Homemade boysenberry jam is a delicious reminder of summer time at it’s BEST! Learn how to make this classic jam, and can it for long term storage!
I love summers in Oregon! Our temperatures climb higher than normal, and the local farms are filled with fresh fruit and vegetables! I LOVE to go picking at local U-Pick farms, where you can easily pick 10-20 pounds of a variety of fresh berries, apples, pears, peaches, etc., for a fraction of the price you would pay for them at the grocery store!
Growing up in Southern California, I had a Great-Aunt who grew boysenberries in her garden, and we could pick and eat them when we visited in the summer. She also made incredible boysenberry cobblers for us, too! We lived fairly close to Knott’s Berry Farm, which is another place where boysenberries became my FAVORITE berry!
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I LOVE Picking Fresh Berries!
I recently picked fresh boysenberries (my favorite berry). I went to our local U-Pick farm early in the morning, while it was still a bit cool. With a smile on my face I spent about an hour walking down rows bursting with fresh berries, and I picked them to my hearts content.
The U-Pick farm I go to each year has a policy that you can nibble for free while you pick, so I tasted several of these juicy beauties while I worked, and enjoyed them a LOT! Once I got home I froze some to use later in the year, ate a lot of fresh berries with breakfast, and made 10 jars of jam, which I will store in our pantry (and give away to family and friends)
One of our sons came over the next day and got a couple jars of boysenberry jam and raspberry jam for his own home. It makes me happy to be able to give him some of my fresh homemade preserves!
What Else Can You Make With Boysenberries?
I also love using boysenberries in my recipes for Boysenberry Shortbread Tart, Deep Dish Boysenberry Pie or regular, classic Boysenberry Pie! Boysenberry Cobbler is a favorite, too!
The process for making jam is really not too difficult, once you understand the basics. My hope is that this post will walk you through how to make this delicious boysenberry jam, from scratch. Once you are successful, you will be thrilled that you can stock your pantry with homemade jam for long term storage!
I’ll bet you will be ready to make other jams, too, once you’ve started! You might be interested in trying my other jam recipes for Peach, Bing Cherry, Homemade Blackberry, Orange Marmalade, Strawberry or Blueberry, to name a few.
How To Make Boysenberry Jam
Before beginning, make sure you have all the ingredients and equipment (canner, jars, lids, utensils, etc.) ready to go. Wash jars and lids in soapy hot water. Fill a water bath canner half full of water. Bring this to a low simmer.
Fill jars with water and put in canner on an elevated rack, while water is simmering, to keep jars warm (or you can set jars on dish towel on a cookie sheet and keep in oven at 250 degrees for 20 minutes for same effect). At the same time, start a teapot with water going, so I will have boiling water for the jar lids later on when needed. Put flat jar lids in small bowl. In a large bowl, measure out the exact amount of sugar. Set aside.
Crush the berries one cup at a time (it is very easy if you use a potato masher).NOTE: You will need a couple cups more fresh berries then you think, because you must measure out 6 cups of CRUSHED berries, so plan for that! Put the finely crushed berries (6 cups total) into a large stock pot.
Stir a box of powdered fruit Pectin into the berries. Bring this mixture to a full rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly (a rolling boil is when it is boiling hard, it won’t stop bubbling even when stirred). Once berries are at full rolling boil stage, stir in all of the sugar quickly (all at once). Stir well to combine.
At this point, I pour boiling water over the jar lids that are in the little separate bowl. Let them just sit in the hot water for 5 minutes while you finish the boysenberry jam.
Bring the jam/juice/pectin/sugar mixture back to a full, rolling boil. Once it is a full rolling boil, boil it for exactly 4 minutes, stirring constantly. When time is up, remove pan from heat, then skim off any accumulated foam (and discard foam). Ladle the hot jam mixture into drained, hot, prepared jars. A wide mouth canning funnel makes this a lot less messy!
Fill the jars, but leave 1/8 inch headspace at the top of each jar. Insert a plastic knife into each jar a couple times to help remove air bubbles. Adjust the headspace if necessary. Use a damp cloth or paper towel to wipe down the rim and edges of the jar (you need it free of debris in order to get a good seal on the jar).
Cover the jars with the hot, flat jar lid. I love my magnetic canning wand that lifts the flat lids out of the hot water easily! Screw on the jar rings tightly. Lower each of the jars onto an elevated rack in the canner. The jars must be completely covered with water, and must have at least an inch of water over the top of the jar. Add more boiling water to canner, if necessary, to make sure.
Cover the canner; bring to a gentle boil. Once the water is boiling, process the jars for 10 minutes.
When done, wait for a couple minutes, then carefully remove canner lid (lift lid away from you because of steam); carefully lift each jar out of water (with canning tongs), and place on a dish towel on the counter to cool. TIP: Do not put jars directly on counter cause you don’t want temperature differences to possibly crack jars. You should hear “ping” sound as the jars of boysenberry jam seal properly.
