Photography is not something I talk about a lot on the blog. I guess I just take it for granted, but it’s such an important part of a food blog. Photography is what people see first. The pictures have the important job of drawing people into a post which is not something that even a flashy recipe title can do. It also gives people an expectation about what the recipe will look like when they cook it at home. So, it really is an important part. The photograph, in many cases, is just as important as the recipe. And honestly, my images haven’t always been pretty like these of this delicious freezer jam. In fact, some of them have been downright ugly. Check out this comparison image of my Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings. I recently re-shot the images and when I decided to show them both to y’all, I realized that I took these two pictures almost exactly two years apart. Look how much things have changed in 730 days!
Now, I’ll be the first to tell you that I am no expert. When it comes to food photography, I am self-taught. Despite a black and white photography class in college where I developed my own film and a short stint where I pretended to be a portrait photographer, my experience has been limited. But I love food photography. It’s nice to shoot things that (normally) don’t move and don’t even get me started on food styling. That’s another thing that I’ve grown to love. To me photos should be natural, beautiful, and mouth-watering. The styling should also be natural. You won’t find me using any fancy styling tricks when I shoot my food (or when we shot the images for the book). Everything is the real food that I cooked myself. I want your dish to turn out and look as closely to mine as possible, so I don’t use any of those tricks like using mashed potatoes for ice cream or putting lipstick on strawberries to make them look brighter. My food is the real deal.
So, what got me started on this tangent about photography and styling? These beautiful images of this freezer jam. Now, my mama taught me not to brag, but dang aren’t these images pretty? I just love how they turned out and couldn’t pick which ones to use, so I’ve got 5 or 6 here that I just had to include. 🙂
Now, about this freezer jam recipe… Y’all absolutely have to try this. There’s not any of that time consuming jar sterilizing, so it’s super easy. And y’all know about me and easy. It’s nothing like canning and because you don’t cook it, your fruit won’t lose any of delicious fresh taste. I made 5 8-ounce jars in less than 1 hour and the flavor… it’s really fantastic. I’m pretty sure I prefer this to jam and jelly canned the old fashioned way. Several important things to keep in mind… You need to use freezer safe jars that will allow for the cold temps and the expansion of the freezing jam – since the freezing part is what preserves it. And you’ll need to make sure you’re using INSTANT pectin. You should have no trouble finding it in your grocery store or a store like Wal-Mart or Target in the canning section.
I just had some of this for breakfast this morning and these pictures still make my mouth water. It really is super delicious!
I told you there were too many pretty images to pick from, so here are some more… 🙂
NOTE: This recipe worked perfectly for me. However, after a few comments about the jam not setting I did a little investigation. It seems the issue is bigger that just this peach freezer jam. A quick scan on several other blogs that use instant pectin and consumer sites that sell it reveals quite a few comments about trouble getting it to set. Now, like I said, it worked perfectly for me, but there may be some issue with instant pectin. I just want you to be aware before spend money on all the ingredients and end up with peach soup – though it will still be delicious. Of course I want you to make all of my recipes, but it wouldn’t be honest for me to tell you other haven’t had problems. Just looking out for y’all. I’m going to continue to see what I can find out. –Stacey
Peach Freezer Jam
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds fresh, ripe peaches
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 5 tablespoons instant pectin
Instructions
- Peel and coarsely chop the peaches. Place them in a bowl of a food processor and pulse until you reach a chunky puree. (Don't have a food processor? Simply use a potato masher to mash them up in a large bowl.) You should end up with about 3 1/2 cups of puree.
- Pour the puree into a large bowl and add the lemon juice and stir well.
- Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Gradually add the pectin to prevent lumps and stir very, very well. (I like using a whisk here for this part.) Spoon the jam into clean jars with tight fitting lids ensuring you leave about 1/2 inch of space at the top of the jar to allow for expansion in the freezer. Allow the jars to sit a room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes to set. Store the jam in the refrigerator or the freezer. The jam will last in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 weeks and in the freezer for about a year.
When do you add the sugar? Did I miss that?
Hi Carol! You mix the sugar in after the lemon juice and before adding the pectin. Just make sure it’s all dissolved before adding in the pectin. 🙂
This is very interesting. For many years my mom and I have favored MCP pectin (it’s a little more spendy than some of the others), but it works/sets well for freezer jams. However, the instructions which come with the box of pectin say to add the pectin in gradually (making sure to smash up all lumps, and giving time for it to dissolve very well) right after adding the lemon juice and before adding the sugar. I will say that we have had some experience with runny jam(we just used it for delicious syrup!), not sure why, but most of the time it set nicely, and not overly firm. Very yummy!!
