How To Make Cranberry Jam

Homemade Jam Recipes

Ingredients: Cranberry Jam Recipe

4 lb / 1,800 grams of cranberries (fresh, frozen or dried cranberries that have been soaked for a few hours)
4 lb / 1,800 grams of white granulated sugar
12 fl oz / 350 ml of water

Method - What To Do

Wash over the fruit and discard any extremely overripe or underripe cranberries, and any berries that are damaged or badly bruised. Place all of the cranberries into a deep preserving-type saucepan and pour over the water. Simmer for around 20 minutes, to soften the berries and tenderise the skins.

Take the preserving pan off the heat of the stove and mix in the sugar. Mix this in well, so that it completely dissolves and no crystals remain, before returning the cranberry mixture to the stove. Allow the jam to boil strongly for between ten and 15 minutes, until you feel that a reliable consistency for jelling has been achieved.

Remove the pan from the stove to test for its setting potential. Do this by dripping some of the cranberry jam syrup into a dish that has come from a fridge or freezer, so it is nicely chilled in advance. Leave the syrup for a minute and then draw your finger through its centre. If the jam has reached a reliable setting point, it should ripple around the finger, as a skin will have started forming. If this rippling does not occur, then allow the cranberries to cook for a few minutes longer and re-test. It should not take much more simmering and re-testing until your jam is ready to set.

Take the preserving pan off the stove for the final time and allow to cool slightly, so that the mixture starts to thicken. Skim off any surface residue and scum, and after 15 minutes' worth of cooling, ladle into cleaned and sterilised jars. Immediately top each jar with a wax circle (facing the wax side downwards into the hot jam) and screw on the lids.

Cranberry Jam Recipe - More Jam Recipes.