PickYourOwn.org
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| How to Make Homemade Mulberry Jam - Easily! Do you have a Mulberry tree in your
yard that every year produces huge numbers of mulberries, and you don't know
what to do with them? Making and canning your own mulberry jam is also
quite easy. Just scroll down this page to see how to do it, in easy steps and
completely illustrated. I've got some other pages for specific types of jam
and butters, too:
Ingredients and Equipment
Mulberry Jam-making DirectionsThe yield from this recipe is about 8 eight-ounce jars (which is the same as 4 pints). Step 1 - Pick the mulberries!It's fun to go pick your own and you can obviously get better quality ones! It is best to pick them directly from the tree, or put a clean tarp or sheet under the tree and shake the tree or whack the branches with a stick.
How much fruit?
Step 2 - Wash the jars and lids
NOTE: If unsanitized jars are used, the product should be processed for 5 more minutes. However, since this additional processing can result in a poor set (runny jam), it’s better to sanitize the jars. Put the lids into a pan of hot, but not quite boiling water (that's what the manufacturer's recommend) for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out. Leave the jars in the dishwasher on "heated dry" until you are ready to use them. Keeping them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with the hot jam. Step 3 -Wash and hull the fruit!I'm sure you can figure out how to wash the fruit in plain cold water. Pick off any stems, leaves and other debris. Caution: Mulberries will stain items and hands easily. Step 4 - Crush the fruitThen you just mush them up a bit - not completely crushed, but mostly. Most people seem to like large chunks of fruit but crushing them releases the natural pectin so it can thicken. You'll need about 6 cups, mushed up. Step 5 - Cook the mulberries for 10 minutesHeat the mulberries in a covered pot and simmer 10 minutes. This helps loosen the juices and fruit from the seeds. If you want seedless jam, (the seeds
aren't very tasty) run the crushed berries through a Foley food mill (at right). They cost about $30. It works well for
mulberries, not so well for raspberries, and no one tries to remove strawberry seeds (they're so small). I suppose you could train monkeys to pick them out, but they'd probably form a trade labor union. But I digress..
Step 6 - Measure out the sugar and pectin
If you would rather try to make jam with no added sugar, click here for those directions! Step 7 - Mix the berries with the pectin and cook to a full boil
NEXT, stir the pectin into the mulberries and put the mix in a big pot on the stove over medium to high heat (stir often enough to prevent burning). It should take about 5 to 10 minutes to get it to a full boil (the kind that can not be stirred away). Why use pectin? You may run into grandmotherly types who sniff "I never used pectin!" at you. Well, sure, and their generation took a horse and buggy to work, died of smallpox and ate canned meat and green beans that tastes like wet newspapers. Old fashioned ways are not always better nor healthier. Pectin, which occurs naturally in fruit, is what makes the jam "set" or thicken. The pectin you buy is just natural apple pectin, more concentrated. Using pectin dramatically reduces the cooking time, which helps to preserve the vitamins and flavor of the fruit, and uses much less added sugar. But, hey, if you want to stand there and stir for hours, cooking the flavor away, who am I to stop you! :) Having said that, there are some fruits that have naturally high amounts of pectin (see this page for a list) and they simply don't need much or even any padded pectin. Notes about pectin: I usually add about 20% more pectin (just open another pack and add a little) or else the jam is runnier than I like. With a little practice, you'll find out exactly how much pectin to get the thickness you like.
Another tip: use the lower sugar or no-sugar pectin. You can add sugar to either and it cuts the amount of sugar you need from 7 cups per batch to 4 cups or less! And it tastes even better! On the other hand; I have never had success with the No-sugar pectin without adding ANY sugar. It always turned out runny and bland. You might want to try using the low sugar or no-sugar recipe with a mixture of sugar and Splenda; sugar and white grape juice, or just white grape juice - that will cut down the sugar, but still preserve the flavor.
Is your jam too runny? Pectin enables you to turn out perfectly set jam every time. Made from natural apples, there are also natural no-sugar pectins that allow you to reduce the sugar you add by half or even eliminate sugar.! Step 8 - Get the lids warming in hot (but not boiling) water
Need lids, rings and replacement jars?
Step 9 - Add the remaining sugar and bring to a boil again for 1 minute
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Recommended process time for mulberry jam in a boiling water canner. | ||||
| Process Time at Altitudes of | ||||
| Style of Pack | Jar Size | 0 - 1,000 ft | 1,001 - 6,000 ft | Above 6,000 ft |
| Hot | Half-pints or Pints | 10 minutes | 15 | 20 |
Lift the jars out of the water with your jar lifter tongs and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight) You can then remove the rings if you like. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok.
Once cooled, they're ready to store. I find they last up to 12 months. But after about 6 to 8 months, they get darker in color and start to get runny. They still are safe to eat, but the flavor and texture aren't as good. So eat them in the first 6 months after you prepare them! Another trick is to keep the uncooked berries or other fruit in the freezer and make and can the jam as needed, so it's always fresh.