Oops! meant to add, by the way, that after adding the sugar, one must stir it for a long time to make sure the sugar has dissolved all the way. Sometimes I stir for a long time – until my arm/hand is so tired I can’t stir anymore, set aside, then stir some more!! When it hasn’t set well, we wondered if it was because we used a little honey in place of the full amount of corn syrup called for (purpose: to help it not crystalize in the freezer).
Maybe the stirring is the key! Hmmm…
Wondering what can 1 do if the instant pectin does NOT gel ? AND is there a certain BRAND name for this instant pectin, as I live in Ontario Canada
Do you do this while heating it or do it cold?
It is all done at room temperature. No heating! 🙂
Sound good and simply, I pray I don’t mess it up. Can we 5ise other fruit too?
You won’t! It’s super easy. Absolutely you can use other fruits. Check the label on the jar of instant pectin for the specifics of using other fruits.
Any way to use Splenda or trivia for us diabetics ? Thanks for the recipe.
This recipe has to have the sugar, but here’s one that doesn’t: http://www.5dollardinners.com/no-sugar-strawberry-freezer-jam/
Do we let the jam set at room temp. for the 30 min. or so, before we put in freezer, or after you’ve taken it out of freezer to eat? Gotta try it, so am asking just to make sure so I won’t mess it up! Thank you.
You let it sit for 30 minutes before you put it into the freezer. The time allows the jam to set before you freeze it.
I am not very talkative, but I enjoy your blos very much. Thanks for share!
Thanks so much!!
Thank you, and by the way….good choice on the photo :-).
Thanks, Karen!! 🙂
Hi Stacey – Where do you find the plastic freezer jars?
They usually have them in the canning section with the other jars. The Ball brand has bright green lids. They look like this: http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Jar-8-Ounce-Plastic-Freezer/dp/B007BVFYO8
Hi, Is instant pectin Sure-Jell or a different product. Do you have a picture of the box? Thanks and I really enjoy your blog.
It’s a different product. This is what I use: http://www.freshpreservingstore.com/ball-realfruit-instant-pectin-4-7-oz/shop/382681/?CCAID=FPPTPD1PRDTL
I have been making freezer jams for years. The peach is outstanding and so good as a topping for ice cream. If you can’t find the instant pectin buy Sure-jell or Certo or any other brand advertised for jelly making and follow the directions for their brand. My family prefers the freezer to canned jams & jellies any day. Here in South Georgia I buy mine from Save-a-Lot and works really well and cheaper than other brands. Stacy, I so enjoy your recipes and have made many different ones over the years.
Thanks, Winnie! Glad we share in our love fro freezer jam. Thanks for the insight!
Beautiful photos have left me hungry!!
Thanks, Tina!
Stacey,
Thank you for the Splenda recipe. I plan to try it this weekend.
Betty
You are so welcome! Enjoy!
Sounds wonderful Stacey!!! Now that the wedding has come and gone for our daughter I will have to start on this recipe. The one thing I said about the wedding, was, I did not want to say that I was glad it was over, but instead, wake up the next morning, and be glad that it went well!!! And it did…..she looked like a “Princess”, one little boy said. With her cowgirl boots under her “Cinderella” dress. She does have blond hair and blue eyes!!!
Used her Granny’s jars on all of the tables. And they have been showered with many blessings from God-sent people. Her 8-year old daughter (a mini version or our daughter) was a junior bridesmaid and when they were saying their vows, she kept saying over and over in her mind……”Please say “I Do”…..Please say “I Do”……and they did!!! Remember she asked Santa for A “Perfect family”, but thanked God when he arrived . God is good…..ALL the time!!!
God Bless Y’all!!!
What great news!! So glad to hear it all turned out so well! I just love that y’all used those jars. I’m sure it was a magical event.
It was!!!
Went by my sister’s house and she gave me a jar of “Frozen” vine berry jelly!!! I have never heard of freezing jelly till I read your blog and the next day received her jelly. That’s crazy!!! She told me the older couple that they made it with said, that if you freeze it, the jelly will taste just like the day you made it. It’s yummy!!! Missed my mother-in-laws homemade jellies. so, it was a real treat!!!
