Peach Freezer Jam-Freshest Tasting Jam With No Canning!
My mother made the most delicious freezer jam when we were little. It was a tradition at our house that everyone had to have freezer jam whenever she made her homemade sourdough bread. Sometimes we’d toast the bread and sometimes we’d just slather it on while it was still warm from the oven. A good, thick slathering as deep as you could manage without it spilling over the sides of the bread!
I really enjoy canning jams and fruit butters, but they just don’t compare in taste to the freshness you get from making freezer jam. They can’t hold a candle in ease, either!
Freezer jam is a method of making jam that doesn’t involve cooking the fruit and as a result, it is about as close as you can get to the fresh taste of just picked peaches, strawberries, or whatever other fruit you happen to be graced with.
The canning process for freezer jam is the easiest of all. Wash your jars, fill them, let them sit at room temperature for 24 hours, then place in freezer. That’s it! Keep a jar in your fridge to use and just grab another one out of the freezer when you need more.
For instructions on traditional canning to use with other jam and preserve recipes, see my canning post by clicking here. (I also had a lot of fun with a video on that post!)
You’re going to need: Sugar, peaches,and Sure-Jell or some other fruit pectin used for making jams and jellies.
Note: I am using the instructions on my package of Sure Jell for this tutorial. Your fruit pectin will have instructions inside so if you get a different brand you might want to double check and make sure they match up with mine.
Or just make it easy on yourself and grab this yellow box.
You’re also going to need a little lemon juice. You can either get an actual lemon or just buy the bottle.
Remember when you are buying your juice and sugar for this, the cheapest they have is just fine.
Peel and slice up your peaches.
Having a really sharp paring knife around the kitchen is essential. If you’ve had problems peeling fruits or veggies in the past, it was more likely your knife rather than your own lack of skill! I have five or six really good paring knives and I just couldn’t live without those things!
Here are my peaches,all cut up.
These are white peaches from my mother’s tree.
Now we’re going to moosh them up really good with a potato masher.
It is amazing how many uses this thing has! If you don’t have one, you can use a fork and it will just take a bit longer.
Peaches, all mashed up!
This procedure is the same for strawberry freezer jam and most others. I’ve only made strawberry and peach but the package has instructions for many other kinds as well (apricot, blueberry, cherry, mango, raspberry, etc). Some types of fruit will need more sugar but the exact amounts are listed on a chart inside the package.
Measure out your sugar into a large bowl.
And then measure out three cups of fruit.
There might be some left that you don’t use. You’re just gonna have to eat that. ~grins~
I know, it’s a tough job.
Add lemon juice
Stir that up well and let sit for about ten minutes so the sugar can dissolve.
Meanwhile, place water in a saucepan (exact amounts below) and pour in Sure Jell.
Bring it to a boil, stirring constantly.
Boil for one minute.
Pour into fruit.
Stir that up well.
I always love my action shots 
.
Set up your station of clean jars, a cup to pour the jam in with, lids, and a wet paper towel or dish cloth.
I LOVE my canning funnel but you don’t have to use one (it’s the red thing). You can just pour and wipe off the excess but the funnel cost a dollar or two and is well worth the investment if you can find one.
If you are planning on canning this season, I strongly suggest getting all of your supplies now because they become more and more difficult to find as the summer wears on.
Pour your fruit into the jars, leaving one inch of space between the fruit and the top.
This is known as “head space”.
Repeat until you get all of your jam in jars.
Note: nine times out of ten, a recipe will tell you it makes a certain amount of jars and it will always be more. This recipe said it would make six jars and I have eight. So be prepared with extra jars for convenience sake.
Wipe around the top and side threads of each jar with a wet paper towel.
This is to remove any sticky fruit that may have spilled onto it and ensure your jar seals properly.
If you skip this step, it will always tell on you because people will need a vice like grip to get the jar open later. I’ve had this happen the first time I canned and it was very embarrassing knowing that I had ignored my Grandmother’s wisdom on this.
Place a lid on each jar and then seal it with a ring (the part that screws on).
Let sit at room temperature for twenty four hours.
After that time has passed you can put some in the fridge to begin using immediately and store the rest in the freezer.
Note: Freezer Jam cannot be stored at room temperature.
You will now be rewarded for your efforts with the FRESHEST tasting peach jam you’ve ever had in your life!
Peach Freezer Jam
- 2 lbs peaches (enough to make 3 cups of mashed peaches)
- 4 1/2 C Sugar
- 1 Box Sure Jell (can use other brand but check their instructions)
- 2 T Lemon Juice
Peel and slice peaches. Mash up with potato masher or fork. They will be lumpy but that is okay. Measure out sugar in large bowl. Measure three cups of peaches and add to sugar. Add lemon juice. Stir well and sit aside so sugar can dissolve.
In sauce pot, place 3/4 C Water. Add fruit pectin (Sure Jell). Bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Boil for one minute. Pour into fruit mixture. Stir well until all sugar is dissolved.
