Easy Pineapple Cranberry Blueberry Jam Canning Recipe
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Pineapple, cranberries, and blueberries make for an intriguing flavor combination that hits all the sweet and tart notes you want in a homemade jam recipe. Â It’s best slathered on a homemade biscuit, slice of homemade bread, or spooned over ice cream. This recipe is quick and easy to throw together and have a perfect homemade jam that’s flavorful and has as much or as little sugar or sweetener as you’d like. Â These simple ingredients thicken quickly for a shelf stable and useful gift for any time of the year or to jar up sunshine to have to pop open in the winter months. Â And the best part?? It doesn’t need any powdered pectin which is my arch nemesis when it comes to canning. Â We usin’ natural pectin for this home canning!
Equipment You Will Need:
- 8oz jelly or half-pint jars
- canning lids & rings
- canning funnel
- water bath canning pot
- steam canner
- Jar lifter
- ladle
- large stainless steel pot
Ingredients
- 1 fresh pineapple
- 12 oz cranberries
- 1 pint blueberries
- raw unrefined sugar or honey
- bottled lemon juice
- salt
Let’s get to cannin’
Step 1: Prep
Fresh berries and pineapple are the best in my opinion, but you can use frozen as well and be just as successful. Peel and core your pineapple and dice up into small pieces. Rinse and drain your fresh blueberries and cranberries. Add all of your fruit to your jam making pot that has been placed on a kitchen scale and tared. Take the weight of your fruit in grams.
Step 2: Measure
Take the weight of the fruit in grams and add up to one half that weight in sugar or honey. Example: 100 grams of fruit means you can add up to 50 grams of sugar. I add about 25% of the weight of my fruit if I’m using sugar and 15-20% of the weight in honey if that’s what I’m using.
When using honey in jam recipes, err on the side of less than if you’d be using sugar. It has a flavor and is not neutral, and while honey is delicious, it can take over your jam pretty easily defeating the purpose of using all this fruit! We prefer a less sweet jam and one that’s more tart and fruit flavor forward in my family! Adding too much sugar or honey will ruin the fruit flavor of the jam and it will taste like candy.
I prefer not to use sugar substitutes, like monk fruit sweetener or granular splenda, in jams. They can sometimes crystallize and not look very nice in the jars and make for a crunchy jam. If this is a dietary need of yours, know you can absolutely make jam with it, but for best results, I would just leave the sugar out and boil the fruit until it reaches 210-220F with a candy thermometer and make my jam that way. It will be delicious, it will just take a bit longer to cook, but in the end have a nice texture and still taste like the fruit. This can go for all jams, including blueberry jam and strawberry jam, too. Just bring your patience.
Step 3: Macerate
Stir your fruit, sugar or honey, lemon juice, and salt together and allow to sit until the juices start flowing. This takes under 10 minutes.
While the fruit rests, wash your canning jars, canning lids, and rings in hot, soapy water. Set aside on a clean towel so they are ready when your jam is ready to be processed.
Step 4: Cook
Over medium high heat, bring your fruit and sugar mixture to a full boil, stirring frequently until the sugar dissolves. Using a potato masher works well here once the cranberries have burst to mash fruit up to make it more of a jam than a preserve if you prefer not having chunky fruit. Boil until fruit reaches a thickened consistency that resembles jam or is a thickness of your liking.
You can test this easily with the frozen plate test. Put a plate in the freezer prior to starting to make your jam. When you are ready to test the thickness, remove the plate from the freezer, add a little bit of jam to the plate and let it sit for 20-30 seconds to cool and test the thickness. I keep a plate in my freezer just for jam making all the time.
Once the jam is to the thickness of your liking, remove from heat. Keep in mind that overboiling is going to give you concrete for jam.
Step 6: Fill Jars
Using clean 8 ounce jelly jars, place your canning funnel on top and ladle your hot jam into the jar to 1/4 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles in jars. Jars can be room temperature; you do not have to boil/sterilize or heat your jars prior to canning. Fill jars until you have used up all the jam. Hopefully there’s a bit leftover for some snackin’ to be done by the chef!