That IS crazy!! I guess all road are leading to freezer jam for you! LOL
This is a very good and easy recipe. Made one batch and loved it so much that I just made 3 more batches. Thanks for sharing!
So glad it turned out well for you, Melissa!
I love the flavor of peach and this looks like what I need for my toast.
I got your book today and just started looking through it but from the little, I have seen, I am excited to start cooking from it. Thanks for putting the work into it for the rest of us.
I hope you’ll enjoy it! Thanks for the support!
I love the idea of this recipe (especially that the kitchen does not have to be heated up for the making of the recipe). I hope to try this soon!
It’s so easy and delicious! Enjoy!
These photos are gorgeous! The second one is my favorite. My daughter and her MIL make strawberry freezer jam, and it is delicious. I might surprise them with some of this. I sometimes use the jam to flavor my plain Greek yogurt. Better tasting and still 15 g. of protein.
I bet this jam would be awesome in Greek yogurt! Thanks so much for the idea, Margy!
Dumb question. About how many peaches would that be?
Hi Kim! That’s not a dumb question, but I’m afraid that you won’t like the answer. 🙂 It really depends on the size of the peaches. For medium sized peaches, I’d say between 6 and 8.
I have two bushels of fresh Stratford peaches at the perfect point and I’m looking forward to making this jam this weekend! I searched Pinterest extensively and your recipe looked the easiest to make and easiest to adapt. Thanks for sharing! Speaking of adapting…if I want to add additional fruits like strawberries, raspberries, etc do you think it would work as long as I have about 3-3.5 cups of puree to start with? Here in Oklahoma farm fresh fruits are in abundance right now, can’t wait to stock the deep freeze! Thanks again!
I made this last night, super easy and fast! I couldn’t wait to try my peach jam on my bagel this morning…but my jam apparently never set up? It is VERY runny 🙁 I did let it sit on th e counter before putting them in the freezer…maybe I pureed too much?? I used my immersion blender…
It tastes geart, but it’s more like peach sauce not peach jam!
Oh no! Did you add other fruit like you had mentioned you might?
Karen, I just made this jam today (with just peaches) and mine didn’t set up either. I’m not sure why. The only thing I can figure is maybe the instant pectin was old?? I’m still going to use it though as “loose” jam, LOL.
Freezer jam doesn’t set up as firm as the traditional method. It will thicken, but won’t ever be firm.
How about over ice cream, or over biscuits
!
I made this today and it didn’t set at all. No difference between the texture yesterday when I made it and this morning when I checked it. Now searching for ways to fix it. The taste was good, though.
oh no! Well, I’m glad it tastes good, at least.
This looks fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing this link with me in the Facebook group!
Look for your recipe in a couple of weeks on my Lifehack profile. http://www.lifehack.org/articles/author/amanda-dewitt The title should be something about heavenly peach recipes. 😉
Thanks, Amanda!
I’ve been using a much higher sugar recipe for years and would love to cut it way down. Your recipe looks great, but how did you determine the amount of each ingredient? I looked up the recipe from Ball for the instant pectin and it’s also much higher in sugar. I have JUST finished making 32 cups of freezer jam today but still have lots of peaches. I’d love to give a lower sugar version a try with what’s left!
Try this calculator. The fact that this is freezer jam and uses instant pectin means you can use less sugar. http://www.freshpreserving.com/tools/pectin-calculator#
Thank you!
I have been diabetic for 18 years now. Do you know how this will turn out if using Splenda instead of sugar?
Thanks in advance!
According to Ball, you CAN use this instant pectin with Splenda!
Thanks! Splenda doesn’t dissolve and tends to make things dry, that’s why I asked 🙂
I used the first peaches off of our new peach tree this summer… followed the recipe. Very disappointed, it didn’t set up at all! 🙁 Just runny jam. Have you discovered why we are having this problem? The taste is great, though.
Thank You!
I’m honestly not sure. Some have had great success with the recipe and a few have had it not set up. It’s probably worth mentioning that freezer jam will never set up as firm as store bought jam.
Like Charlene I also followed this recipe with instant pectin to a tee. I made two batches with perfect Palisade, Colorado peaches. Nothing set up and I am very disappointed. Yes, it tastes good but I want jam, not sauce. What happened?
