Keeping promises. I’m doing just that today by sharing recipes for bramble berry jams, aka red raspberry, black raspberry and blackberry. 

I have a patch of black raspberries in the garden, plus some wild ones growing on the hillside nestled in with the wild blackberries. 

Why jam and not jelly? I’d need a lot more berries than I have to make jelly, since you have to sieve out seeds. But I’m fine with jam. 

A couple of weeks ago, our kids and grandkids came over to make strawberry and red raspberry jams. A bit chaotic, but so much fun.

The recipe for red raspberry, black raspberry and blackberry jam is the same, just swap out berries. 

Teresa from Clermont County wanted a recipe for blueberry jam so that’s here, too.
One more thing — if you’ve never made jam from scratch, you’ll be surprised at the sugar needed. The bonus? It’s all natural, no high fructose corn syrup in homemade jam! Besides, you won’t be eating the whole jar at once.

Still want to make lower sugar or sugar free jam? Buy pectin made for lower or no sugar jams. You may need more fruit, so follow recipe on pectin box.

Homemade bramble berry jam
Don’t double recipe and measure exactly. 

If you want to sieve some seeds out, you’ll need more berries to make up the difference. 

Ingredients

2 heaping quarts black or red raspberries, or blackberries, enough to make 5 cups crushed berries

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 box powdered pectin, 1.75 oz.

7 cups sugar

8 jelly jars, 8 oz., sterilized and kept hot (I put mine through dishwasher)

8 two-piece lids, kept in hot, not boiling, water

Instructions
Crush berries well. I whirl them in my food processor.

Place berries in very large pot, stir in lemon juice and pectin.

Bring to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. 

Add sugar all at once and return to a full rolling boil, then boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and skim off foam.

Ladle quickly into jars, filling to bottom inside rim. 

Wipe jar rims and threads with clean, wet cloth. 

Cover with 2 piece lids. Screw bands tightly.

Turn upside down 5 minutes (kills any bacteria that may be on inside of lid).

Place jars upright and let stand at room temperature 24 hours. 

Check for seal. Press down in center with finger – If lid springs up when you release finger, jar didn’t seal. 

Store unsealed jars in refrigerator up to 1 month.

Store sealed jars in pantry up to 1 year.

Tip: can you reuse lids?

Flat lids have to be new. Rings can be reused.

Blueberry jam

Only difference between the bramble and blueberry jams is amount of fruit and sugar. You’ll need 4 cups crushed blueberries (about 6 cups whole blueberries) and 4 cups sugar. Pectin and lemon juice is the same (1 box pectin, 3 tablespoons juice). Cooking and storing instructions are the same, too.

Tip: 

Frozen berries, thawed, work well too.