Gooseberry Jam is a delicious topping for breads, and so worth the trouble of picking the gooseberries. The bushes have long thorns, which means that you can’t pick these berries in a hurry, and you probably don’t want to make your young kids help you with this task. I got a couple of scrapes each time I went picking, because I’m always so anxious to get the job done or grab the next berry.
My Mother-in-law just loves gooseberry jam, and specifically planted the bushes in her zone 3 garden so we could make this recipe. She shared a little secret with me to get the best tasting jam–make sure at least one cup of the gooseberries are underripe.
Finally, gooseberries are naturally full of pectin, so there’s no need to put any in the jam. I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Gooseberry Jam
A basic Gooseberry Jam recipe without pectin.
Ingredients
- 6 cups gooseberries (at least 1 cup should be under-ripe)
- 6 cups white sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Wash gooseberries and remove the tops and stems.
- Sterilize jars you'll be using for canning be either boiling for 10 minutes, running through a bottle sterilizer, or cooking in the oven for 10 minutes at 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Boil the lids and rings in water for 10 minutes.
- Add gooseberries, sugar, and lemon juice into a tall pot.
- Cook on medium high heat, stirring occasionally. Once the mixture reaches a rolling boil, reduce the heat and start timing the boil--15 to 20 minutes.
- Turn off heat and remove as much foam as possible.
- Pour jam into sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace..
- Clean off any spillage on the rims with a clean cloth.
- Put on lids and secure with rims. Boil in water for 10 minutes. The water must be at least 1 inch over the top of the jars.
- Remove after 10 minutes and set jars on a clean towel. Do not tilt the jar as you remove it, as that could compromise the seal. Do not move jars for 24 hours.
- If you have any jars that don't seal, or a jar with too much headspace, put it in the fridge and use that one first.
Notes
If you live at a higher altitude, you may need to boil your jars, lids, rims, and jam for more than 10 minutes to sterilize them.
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