How to Make Blackberry Jam

Aug 5, 2025

How to Make Blackberry Jam

🍇 How to Make Blackberry Jam (Without Losing Your Sanity or Half a Pint to Your Shirt)

Oregon blackberries: delicious, invasive, and determined to take over your backyard and possibly your soul. Fortunately, there’s one way to reclaim dominance—turn them into jam.

Making blackberry jam is ridiculously satisfying. It’s like bottling a bit of August and saving it for that soggy Tuesday in February when you need a reminder that sunshine and sweetness still exist.

So grab your berries, wash your hands (and your sense of humor), and let’s get jammin’.

🧺 What You’ll Need

Gear:

  • Large pot (the berries need space to bubble and foam like a sitcom drama)

  • Canning jars with lids and rings (half-pint jars are ideal)

  • Canning funnel

  • Ladle

  • Jar lifter or tongs

  • Potato masher or sturdy spoon

  • Big wooden spoon (you’ll be stirring your soul into this)

  • Water bath canner or deep stock pot

  • Clean kitchen towels

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups fresh blackberries (picked wild or bought—your call)

  • 1 box (1.75 oz) fruit pectin (like Sure-Jell)

  • 7 cups sugar (yes, seven—don’t panic)

  • ½ tsp butter (optional, helps reduce foaming)

⚠️ Note: You can reduce sugar if using low-sugar pectin, but you’ll need to follow those package instructions exactly—jam science is real.

🔥 Step-by-Step: Blackberry Jam Like a Pro (Or a Very Determined Amateur)

1. Pick (or buy) your berries

If you’re foraging, wear armor. Brambles fight back. Aim for plump, black-purple berries that fall off with a gentle tug. Not red. Not squishy. Not stolen from your neighbor’s goat fence (unless they’re cool with it).

2. Wash the berries—gently

Rinse under cold water in a colander. Pick out leaves, spiders, and the occasional mystery beetle. Do not skip this step. Oregon bugs love berries too.

3. Mash those berries

Use a potato masher in a large bowl. You want about 4 cups of crushed berries. Leave a little texture—this isn’t baby food, it’s rustic jam.

4. Sterilize your jars

Boil jars and lids in a big pot of water for 10 minutes. Or run them through the dishwasher on high heat with no soap. Either way, they need to be hot and clean when it’s go time.

5. Prep your potion

In a large pot, mix:

  • Crushed berries

  • 1 box of pectin

  • ½ teaspoon butter (optional, but it’s jam insurance)

Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Not a simmer. A serious, bubbling lava situation.

6. Sugar rush

Once boiling, dump in all 7 cups of sugar. Yes, all of it. Stir like your jam depends on it—because it does.

Bring the mixture back to a full boil and stir for exactly 1 minute.
(Overboiling can ruin the set. Underboiling leaves you with syrup. Timing is everything.)

7. Remove from heat and skim the foam

If you didn’t add butter, you probably have a foamy layer. Skim that off with a spoon and snack on it like a feral pioneer—you earned it.

8. Fill the jars

Use a canning funnel and ladle to pour jam into hot jars, leaving ¼ inch headspace at the top. Wipe the rims with a clean damp towel. Seal with lids and rings (finger tight, not Hulk tight).

9. Water bath magic

Place sealed jars in a boiling water bath. Process for 10 minutes (add 1 minute for every 1,000 feet above sea level—shoutout to Oakridge).

Make sure jars are fully submerged by at least an inch of water.

10. Let ’em cool

Carefully remove jars and place them on a towel. You’ll hear the “ping” of success as the lids seal.
Let them sit undisturbed for 12–24 hours.

Then check the seals: Press the center of the lid—if it doesn’t pop back, you nailed it.

🍞 Now What?

Slather your homemade jam on:

  • Sourdough toast

  • Buttermilk biscuits

  • Pancakes

  • Ice cream

  • Your face, probably

You’ve made real blackberry jam. You’re practically a homesteader now. Feel free to brag at the farmers market.

🌿 Where to Pick or Buy Blackberries in Lane County

  • Mount Pisgah trails (wild & legal—stay on public access paths)

  • Dorris Ranch in Springfield (bountiful brambles)

  • Market of Choice / Natural Grocers for clean, local berries

  • U-pick farms near Coburg or Junction City

🔍 Other Resources for Jam Making

Youtube How to Videos

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