Ingredients:
8 cups black plum chunks*
4 1/2-5 cups sugar
1 box powdered pectin
1/4 cup lemon juice
zest from two lemons

Directions:

Prep jars/lids for canning. Place the plums into a large, heavy bottomed pan. Add the sugar,  lemon juice and zest. Bring to a boil, stirring and breaking up any big chunks (I used a potato masher) until it begins to reduce and thicken. Stir in the pectin. Continue cooking at a low (rolling) boil for 2-3 minutes or until it looks jammy. Fill the jars leaving 1/4 inch headroom. Process in the hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Yield: 6-7 8-oz jars.

*I started off with about 2 lbs of whole plums.

Note: A great source for canning information is the Blue Book guide to preserving. I highly recommend it for learning how to can. Here is a bunch of other canning books and equipment I find useful.

My thoughts:

Canning, canning, canning. I am a bit worried this is turning into a serious addiction. I was overjoyed when my husband brought home jam jars (from a regular grocery store!!) because all of mine were….used up. Either half empty in the fridge, waiting in the canning cabinet or at the houses of people who were, if I may say so myself, lucky enough to be given a jar of whatever I made. And BTW, if you happen to have an empty jar of mine and would like to give it back, I would not turn it down! They are not cheap. Anyway, when faced with a bunch of plums I had bought when they were perhaps a bit underripe, all ripening at once, I quickly turned them into jam. It was actually one of the easier jams I’ve made. Not as easy as just dumping in whole blueberries but easier than de-seeding blackberries or supreming citrus. The pits popped out easily and the plums chopped up quickly. I just used regular old black plums but I am sure any variety of plum would work and there is probably some sort of plum that is especially good for canning out there that I am unaware of. I also used powdered pectin which I haven’t had as much experience with and it worked just fine, the plums were really juicy but the jam set up just fine. It was also fun to work with plums because while I like them a whole lot, I normally just eat them out of hand and never do anything with them. I think this might be the first plum recipe I’ve posted.