Pour into clean 8 ounce jars (or plastic containers of choice) and leave 1 inch head space (instructions on package say leave 1/2 inch but most recipes say leave one so I go with tradition here). Using a damp paper towel, wipe around rim and sides of jar to remove any residue. Place lids on jars and let sit at room temperature for twenty four hours. After that time, place in freezer until ready to use. Store opened jars you are using in the fridge.
We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.
~Winston Churchill. To submit your quote (or read others that will encourage you) click here.
Christy Jordan
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So, say I have a PLUM tree in my backyard… and am overrun with yellow plums… same instructions?
Sure is,but for plums you also need to add a bit more sugar or 1 cup of light corn syrup
.
http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/mcp-plum-freezer-jam-62477.aspx
This is the link to the recipe for plums on Kraft’s website. Kraft makes Sure-Jell. I’ve gotten to meet several folks who represent Kraft and it is a very family oriented company from what I’ve seen
Gratefully,
Christy
Thank you Christy!
You are most welcome, Thank YOU Kim!
Ok, I am going to have to make this freezer jam. But I would simply love your mothers recipe for home made sourdough bread to put it on. Love your stories as much as the recipes.
Yes Ma’am, I’ll get on that one. I have needed to have it up here for a while now. It may be in the cookbook, too. I’ll check on it!
Gratefully,
Christy
Looks REALLY good. Got some tasteless unripe peaches at the local Walmart last week but the plums were great. I looked at some webpages for getting peaches to ripen off the tree but what would you suggest?
Bill, if no one else has told you, put the peaches or other fruit in a brown paper sack for several days. I always do this as I try to buy hard and/or part green. This way they arent ripe all at same time. Anyway, check after three days and then continue to check them daily. They should all ripen a6 same time.
Sue
~looks to Bill as she listens to Su and nods~ Yeah Bill,what she said
.
You know what was funny? A magazine from a noted farm supply company just published a suggestion that you cover EVERY SINGLE peach on your tree with a quart sized zipper bag in order to keep pests off of them.
My mother and I got a big kick out of that. Her tree has produced hundreds of peaches so far this year and we were just imagining us trying to cover each one with a bag! Yeah, kinda off topic but isn’t that my trademark? ~grins~
Gratefully,
Christy
Christy, I think you just got “Sue” and “Su” mixed up. lol
But Sue’s suggestion is spot on, the brown paper bag works.
Oops!
I sure did! Lol
sorry, me and that whole “sleep” thing haven’t been getting along lately
~Christy, who woke up at 4:30 am to check her email….
Christy,
I’ve found that most jelly/jam/preserve recipes are too sweet for our tastes. Could we adjust the sugar – say like go down to 3 or 3.5 cups – and still come out with a safe product? Thnks!
Hey Jan! I am so with ya on the sweetness thing!
Actually, there is a fruit pectin (a few as a matter of fact) on the market that requires little or no sugar. I made some peach jam last night with it. In place of the water, you boil your pectin in some apple juice and then you can add splenda or sugar to taste or leave it entirely unsweetened if you like.
If you use less sugar with regular pectin, the product will not set up properly but if you get the sugar free or low sugar pectin it will work out just fine and enable you to tailor it to your own family’s taste. These products are really easy to find nowadays and they will be right next to the regular pectin
.
I bet you’d really enjoy them, I sure have!
Gratefully,
Christy
Thank you! I have made strawberry freezer jam but never peach! Will be trying it this week!
Bountiful blessings!
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh how I love strawberry freezer jam!
I ate all of my strawberries this year though!
~looks guilty and then cracks a giggle~ I enjoyed that, too!
Gratefully,
Christy
Christy, I LOVE your site. The stories, the recipes, the whole thing.
When making freezer jam do you take the rings off the lids before you put them in the freezer?
Hey Cherry!! thank you so much. I LOVE you reading my site!!!
I don’t take the rings off. You are absolutely right though, anytime you can something you can take the rings off because the lids are sealed on. With freezer jam though, you aren’t actually heating the lids and jars so they may seal but it’s kind of a toss up. I just leave my rings on.
Now you can also use plastic jars or containers if you like. Glass jars are just most convenient for me.
I hope this helps!! Thank you, Cherry! (LOVE your name)
Gratefully,
Christy
Thanks so much for the info on freezing jam.. And by the way, yes, Cherry is my real legal name..Just like the fruit..And pity the poor soul that says Sherry..Does anyone see an S in my name?? LOL…I get that all the time. So nice to see someone say it right..Keep up the wonderful work. I’ve hooked several of my friends here in north GA on your site..
Cherry
Looks good to me. I think I might have to try this some time. I’ve always wanted to try canning or jarring. I’ve always seen the methods where u had to boil and all that jazz and I didn’t want to go through all that touble. Your method looks soooooooooo much easier! Thanks for all ur easy and cheap tips Christy! YOu have no idea how much of a blessing you are to us younge wifes and mothers! ^_^ Love ya <3!
Vickie
I love freezer jam. My faves are strawberry and peach. I love to mix it in homemade yogurt.
