How to Make Low or No Sugar, Pectin Free Jam 

If you use no sugar then ferment the cooked fruit paste in an anaerobic seal it will partially digest and sweeten and require no sugar! Yum! With severe arthritis I avoid all processed sugar and this method takes time but is really yummy! (I should mention that I learned this in an Eastern European country and the cooking down requires constant attention for 8-10 hours to become a heavy paste and after a week the fermentation must be stopped so it doesn’t digest all the natural sugars. This is done by heating it back to just a simmering boil then putting in jam jars (to seal) and refrigerating for about a week to be sure it has stopped fermenting. I did this with well ripened rhubarb and it is not only sweet but has remained bright and fresh for over five years in my pantry. But it works best with sweet fruits. Thank you for a nice video!

What a great idea. Most of us in the US are used to eating a jar of sugar flavored with fruit. This way is MUCH healthier and we might actually get to taste the fruit.

Great video! My wife usually takes care of this stuff, but she was too busy so I was stuck with a gallon of back berries to do myself. This video gave me all the information I needed for a great jam.

My mother use to put the peel of one orange in while cooking it. We had no pectin back in the day. She was cooking it down and testing thickness/setting along the way.

I make what i call frig clean out jam. In my large crockpot 6qt. I just add whatever fruit and occasionally ive even added 1 or 2 chunks of a veggie, cook it overnight turn it off in the am. Then noonish use my stick blender and for 6qt crockpot i will add juice of a citrus or half cup bottled lemon juice and maybe 3 cups cane sugar. Stir in, turn crockpot on high and when its bubbling i sterilize my jars and i do that in microwave one at a time with a cup water in a pint jar for 3 min. Then i put my lids in a pyrex bowl and turning my pint jars as i empty that hot water in the bowl over the lids. (Gloves avoid burning your hands or wrap the pint with linen towel when you take from mic. Then while next pints sterilizing. I use funnel and put my jam in first jar put lid n ring on and set it on my towel then cover with another towel like a tunnel over jars to allow them to cool off slowly. Just continue the above manner til all pulp is gone. We use it on pancakes with peanut butter on sandwich or add to hot cereal instead of sugar. We are so used to it regular jelly is just too sweet to us. I use any and all things and so far have not been disappointed. Canteloupe, bananas, apples, pears, berries, grapes, nectarines, peaches, any citrus fruit and anything ovetly ripe goes in, occasionally ive needed something fibrous to add body to a runny batch and threw in a couple baby taters, but carrots, peppers, even green beans. Truly, have picky eaters, add those high nutrition hated things to this jam. Youll be shocked how good it tastes and of course you can taste it at the blended stage to see if you want to add salt cinnamon etc. Works for us. Clean out that frig and quit throwing overripe fruit away.

Thanks! Going to try this with my blackberries this afternoon. Love the "no sugar", no pectin concept.

Learn something new every time I watch you - thanks I love chunky seeds and all jam too! I make elderberry and dew berry jams.

You're a Godsend Heidi! Really busy with chicks, garden, herbs this time of yr, but I have this beautiful harvest of strawberries, and your video makes it look sooo easy. Thanks

Thanks for the work you do regarding more natural and lower sugar. I'm borderline diabetic and I appreciate all the information you put out !!!!

Love the fact there's more flavor with less sugar, and also being able to use unripened fruits to obtain pectin. Thank you very much! I will be making raspberry jam with this 1/4 cup method, cheers from BC Canada.

I so appreciate this! I am trying to eliminate white sugar and processed food and have been looking for such recipes as this. I also have enjoyed many of your other videos. God bless your ministry!

Thanks again for sharing with us your knowledge on healthier jams and jellies. 💚☘️😊

Excellent, Im all for using less sugar, and doing as much as we can for ourselves, very inspiring! Loving your videos from the UK xx

That’s a great experiment and it worked so well!

