Wild Huckleberry Jam
My favorite thing to make with wild huckleberries we find here in the mountains of North Idaho is, of course, wild huckleberry jam. This wild huckleberry jam requires just two ingredients, huckleberries and sugar. I don’t use boxed pectin for this recipe. I just let the jam cook down until it is the consistency that I’m wanting. I use the simple water bath canning method to preserve the jam.
Late huckleberry season is one of my favorite times of the year and quite possibly my favorite time of summer. There are huckleberries that ripen down in the lower elevations earlier in the summer right around the 4th of July. Then there are the late summer huckleberries that ripen in mid-August up in the higher elevations. These mid-August huckleberries are my favorite ones to pick.
One of the reasons they are my favorite is because we get to head up into the mountains on back mountain dirt roads which is one of our favorite ways to go on an adventure. It gets us up into the mountains which is one of our favorite places to be. Another reason is the abundance of huckleberries we have found at these higher elevations. The bushes are absolutely packed with berries.
Ingredients for wild huckleberry jam:
- Huckleberries
- Sugar
*I add 1 1/4 cups of sugar per 1 quart of berries. For the recipe you see me preparing in the pictures I had 4 quarts of berries so I added 5 cups of sugar.*
Tools you will need to preserve wild huckleberry jam:
- Half pint jam jars with lids and rings that have been cleaned and sanitized (4 quarts of berries with 5 cups of sugar made 8 half pint jars of jam)
- Very large pot for water bath canning
- Tongs for putting the jars into the water bath and removing them
- Heavy bottomed pot for making the jam (I use an enamel coated cast iron pot so the bottom of the pot heats evenly and prevents scalding.)
Directions:
- 1.) Add the huckleberries and sugar to the heavy bottomed pot and turn the burner on low. On my stove I put it one notch above low and this brings the jam and a sugar up to a low simmer VERY slowly which is what you want. All ovens are different so set yours to the lowest setting that will bring your berries and sugar to a low simmer very slowly.
- 2.) Stir the berries and sugar at least every two minutes while they are coming up to a simmer. You will want to be hanging out in your kitchen for this entire process since you need to be stirring at least every two minutes to prevent scalding.
- 3.) Once the jam has come to a low simmer continue to stir at least every two minutes until the jam reaches the consistency you want. For me it took 90 minutes to reach the consistency I wanted. You can check the consistency by taking a plate and spooning a small amount of jam onto the plate and letting it cool completely. Run your finger through the cooled jam to check the consistency.
- 4.) Once it’s the consistency you would like then you can turn off the heat and start spooning the jam into the half pint jars. I just use a small measuring cup to do this. Have your water bath pot starting to come up to a boil.
- 5.) Wipe down the tops of the jars with a damp paper towel to make sure there isn’t any jam residue before putting on the lids and rings. Tighten the rings to just finger strength tight.
- 6.) Add the jars to the boiling water bath pot carefully with the tongs. Let the jars boil for 10 minutes. Carefully remove from the pot with the tongs and let cool on the counter. You will start to hear the jars seal with a little “pop” sound as they cool.
- 7.) Once the jars have come to room temp check each jar to make sure it is sealed. You will know it is sealed because the center of the lid is popped down. If any of the jars haven’t sealed then just popped that jar in the fridge and use that jam up in 3-4 weeks. The sealed jars will store for 1-2 years in your pantry. When you open a jar make sure to store in the fridge and use up within 3-4 weeks. Enjoy!
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Wild Huckleberry Jam
My favorite thing to make with wild huckleberries we find here in the mountains of North Idaho is, of course, wild huckleberry jam. This wild huckleberry jam requires just two ingredients, huckleberries and sugar. I don’t use boxed pectin for this recipe. I just let the jam cook down until it is the consistency that I’m wanting. I use the simple water bath canning method to preserve the jam.
Ingredients
- Huckleberries
- Sugar
- *I add 1 1/4 cups of sugar per 1 quart of berries. For the recipe you see me preparing in the pictures I had 4 quarts of berries so I added 5 cups of sugar.*
Instructions
Tools you will need to preserve wild huckleberry jam:
- Half pint jam jars with lids and rings that have been cleaned and sanitized (4 quarts of berries with 5 cups of sugar made 8 half pint jars of jam)
- Very large pot for water bath canning
- Tongs for putting the jars into the water bath and removing them
- Heavy bottomed pot for making the jam (I use an enamel coated cast iron pot so the bottom of the pot heats evenly and prevents scalding.)
Directions:
- 1.) Add the huckleberries and sugar to the heavy bottomed pot and turn the burner on low. On my stove I put it one notch above low and this brings the jam and a sugar up to a low simmer VERY slowly which is what you want. All ovens are different so set yours to the lowest setting that will bring your berries and sugar to a low simmer very slowly.
- 2.) Stir the berries and sugar at least every two minutes while they are coming up to a simmer. You will want to be hanging out in your kitchen for this entire process since you need to be stirring at least every two minutes to prevent scalding.
- 3.) Once the jam has come to a low simmer continue to stir at least every two minutes until the jam reaches the consistency you want. For me it took 90 minutes to reach the consistency I wanted. You can check the consistency by taking a plate and spooning a small amount of jam onto the plate and letting it cool completely. Run your finger through the cooled jam to check the consistency.
- 4.) Once it’s the consistency you would like then you can turn off the heat and start spooning the jam into the half pint jars. I just use a small measuring cup to do this. Have your water bath pot starting to come up to a boil.
- 5.) Wipe down the tops of the jars with a damp paper towel to make sure there isn’t any jam residue before putting on the lids and rings. Tighten the rings to just finger strength tight.
- 6.) Add the jars to the boiling water bath pot carefully with the tongs. Let the jars boil for 10 minutes. Carefully remove from the pot with the tongs and let cool on the counter. You will start to hear the jars seal with a little “pop” sound as they cool.
- 7.) Once the jars have come to room temp check each jar to make sure it is sealed. You will know it is sealed because the center of the lid is popped down. If any of the jars haven’t sealed then just popped that jar in the fridge and use that jam up in 3-4 weeks. The sealed jars will store for 1-2 years in your pantry. When you open a jar make sure to store in the fridge and use up within 3-4 weeks. Enjoy!
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