The frozen strawberry jam is wonderful on ice cream. Try it on waffles too. It is so simple to make and so much better than canned.
Gotta love those freezer jams!!
Ah, so easy! I tried to make your peach preserve last year and I burnt it!
Mango jam sounds so good. But it’s winter here so we don’t have all those yummy fruits at the moment.
I am so excited to get these instructions! I just found out today where I can get some fresh ripe peaches locally and have great plans for them! Thanks for sharin!
I’ve never tried making any kind of jelly/butter/jam – but I gotta try this!!! I’m sure my Mom will help me!!!! Or better yet….she can do it and give me some! Ha! So Mom if you are reading this…..
kim
Sounds wonderful! And easy too (perhaps that is what makes it seem so wonderful to me). No boiling jars and such – too much work and way too hot here (Charleston SC) for all that. My neighbor has a huge fig tree and always brings over more figs than we can eat. Wonder if I can make a fig freezer jam? Any idea?
Thanks for the great recipes and stories.
Stay cool.
Melanie
Oh my oh my oh my! Melanie, am I ever jealous of you! I love and adore figs but they are a very rare pleasure for me! My grandaddy and I used to go out and pick his fig tree clean whenever I visited him as a girl. We’d eat them all before we even came back in the house and then not say a word to anyone!
I am sure you can make fig freezer jam and I am sure it would be heavenly!! Just get the Sure Jell and the instructions should be the same as this. You might need less sugar though, if your figs are good and sweet.
Jealously,
Christy
~grins~
Interesting… I have never heard of freezer jam! I’ll keep this in mind if I ever have too much fruit on my hands! Now that I have a small deep freeze in the garage, I have room for it!
I was looking for a fried corn recipe to refresh my memory. My grandmother and mom fixed it quite a bit when I was young. I have added this site to my favorites. It’s wonderful. Love the stories, the humor, and the grins!
Question: Does this jam have to be frozen? When my family made it many years ago it stood on the pantry shelves until we were ready to eat it (no freezer in those days). For the last four or five years my late wife and I made this jam essentially by this recipe and did not freeze it and it tasted just fine as we took opened a new jar every three or four weeks.
Any experts out there who can tell me what to do and what will happen if I do or don’t?
Thanks Tim
Hey Tim in the heart of NY!
I can help you!
A lot of folks used to make jams and such like this and not can it like we do nowadays. There was also a practice known as “open kettle” canning where you poured the hot liquid into your jars but didn’t process them in a boiling water bath. You just let the heat from the liquid seal the jars and then put them up. While neither of these methods killed you or I (I was taught to can using the open kettle method and I bet most other folks were also) Food Scientists now warn against them.
Botulism is a very serious concern whenever food is not properly canned and I’m afraid freezer jam kept at room temp is extremely dangerous.
This jam hasn’t been sterilized or cooked in any fashion so it’s really a problem waiting to happen if left at room temperature.
However, you can just store it all in the fridge and it will be good for quite some time refrigerated but freezing will give you the longest time to enjoy it.
I hope this helps! It’s always nice to dust that degree off so thank you for giving me that chance!
Gratefully,
Christy
I don’t think I made myself clear as to the process we use to make the jam: Crush the berries, bring them up to boil, add the sugar, bring the mix back up to boil (stirring continually), add the pectin, keep stirring at full boil for one minute, pour into sterilized jars, cap with the flexible lids and rings (the lids usually take from 15 minutes to an hour to “pop down” (seal)as the jars cool. Then store on shelves neither frozen or refrigerated for as long as desired. After opening (unscrewing the rings and unpopping the flexible lids), store in the refrigerator as the jam is used. This is the way we have done it. Is this the “Open Kettle” method you are describing? Thanks
Hey!
Yes yes yes, I misunderstood! I thought you were making freezer jam like this (no cooking at all of the fruit). I was actually trying to figure out how that would work! lol
Yes, what you are talking about is the open kettle method. My mother was using it herself until this year also. It normally works (like I said, we haven’t died yet!) but experts recommend against it now. However, all you have to do differently is once you are done with your usual process, place a dish towel in the bottom of a large pot and put your jars on top of it. Add enough water to cover the jars by one inch and bring to a good boil. Once it reaches a boil, put the lid on and boil for five minutes if they are 8 ounce jars, 10 if they are 16.
Then you’ve eliminated any risk whatsoever to your canning!
Having said all of this, my grandmother still does open kettle.
I’ve made jam before but it never quite came out so great…but with your instructions/photos, I’m hoping I can make a success out of this one. Otherwise, me and jam, we’re probably better off left in our own respective homes. ^_^
Hey cool idea with the pics. Idea!! When we can peaches we boil water and put the peaches in it (with the skins still on) and transfer them to ice water. The skins come off amazingly well. No peeling them with knives…works awesomely..
Hi Christy!
I love your recipes, and really want to make this. But I accidentally picked up powdered gelatin instead of pectin. Can I use gelatin for this?
Thank you!
I have just recently started canning. I need all the help I can get. Thank you, for the step by step instructions. Your page is very helpful.