Also saw this: Typically jams use roughly equal amounts of fruit to sugar. This is important for both how the jam sets and that it is preserved correctly. As mentioned above sugar absorbs moisture which is vitally important to keep spoilage microbes at bay. To make you jam last longer enough sugar is required. Some recipes use smaller amounts of sugar and will probably have stated on the recipe a shorter shelf life or will need to be kept in the refrigerator as soon as they are made. They do say about "canning" - Once the jams are added to the jar and sealed taking the extra step of heat processing the jars will ensure a longer lifespan. This is an optional step and is not necessary but will mean your jams last a lot longer. It is really simple to do, just bring a large pot of water to the boil and turn down to a gentle simmer. Carefully add the still hot sealed jars (a jar lifter is good for this) to the water bath and allow to sit in the simmering water for at least 10 minutes. Most recipes will state a processing time. Remove from the heat and you are done.

Very informative. Thank you! My Grandson enjoyed picking from our blackberry patch that just started this year. We had such a dry summer that the blackberries stayed small and very seedy. I normally don't mind the seeds but these are extra seedy. I decided to try to make jelly from them. I'm glad to hear they have natural pectinin them. My Mom is 88 yrs old has canned a lot in her life. I was asking her if she knew that blackberries have natural pectin in them ? Also if she knew that you can make pectin from crab apples. She said a lady who she knew that lived to be 100 told her about the crab apples years ago. She couldn't remember if she knew about the blackberries. Good wonderful old natural ways. I love hearing all of this. Keep on sharing!

Great tip on the red berries for natural pectin! Did NOT know and the hubs (Mark) always grabs some red ones and now I must defrost and make this! Thanks Heidi, ❤ all y’all, Kristy in Missouri 😃🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

I watched that using 1/4 of fruit unripened, 2 tsp lemon juice, and 2 tbs powdered chia seeds will fix issues with no pectin and no sugar.

I always learn something new at your channel!!

great looking jam !! and low suger two !! best of both worlds !! thanks for sharing

Thanks for another option from the unhealthy versions in the store. I love the option of using very little sugar. Thanks so much.

I made yesterday strawberry jelly with less sugar and it taste good. Thank you for your teachings. God bless! Karen

I enjoyed this video it was so helpful I just love the idea you made without sugar . Thank you for this video

Thank you for your wise comments about toxic aspects of pectin, and artificial sugars. God Bless you!

Thanks, Heidi ! Going to pull those berries out of the freezer & try this . I was getting so many blueberries, blackberries, & mulberries in at the same time this year, that I canned them without any sugar - just as canned berries. Some of them, I mixed all 3 kinds together.

This is awesome!!! WOW! How cool is that making it without sugar at all! I love making jams as I like the fruit pieces too. What I HATE is all the sugar needed. If I could get a nice, chunky, spreadable jam with half the sugar...I'm down for that!! I mean let's be honest... sugar isn't cheap even when I was buying the crappy sugar it wasn't cheap. Stepping up to the healthier sugar and having to use so much of it cut my jam making down considerably. Now if I can get a decent jam with half the sugar I'm a happy girl. I love making it and giving it as gifts to friends and family who don't make it themselves. This will allow me to start again. Thank you so much for this! I love it!! You're just amazing! Love, hugs and blessings, Lisa

Thank you! I'm heading to the market this week, I have a hankerin' to make some jam! :)

Looks tasty, healthy, and easy! A winner! : )

That looks like it just might be the perfect jam recipe! I'm glad it worked and you didn't get yourself into a jam. 😉

I'm planning on canning no sugar, no pectin jam this summer. I figure why not give it a try. If I open it up and it looks or smells bad, I won't eat it! Thank you for your wonderful, informative videos.

Super helpful. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Heidi. I see from my book that late blackberries are poor in pectin and acid. In this case and with other low pectin fruit they say to reduce the sugar by 1/4. You must have read my mind. I just got 12 jars and lids on sale to make marmalade, lemon honey and lemon chutney. Theme - lemons to us up that were kindly donated to me. A good indicator that I am in winter Auckland New Zealand 😀😊

Awesome video and great information...

This old way is why when I started canning as an adult I didn’t know what pectin was. My aunt Edith never used pectin she canned the old fashioned way all the time. She was 99 in the 1995 when she passed.

