Canning Cherry Jam | A Chunky Jam Recipe

Canning cherry jam is a great way to preserve this summertime stone fruit. A delicious black cherry jam requires using the delicious, and meaty, Bing cherries. Enjoy this cherry preserves recipe over Brie and other soft cheeses, however, serving this jam over homemade bread and butter is just as delicious.

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Canning Cherry Jam

Cherry season comes and goes much quicker than I’d like. Luckily, in Washington state we are blessed to have an extended cherry season which lasts from June through August. And trust me when I say this, I consume my fill of both Bing and Rainer cherries.

Because of my love for cherries I make it a priority to preserve enough goods to last throughout the year. In truth, I may (just a tad) go overboard each year with how many cherry products I actually put-up. And this, Friend, is a good problem to have.

Additional Recipes for Preserving Cherries

Unlike apples, once the cherry season ends there is no returning to the store to pick-up more. Hence, making it necessary to preserve enough of this stone fruit to last throughout the year.

In addition to canning cherry jam the following preserving recipes are a great way to make the summer’s harvest last:

• Brandied Cherries
• Canning Cherry BBQ Sauce
• Cherry Salsa
• Canning Cherry Juice Concentrate

Peaches are another summertime stone fruit to preserve. Peaches are available your local market starting as early as June with the season ending at the end of July in many locations.

• Canning Bourbon Peaches
• Old Fashioned Peach Cobbler
• Canning Peach Jam with Honey
• Canning Peach BBQ Sauce (with or without bourbon)
• Easy Peach Pie with Crumble Topping
• Peach Shrub – Flavored Drinking Vinegar
• Canning Peach Pie Filling

If you haven’t guess, I do love stone fruits!

The Sustainable Canning Course

Are you searching for canning classes near you? Look no further! The Sustainable Canning Course is a self-paced series of online classes designed to help you on the road to achieving food ownership.

The Sustainable Canning Course is an extension of my book, The Farm Girl’s Guide to Preserving the Harvest. I wrote this book to help guide those who seek to own their food source the opportunity to do so. It is a comprehensive, easy to understand book covering all methods of home food preservation, canning, drying, fermenting, curing, freezing, and storing fresh foods.

• Understand why pressure canning is necessary to preserve foods.
• Confidently alter or create recipes to be canned.
• Preserve many tomato products utilizing scientific information with traditional tools.
• How modern canning tools, such as the steam canner and steam juicer, revolutionized preserving methods.
• Understanding how to decipher information shared by the National Center of Home Food Preservation.
• Discover how easy it is to can meat, fish, soups, and stews.

These topics and many more are available within The Sustainable Canning Course. Reserve your spot now, and begin gleaning the necessary information needed to preserve foods as a modern sustainable homesteader does.

Cherry Jam Recipe

Feel free to modify the recipe to best suit what your family’s needs. Also, any variety of cherry can be used. For example, Bing, Rainer, and even tart cherries are perfect for this cherry jam recipe.

Powder pectin can be swapped out for a liquid version, or a natural fruit pectin can be used. Natural pectin found in fruits and can easily be made and store for later use.

Swap out the sugar for a more natural sweetener such as honey. However, when using honey begin by adding a small amount at a time until the desired flavor is achieved.

Please note, sugar is a natural preservative and will hold the texture, flavor, and shelf-life much longer than other natural sweeteners.

Ingredients

• 4 cups black Bing cherries, roughly 3 pounds
• 1 package powdered pectin, 1.75 ounce box
• 5 cups organic sugar, or honey

Equipment

The equipment list below contains items which will be used regularly during canning season. Investing in these items now will provide a seamless experience while preserving the harvest.