Wipe the rims of your jars with a clean cloth and add new canning lids and screw bands on to secure. Tighten to the specs given by the lid manufacturer; some lid brands require different tightness.
Step 7: Canning
Place jars into your hot water bath canner using the canning rack or place in steam canner with hot water added. It does not have to be boiling water; I use hot water directly from the tap.
For water-bath canning, be sure and submerge your jars by 2 inches and be sure they’re not directly touching the bottom. If you don’t own a specific water bath canner with a rack, any stock pot with a lid will work. Simply line the bottom with extra canning rings or a towel to protect your jars.
For steam canning, add the recommended amount of water from the manufacturer to the bottom and bring to temperature. My steam canner has a gauge that tells me when there is enough steam accumulated for my elevation to start the processing time.
Once your water bath is at a full rolling boil or your steam canner is to temperature, process jars for 15 minutes adjusting your time for altitude if needed. You can find an altitude chart in most canning books that explains how many minutes to add to your time if you’re above 1000ft. If you are below 1000ft, use 15 minutes.
Step 8: Cooling & Storing
Once canning time is up, turn off heat and allow canner to sit 10 minutes before removing jars. Set jars aside on a heat proof surface covered with a towel to cool for 18-24 hours before removing bands, testing seals, washing jars, and storing. Unsealed jars can be reprocessed if within 24 hours of canning or place in the fridge to use soon.
Jars of jam are considered shelf stable after the canning process. Store in a cool room in a dark place out of direct sunlight and protected from extreme temperatures. Aim to use your jam within 2 years of canning and rotate your stock out for best flavor and nutritional value, but it will last longer than that and will remain edible far past that if needed as long as the seal is good. Be smart and be sure your jam is sealed prior to opening, gives an audible suction sound when you break the seal, there is no visible mold or fermentation happening, and the jam smells good.
I hope you enjoy this fresh fruit canning recipe! I enjoy concocting my own jams to use for Christmas gifts or for gifts for any time of the year. Who can say no to homemade jam and a loaf of homemade bread?! Not me. Especially when you can make it without needing additional fruit pectin. Making jam doesn’t have to be hard, so don’t overcomplicate it like I did. Keep it simple and enjoy it. If your jam turns into a sauce instead, who cares. Pour it over pancakes or churn it into ice cream. Mistakes can be happy ones, friends.
Happy Canning!
Easy Pineapple Cranberry Blueberry Jam Canning Recipe
Print Pin RateEquipment
- 8oz jelly canning jars
- canning lids & bands
- ladle
- wooden spoon
- large jam making pot
Ingredients
- 1 pineapple peeled, cored, and diced
- 12 ounces cranberries rinsed and drained
- 1 pint blueberries rinsed and drained
- raw unrefined sugar or honey amount varies, see notes
- 3 tbsp bottled lemon juice
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Weigh out prepared fruit into pot you will be making the jam in.
- Take the weight of the fruit in grams and add up to half that weight amount of sugar or honey. See notes for more information and examples.
- Stir in sugar, lemon, salt, and let sit for a few minutes to macerate until juices start flowing.
- Place pot on stove and bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring frequently. Boil fruit mixture until thickened to your liking. Test by using a plate that was in the freezer, putting a blob of jam on it and allowing it to sit for 20-30 seconds to cool to then see the thickness.
- Once jam is to the thickness you like, ladle into jelly jars to 1/4" headspace.
- Waterbath or steam can 15 minutes, adjusting time for your alititude. I do choose to open kettle can this instead of further processing if that would be your choice.
- Allow jars to cool 18-24 hours before removing rings, testing seals, washing jars, labeling, and storing.
- Jars of jam are considered shelf stable after the canning process. Store in a cool room in a dark place out of direct sunlight and protected from extreme temperatures. Aim to use your jam within 2 years of canning and rotate your stock out for best flavor and nutritional value, but it will last longer than that and will remain edible far past that if needed as long as the seal is good. Be smart and be sure your jam is sealed prior to opening, gives an audible suction sound when you break the seal, there is no visible mold or fermentation happening, and the jam smells good.