I swear I am channeling you!!! I have blackberries that I wanted to make into jam but didn't want to use a lot of sugar, and was not sure if I could, so THANK YOU!! again and again!!!! and I like that you only made a little! no reason to not just do that instead of a bunch on the shelf like I have now that some need to be gotten rid of....thanks Heidi, gonna do this probably this weekend! PS. love the autumn apron! =)

Brilliant video...So much information..thank you!... I am getting ready to make raspberry jam and raspberry sorbet...I dislike how much sugar is on commercial products, no matter how expensive they are. This video was very informative. Thank you for posting!

I respect all of your extra hard efforts to stay gmo free and sugarless organic way of life when ever possible …great information and will try this very soon…stay blessed

Thank you! Great video. My neighbor killed this years blackberries by setting a massive trash fire near them. 🙄. However the neighbor down the hill had a lot of Concord grapes and gave us 2 five gallon buckets. I am going to cook and strain them then finish using your ratios to make grape jelly. 🍇

Yes, the one without the sugar is the best. I make mine just like you did, and add only after cooking some Stevia extract. I have liquid and powered extract. In a jar that size maybe 5-7 Drops. works well. I just did some peaches and put 5 drops to each full jar. I don't cook my peaches, I steam them whole and then peal as soon as they get soft, Once soft from steam remove from heat and let stand until you can handle and peal. Remove pit and slice up into jar. top with stevia, purified water, and hot bath to seal.

Wild blackberries and elderberries are all over the place here in northern Maine (along with our better known blueberries). Can’t wait for harvest season, going to make lots of jam. I’m a diabetic that can eat fruit (no sugar), and will be using my usual combo of erythritol and stevia for sweetening. I’ll try Pomona’s Pectin. Thanks for the motivation!

As always excellent video ,TY 👌

I love this information! You are a wonderful teacher! :)

So glad that we can cooki without measuring out stuff !

good to know about the crab apples. I have a tree and didn't know what to do with them all! We grow all of our own fruit but not I can make jelly using that as pectin! Thanks

I love the natural taste of the fruit on hot toast cold goat butter then the jammy fruit 🙏😇🙏

Very very informative 😊

Great video as always, we do the same over here, low sugar, no pectin added, just cooking it down, for the plums (big batch) it takes several hours even! But it is a feast and almost like a holiday, gathering over the big ball of plum jam! :-) Love love, love your tips, my favorite channel so far! Greetings from Croatia!

Looks great. I make jam with apple powder and about 1 part sugar to 4 part fruit if the fruit is prime. If not well do what we can. Specialty jams I try to half the sugar. Sometimes, I won't lie, I just eat all the dang sugar.

I just made some ground cherry jam using even less sugar. DEEELICIOUS!! 4 cups of fruit (ground cherries and one apple, minus the skin) and about 3/4 cup of sugar. Cooked it down and whaalaa 😊 yummy

So glad you are making this video as a diabetic. Also would like to see your pectin recipe. I usually make jelly with blackberries though, I make jam with everything else, raspberries etc.

Your my favorite you have common sense

I used dark plums, blueberries, black currents, 1/2 juice of lemon, grated skin of the lemon, teaspoon of grated ginger cooked till soft left over night to cool fabulous. Great on hot buttered toast or breakfast oats softened with oat milk or Almond milk 🙏😇🙏

I love all of your videos. Thank you for what you do. God is good...all the time! ;)

Very informative. I just subscribed to you.

great job of explaining it. i am going to try with fresh pineapple.

Good video.

I'm looking for healthy options of jelly or jams. I'm border line diabetes. Your recipe is perfect.

Great video. Thank you. I live in the UK so jam making is an old tradition. It's hard to break away from those old traditions but I always wanted to make jams with less sugar. My only concern is that the sugar (being practically a poison) is supposed to help kill bacteria along with the heat and excluding air in the jars (obviously) and make the jam last up to a year in storage. Why then all those years ago was I taught that. So more acid. Just add more lemon juice? I saw another video where someone cooked the fruit for up to 40min. I just left that video. As far as I know, heat destroys not just bacteria but nutrients too. I don't want to eat fruit flavoured sugar! So to make a jam with less sugar and still have it last in storage, would be great. I especially wanted to know how to make jam without pectin because you just can't get it now unless you order online. Now that I know it's not just pectin, even more reason to leave it out. Though our jams here have that pectin jelly like consistency that we love. Without pectin we just tend to call it a conserve rather than a jam. But that's just splitting hairs. Can't wait to experiment with less sugar and no pectin. Thanks again.