• cherry pitter
• 6 1/2-pint mason jars
• steam canner or hot waterbath canner
• air bubble remover
• mini slow cooker, to warm lids
• jar lifter
• non-reactive heavy bottom pot, copper jamming pot, stainless steel pot, or enamel cast iron pot

Instructions

1. Place lids into the warmed mini slow cooker and prepare jars and canner.
2. Sort and wash fully ripe cherries; remove any stems, leaves, and pits.
3. Coarsely chop cherries into larger pieces, add to a non-reactive pot.
4. Allow the cherries to come to boil, stirring the cherries often. Using a potato musher, press down on the cherries to extract their natural juices.
5. Add pectin and stir well.
6. On high heat stir the cherries continually, bring the cherry mixture to a hard boil.
7. Stir in the sugar or sweetener of choice and return to a full bubbling boil. Allow the black cherry jam to hard boil for 2 minutes, making sure to stir constantly.
8. Remove from heat and skim any foam which is present.
9. Using a jar funnel and ladle, fill jars leaving a 1/4-inch headspace.
10. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean dishtowel dipped in water.
11. Add warmed lids and rings to finger tight.
12. Follow the instruction for processing jars in a steam or hot water bath canner using the processing time based on the altitude which you reside. See the chart for the correct processing time in the original post.

The processing time for a steam canner and a hot waterbath canner are the same. However, a steam canner will process the jars using steam and two inches of water.

My Book

The Farm Girl’s Guide to Preserving the Harvest is a comprehensive book covering multiple methods for preserving foods in the comfort of your home. Learn how to safely can, dry, ferment, cure, freeze, and store foods fresh as a sustainable homesteader would. The tips, tricks, and recipes within this book will provide you the confidence and knowledge needed to own your food source.

Printable Cherry Preserves Recipe Card

For quick reference, make sure to print this cherry jam recipe card and file it in your favorite preserving cookbook.

Continue to Content

Yield: 7 1/2 pint jars

Canning Cherry Jam

Print

Canning cherry jam is a great way to preserve this perfect summertime stone fruit. A delicious cherry preserves recipe uses meaty Bing cherries to make this black cherry jam. This cherry preserves recipe is perfect over Brie and other soft cheeses, but is also amazing over homemade bread and butter.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Canning Time 5 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 cups black Bing cherries, roughly 3 pounds
• 1 package powdered pectin, 1.75 ounce box
• 5 cups organic sugar, or honey

Instructions

1. Place lids into the warmed mini slow cooker and prepare jars and canner.
2. Sort and wash fully ripe cherries; remove any stems, leaves, and pits.
3. Coarsely chop cherries into larger pieces, add to a non-reactive pot.
4. Allow the cherries to come to boil, stirring the cherries often. Using a potato musher, press down on the cherries to extract their natural juices.
5. Add pectin and stir well.
6. On high heat stir the cherries continually, bring the cherry mixture to a hard boil.
7. Stir in the sugar or sweetener of choice and return to a full bubbling boil. Allow the black cherry jam to hard boil for 2 minutes, making sure to stir constantly.
8. Remove from heat and skim any foam which is present.
9. Using a jar funnel and ladle, fill jars leaving a 1/4-inch headspace.
10. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean dishtowel dipped in water.
11. Add warmed lids and rings to finger tight.
12. Follow the instruction for processing jars in a steam or hot water bath canner using the processing time based on the altitude which you reside. See the chart for the correct processing time in the original post.

Notes

1. Feel free to substitute the items mentioned below to best suit what your family will consume. Purchase cherries which are available, for example, Bing, Rainer, and even tart cherries can be used in thie cherry jam recipe.
2. Powder pectin can be swapped our for a liquid version, and honey can be used as a natural sweetener. However, when using honey begin by adding a small amount at a time until the desired flavor is achieved.

Please note, sugar is a natural preservative and will hold the texture, flavor, and shelf life much longer than other sweetener.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2 tablespoons

Serving Size:

1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 2232Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 55mgCarbohydrates: 578gFiber: 8gSugar: 545gProtein: 3g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

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As mentioned, serve this black cherry jam recipe over soft cheese or warm homemade bread. This cherry preserves recipe is ideal for all cherry lovers!

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