Other Equipment:From left to right:
|  You can get all of the tools in a kit here:  |
 | Home Canning KitsFeatures:* All the tools you need for hot waterbath canning - in one comprehensive set! * Complete with 21 1/2 qt. enameled waterbath canner and "Ball Blue Book" of canning. * Also includes canning rack, funnel, jar lifter, jar wrencher, bubble freer, tongs and lid lifter. * A Kitchen Krafts exclusive collection. This is the same type of standard canner that my grandmother used to make everything from applesauce to jams and jellies to tomato and spaghetti sauce. This complete kit includes everything you need and lasts for years: the canner, jar rack, jar grabber tongs, lid lifting wand, a plastic funnel, labels, bubble freer, and the bible of canning, the Ball Blue Book. It's much cheaper than buying the items separately. You'll never need anything else except jars & lids (and the jars are reusable)! There is also s simple kit with just the canner and rack, and a pressure canner, if your want to do vegetables (other than tomatoes). To see more canners, of different styles, makes and prices, click here! Average Customer Review: |
| Canning booksCanning & Preserving for Dummies |
| The Ball Blue Book of PreservingThis is THE book on canning! My grandmother used this book when I was a child. It tells you in simple instructions how to can almost anything; complete with recipes for jam, jellies, pickles, sauces, canning vegetables, meats, etc. If it can be canned, this book likely tells you how! Click on the link below for more information and / or to buy (no obligation to buy)
Click here for more information from Amazon.com about the |
Summary - Typical Cost of Making Homemade Mulberry Jam - makes 8 jars, 8 oz each** | ||||
| Item | Quantity | Cost in 2006 | Source | Subtotal |
| Berries (mulberries) | 1 gallon | free if you can find a local tree in the late Spring | Pick your own / yard | 0 |
| Canning jars (8 oz size), includes lids and rings | 8 jars | $7.00/dozen | Grocery stores, like Public, Kroger, Safeway and sometimes, Big Lots, local hardware stores and big box stores | $4.66 |
| Sugar | 4 cups | $2.00 | Grocery stores, like Public, Kroger, Safeway and sometimes, Big Lots, local hardware stores and big box stores | $2.00 |
| Pectin (low sugar, dry) | 1 and a third boxes * | $2.00 per box | Grocery stores, like Public, Kroger, Safeway and sometimes, Big Lots, local hardware stores and big box stores | $2.70 |
| Total | $9.360 total or about $1.17 per jar | |||
| * pectin use varies - blackberry jam needs very little, raspberry a little more, strawberry the most. ** - This assumes you already have the pots, pans, ladles, and reusable equipment. Note that you can reuse the jars and reduce the cost further; just buy new lids (the rings are reusable, but the flat lids are not)! | ||||
A visitor writes on June 01, 2010: "I found a great recipe for Mulberry Jam. We have them all over the place here in Kansas. The recipe was with lemon juice, and used liquid pectin. I suggest to use your berries right away. I found they lost some of the flavor and juice if you let them set a day or so in the refrig. I don't know how the recipe would be since I found some white mulberries and the red type. I didn't have quite enough juice so I did add 1/4 cup of 100% grape juice to make up for the liquid on the first batch. That's when I decided I had to do it within the first few days. It was very good, but my husband was a skeptic, "I've never heard of anybody doing anything with mulberries" And he was a farm boy! So now I am doing to try my hand at it to sell at the Farmer's Markets and leave one of my jars for samples. Even my picky kids liked it. I can't wait to try your recipe though. That and I have 3 gallons of sour cherries to deal with. (I glean a lot from other people for fruits. This year was phenomenal for fruit since the last 3 year freezes)"
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You may use frozen berries,
if you can find them (those without syrup or added sugar); which is especially useful if you want to make some jam in December to give away at Christmas!
Jam
can ONLY be made in rather small batches - about 6 cups at a time - like the
directions on the pectin say, DO NOT increase the recipes or the jam won't "set"
(jell, thicken). (WHY? Alton Brown on the Food Channel says pectin can
overcook easily and lose its thickening properties. It is easier and
faster to get an even heat distribution in smaller batches. It takes about 8
cups of raw, unprepared berries per batch. 
Now's a good time to get the jars ready, so you won't be rushed later. The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize" cycle, the water bath processing will sanitize them as well as the contents! If you don't have a dishwasher with a sanitize cycle, you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, then sanitize the jars by boiling them 10 minutes, and keep the jars in hot water until they are used. 
Depending upon which type of jam you're making (strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, apricot, peach, grape, etc.) you will need to use a different amount of sugar, jam and pectin. The precise measurements are found in each and every box of pectin sold. For most fruit; like berries, with the low sugar pectin, you'll need 4 cups of sugar. With regular pectin, about 7 cups of sugar. Mix the dry pectin with about 1/4 cup of sugar and Keep this separate from the rest of the sugar. If you are not using sugar, you'll just have to stir more vigorously to prevent the pectin from clumping. This helps to keep the pectin from clumping up and allows it to mix better!
Lids: put the lids into a pan of hot water for at least several minutes; to soften up the gummed surface and clean the lids.
Get them all here, delivered direct to your home, at the best prices on the internet!
Foam...
What is it? Just jam with a lot of air from the boiling. 
But it
tastes more like, well, foam, that jam, so most people remove it. It is
harmless,
though. Some people add 1 teaspoon of butter or margarine to the mix in
step 6 to reduce foaming, but food experts debate whether that may contribute to
earlier spoilage, so I usually omit it and skim.
I keep a metal tablespoon sitting in a glass of ice water, then take a half spoonful of the mix and let it cool to room temperature on the spoon. If it thickens up to the consistency I like, then I know the jam is ready. If not, I mix in a little more pectin (about 1/4 to 1/2 of another package) and bring it to a boil again for 1 minute.
Step 13 - Fill the jars and put the lid and rings on
Fill them to within ¼-inch of the top, wipe any spilled jam off the top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them. Then put them into the boiling water canner!
process (boil) them longer at higher altitudes than sea level, or if you use larger jars, or if you did not sanitize the jars and lids right before using them. The directions inside every box of pectin will tell you exactly. The directions on the pectin tend to be pretty conservative. Clemson University says you only need to process them for 5 minutes. I usually hedge my bets and start pulling them out after 5 minutes, and the last jars were probably in for 10. I rarely have a jar spoil, so it must work. But you don't want to process them too long, or the jam will turn dark and get runny. See the chart below for altitude adjustment to processing times, if you are not in the sea level to 1,000ft above sea level range.