Based on this we just did a single batch of 9 quarts of grape jelly with 50% recommended sugar,,, Worked great!

Wow, thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you! Wonder if I could use brown sugar, or would that mess with the texture and/or flavor...? Thinking of adding a tiny bit of bay leaf water for some extra goodness as well. Love to experiment.

I just want to thank you for this video. I made muskedine grape jam today following this recipe. Turned out great! I canned 3 pint jars and one for the fridge. Every 2 cups of grapes- add 1/4 cup organic cane sugar. Added 1/4 cup water for every 4 cups grapes. I can’t thank you enough! Tomorrow making more, my grapes are ripping fast😊

Thank you

For 4-5 years, I no longer add any sugar. I just put the fruit in a pan, turn on the heat, bring to a boil, turn down heat and stir so that it does not burn. It makes great jam, especially black cherries as well as using frozen fruit mixes, which even include mango chunks. Pineapple does not break down and is "anti-gel" effect, witness the advice to never add it to jello. The jams I make described above get very thick, are amazingly delicious and could not be easier to make. Try it. I just did it on a whim and it works well. I don't like oversweet jams/jellies anyway. It works

Gostei muito linda 👍👍👍👍👍

Hi Rain, Thanks for sharing. I would love to see you use watermelon and cantoulope . I'm working on changing my diet with healthier sweet treats. I'll be watching.

Hi ya Heidi! This is cool! I love toast an jam, and would make 2 pieces of toast with jam, but due to it being way to sweet, I wouldn’t eat anymore for along time, therefore I’d wind up having to throw it out cause it developed mold. I would like to make cranberry jam, seeing how there is not as much juice as there is n berries, would u suggest I added water in the boiling process? Ur suggestion is appreciated. Thank u

Thank you for the advice on getting organic Cain sugar. I did not know how bad white sugar was until you said that. my husband is a long haul covid victim with newly onset diabetes. I've been reading lately on how they made jam in the old days also. Today I am going to make the low sugar pectin free strawberry jam. thank you. ill be looking for more of your videos.

Thanks

I just love black berries I'm fixing to get me some bushes to put in my orchard

Sweet! Since I cannot get reasonably priced pectin, the good kind, anymore I made all my jam without last year. I did add more sugar though than with the calcium/ pectin. The pectin was always 1/4 sugar to 3/4 fruit, last year I used probably 6 cups sugar to 8 cups of berries, only so I didn't have to cook it so long. Also all my jams have a lot of tart berries, red currants, so there is a good amount of pectin in. I will mix all kinds of fruit together too 😉 I think this winter I will go with less sugar again, though with plenty of tart berries a little more does not distract from the flavor. In Germany they sell sugar for jam making that has pectin added and if I remember right my mom always used equal amounts of fruit to sugar, or a little less sugar. We never canned our jam! The on the shelf pectin calls for what??? Twice the sugar ? That's NUTS 😂 THANKS for your testing this, now I can cut sugar again 😊

Yea ! I can do this this summer!! Do you have a video on freezing blackberries?

Thank you so much! I'm making it right now with local blueberries. I have cut sugar use to a very minimum, except for jam. Been doing the 1 to 1 sugar and fruit, no pectin. So I'm doing today 1500 grams blueberries to 500 grams sugar. Next time I'll be bolder! 😊 Have you made citruses with less sugar? How low you think one can go?

Just watched this video and loved it! Can I use this recipe- 2 cups fruit, 1/4 cup sugar for any fruit jam? Particularly strawberries, peaches, etc. Thanks!

You should try a Butane Gas Stove. I absolutely love mine. Works just as good as a gas stove.

Instead of honey or sugar, you could use real maple syrup. You'll end up with great flavor but less sugar. :) Great video!

Try adding rosemary to your blackberry jam - delicious. i just made a jar of hascap berry jam w/o pectin or suger. I used some monkfruit/erythritol, since I am trying to get off sugar. It yelled nicely in 10 minutes and tastes great.

I successfully made homemade pectin last year from slightly under ripe green apples. Took three attempts but I was pleased with this results. Like you, when I learned what was in store bought pectin and how it is made, I knew I needed to find a better way to make jam. Also, where did you purchase your stoneware cookie sheet?

