
My son Sean's favorite cookie is a Hungarian cookie called Kifli and it's usually filled with either walnuts or apricot jam! I'll need to make him some of this Kathy and send to him! He'll love it!
Dawn @ Girl Heart Food says
Hubby & I wouldn't be able to eat a whole box of apricots quickly either. Great idea making jam to use them up. Plus, you end up with delicious jam -score 🙂 ! Love that there's three ingredients in here. The simpler, the better! Pinning!
annie@ciaochowbambina.com says
This a great post, thank you! I've been thinking of making jam and you've provided the tools! Apricots always remind me of my kids when they were babies... I must have fed them a lot of apricot baby food...apricots with bananas, apricots with cherry... apricots with oatmeal...
Amanda says
Yum! This looks amazing and super easy with only a few ingredients. Thank you so much for sharing 🙂