After the jars cool off, you can check to see they sealed properly by pressing the middle of the lid. The jar should NOT spring back when touched. If it does spring back, then you will need to refrigerate that particular jar. Let the sealed jars stand at room temp for 24 hours, then store unopened in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year. If any jars do NOT seal, store in refrigerator and use immediately.
Time To Enjoy Some Boysenberry Jam!
Here is a close up of the boysenberry jam I made, on a toasted English muffin (just waiting for me to gobble it up). Doesn’t it look yummy? Let me tell ya… it IS GOOD! All I needed with it was a good cup of hot coffee and a comfortable chair to sit in while I enjoyed them both!
I really hope you enjoy this boysenberry jam! It’s my favorite jam of all time! I also hope that you will enjoy the process of making jam, and will be motivated to try other flavors, as well. Don’t forget that you can find ALL of my recipes in the Recipe Index, located at the top of the page. Thanks for stopping by, and come back soon!
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Recipe Source: Recipe found inside box of MCP Premium Fruit Pectin
Homemade boysenberry jam is a delicious reminder of summer time at it's BEST! Learn how to make this classic jam, and can it for long term storage!
Category: Jam / Canning and Preserving
Cuisine: American
Keyword: boysenberry jam
Servings: 10 half-pint jars (or 5 pint jars)
Calories Per Serving: 44 kcal
Author: JB @ The Grateful Girl Cooks!
- 6 cups crushed boysenberries
- 2 ounces powdered fruit pectin , 1 box (some are 1.75 ounces)
- 8½ cups granulated sugar
Before beginning, make sure you have all the ingredients and equipment (canner, jars, lids, utensils, etc.) ready to go. Wash jars and lids in soapy hot water. Fill a water canner half full of water. Bring this to a low simmer. Fill jars with water and put on an elevated rack in canner , while water is simmering, to keep jars warm. (Or you can set jars on dish towel on a cookie sheet and keep in oven at 250 degrees for 20 minutes for same effect). At the same time, I start a teapot with water going, (so I will have boiling water for the jar lids later on).
Put flat jar lids in small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, measure out the exact amount of sugar needed. Set aside.
Crush the berries one cup at a time (it is very easy if you use a potato masher). Put the finely crushed berries (6 cups total) into a large stock pot. Stir the box of Pectin into the berries. Bring this mixture to a full rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly (a rolling boil is when it is boiling hard, it won't stop bubbling even when stirred). Once berries are at full rolling boil stage, stir in all of the sugar quickly (all at once). Stir well to combine.
At this point, I pour boiling water over the jar lids that are in the little bowl. Let them just sit in the hot water for 5 minutes while you finish the jam.
Bring the jam/juice/pectin/sugar mixture back to a full, rolling boil. Once it is a full rolling boil, boil it for exactly 4 minutes, stirring constantly. When time is up, remove pan from heat, then skim off any accumulated foam (and discard foam). Ladle the hot jam mixture into drained, hot, prepared jars. Fill the jars, but leave 1/8 inch headspace at the top of each jar. Insert a plastic knife into each jar a couple times to help remove air bubbles. Adjust the headspace if necessary. Use a damp cloth or paper towel to wipe down the rim and edges of the jar (you need it free of debris in order to get a good seal on the jar). Cover the jars with the hot, flat jar lid. Screw on the jar rings tightly. Lower each of the jars onto an elevated rack in the canner. The jars must be completely covered with water, and must have at least an inch of water over the top of the jar. Add more boiling water to canner, if necessary, to make sure.
Cover the canner; bring to a gentle boil. Once the water is boiling, process the jars for 10 minutes. When done, wait for a couple minutes, then carefully remove canner lid (lift lid away from you because of steam); carefully lift each jar out of water (with canning tongs), and place on dish towel on the counter to cool (do not put jars directly on counter cause you don't want temperature differences to possibly crack jars). You should hear "ping" sound as the jars seal properly.
After the jars cool off, you can check to see they sealed properly by pressing the middle of the lid. The jar should NOT spring back when touched. If it does spring back, then you will need to refrigerate that particular jar. Let the sealed jars stand at room temp for 24 hours, then store unopened in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year. If any jars do NOT seal, store in refrigerator and use immediately.
Plan ahead... The amount of berries needed is 6 cups CRUSHED berries. Make sure you have a couple cups of extra boysenberries before beginning, to ensure you have the correct amount necessary for this jam!
Nutrition Facts
Boysenberry Jam
Amount Per Serving (1 Tablespoon)
Calories 44
% Daily Value*
Potassium 6mg0%
Carbohydrates 11g4%
Sugar 10g11%
Vitamin A 5IU0%
Vitamin C 0.2mg0%
Calcium 1mg0%
Iron 0.1mg1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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