Happy about not having so much suger.

it worked. ;-)

Could you please share the link with the video that you were talking about for the acidity and sugars for jam thanks for the video. I’m going to do this right now 😊

Yummy...can I cook my small plums in a pressure cooker with the seeds and then strain out seeds

Thank you! I thought those recipes with more sugar than fruit were a little ridiculous! I want the tartness of the berry, not pure sugar.

When you talk about pectin alternatives, should I use lemon juice or can I put lemon zest in the pot - I'm not too sure what you meant

I'm a jelly girl, lol. But I am so glad you made this video! Thank you Heidi. I always try to cut out the nasty stuff if I can. I made cherry jelly this year and hated adding all that sugar. Never again thanks to you.

I am making jams and jellies and have been wondering about pectin myself. Is it safe?? Why do we need so much sugar?? Thank you Heidi.

Thanks Heidi. Have you ever tried partially dehydrating the berries, add a little sugar and lemon juice. Jar up and store in the fridge?

I'm with you on the preferring less Sugar jam thing, but it is absolutely not necessary to put commercial Pectin in Jam. You do need Pectin for a decent set but you get it by adding a high Pectin element, as you said Lemon Juice, the pips and peel can be boiled in the liquid bu held in a Jelly Bag, Cheesecloth or, what I use, when you ladder a pair of tights or a Pop Sock, I wasn them, scald them and tie that to the handle of my saucepan/preserving pan. It makes it easy to extract, easy to squeeze out (I use 2 saucers back to back to extract the 'Napalm' and last drips of pectin) then the whole thing goes in the bin. The other thing more Sugar does for Jam is stretch the fruit out using equal parts will give you a higher yield than low or no Sugar does, plus it spreads better. I find though that it masks the taste of the fruit, apart from Strawberry. The other thing is that the Sugar Thermometer isn't accurate in a small batch like you made, it can't rest on the bottom of the pan so there isn't enough liquid to properly cover the bulb. Using it for a bigger batch I find it works well, It keeps me from over-boiling the preserve .

WHO KNEW?!? My mom would always use sealing wax on the top of all of her jellies and jams. Can you water bath can this blackberry jam? If so, what would the timing be? Also, what would the shelf life be? Thank you for all you do & freely bring that valuable info to us :-D Love & prayers

Use chia seeds and tapioca starch for thickener.

Hello again. I’m really bingeing your videos so I have lots of questions. I made some jam using Pomona pectin and got a bit too much in the recipe. Needless to say I ended up with jam that tastes good but is really too jelled for toast. Do you have any suggestions as to how I might thin it and use it for ice cream or pancake topping? As always, I appreciate your patient, wise help.

Trader Joe’s makes an all fruit jam with no sugar. It is made with fruit pectin, but it’s otherwise made of: cherries, red grape juice concentrate, wild blueberries, pomegranate concentrate, white grape juice concentrate, citric acid, and absorbing acid.

Can you use fresh stevia plant that's been dehydrated n turned into a stevia powder?? I'm going to try it. I want to stay as close ty o whole food PLANT-BASE as possible

I noticed your recipe do not need lemon juice like some did. Good because I don't have any lemon here 😂

Heidi, I have very sweet muscadine grapes and I can't have any kind of sugar in my diet so I want to can the grape jam without sugar. Is the sugar only for taste? Would I need to add pectin? I have some really small crab apples on my tree right now that I could use if needed. What do you think? If I do it this way, can I can it for being shelf stable?

Hi Heidi, I'm excited to try making blueberry jam with 1/2 cup cane sugar to 1 cup berries with some lemon peels. Have you tried with coconut sugar? Also do you have a video on canning these jams? Thank you God Bless :)

I wonder about reducing the fruits own juice to use as a sweetener.

And again, you read my mind! I have fresh blackberries in my freezer and have been searching different methods on how to make a pectin free, low sugar jam! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe😊love and prayers for you both❤ PS. Will it loose the health benefits of the seeds if I remove the them after the jam is cooked?

Anyone tried erythritol or xylitol (a plant based sweetener that is like stevia, but looks like granulated sugar)?