I would be disappointed, too! I wish I could tell you, but not being in the kitchen with you, it’s really hard to tell. As I mentioned before, freezer jam will not firm up as much as store bought jam, but should still thicken.
We love freezer jams. Mom made them when we were kids 40 years ago, and now my sister and I do. Like you, we vastly prefer the fresh taste. Instead of using glass jars, we both use plastic. Far less danger of breakage. She uses old frosting containers, I go buy something a little heavier than disposable plastic containers (Rubbermaid, etc) and re-use them for years. This is the first time I’ve seen a peach jam though. I’ve always made peach butter, but this sounds better!
Found this recipe via FB (likely via a Pin on Pinterst someone shared). Given I have never made jelly, jam or fruit butters, a no-cook, relatively quick and simple recipe such as this is perfect for me. I can imagine not only using this on the usual breads, but in a few other ways: crepe filling, as a topping for a nice French vanilla ice cream, frozen yogurt or even Greek yogurt; possibly heated just a bit to make it loose enough to stir into the ice cream easily (although if not as thick as cooked jams this might not be an issue). And last as the base of a sauce for pork chops. Either do a bit of a take on a peach salsa, by adding some pico de gallo to this jam, or sauteeing onions and a bit of garlic and adding to the jam for a bit of a sweet-savory combo. The pico/jam mix would be a bit of a flip of a typical peach salsa where diced peaches are basically added to salsa. The jam would be the base (for a smooth salsa rather than overly chunky one, almost more a taco sauce consistency) and the chunky part would be the tomatoes, onions and peppers of the pico. Might even add in some diced peaches as well. I do have a question, would it mess with the setting of the jam if one were to add say cimmanom, nutmeg, etc? As tasty as this sounds (and the first time I made it, I’d not make changes, a habit of mine most of the time, but the next time, additions are generally fun to play with), for some reason, a bit of the warmth of cimmanom or nutmeg or even pumpkin pie/apple pie spice might be a tasty addition.
As far as I know, cinnamon or nutmeg should be fine. Enjoy!
Thank you for the recipe. Just finished freezer strawberry jam yesterday and our peaches are ready for jam. This recipe looks great! Can’t wait to try it.
Thank you for the information on the fact that freezer jam simply won’t be as firm as canned. I much prefer the fresher taste of freezer jam, but always wondered why it was so loose.
Dana
Me too! It tastes so much fresher! Enjoy!
I dont have lemon juice can I still make without the lemon juice?
I’m not positive, but I think it has something to dow with the chemistry of the recipe.
Stacey can you use frozen peaches?
I’ve never used them, so I’m just not sure. I don’t see why not.
Did you peel the peaches before using them?
Yes
Thanks for the recipe. I made some today. However, I do believe I mistakenly used non instant fruit pectin. I was waiting for it to gel up but even after 55 minutes out on the counter no go. It will be good for ice cream I hope. 🙁
What exact brand did you use?
I used the Ball brand. But yes, it will still make a great sauce. 🙂
I know that freezer jam is not as firm, but peaches are the only thing I have a problem with NOT SETTING UP!!! What is the problem? Can we use extra pectin, are we blending it TOO much? Why can’t we get the peach freezer jam to get thicker? I have used the Sure-gel low sugar, and even tried their, “what to do when it doesn’t set up” and it still is just as watery as when I started! I love my strawberry, raspberry, etc but I WANT PEACH JAM!
I totally agree, Lori! I’ve not had trouble with it setting up, but it looks like several people are. Let me see what I can find out…
Taste good? Yes. Set up? Absolutely, totally did not. If I wanted thick peach syrupy goo I would have googled “thick peach syrupy goo.” So wish I had read the comments before hand. I now have 5 jars of goo. Good tasting goo but That wasn’t what I was making.
So sorry to hear it didn’t turn out for you, Denise!
Thanks for posting this.
Hi! My son made this for his 4-H food preservation project and earned grand champion! Thank you for the great recipe!
Woo hoo!! Tell him I said congrats!
I made my first ever batch of jam today and it is the bomb!!! I used truvia and the pectin set up perfectly!! I think I’ll try strawberry next!
I’m new to making homemade anything lol . My questions is, is this a product I would be able to ship to people thru the mail? Thanks!!
Unfortunately not. It must stay frozen or refrigerated.
Can you use freezer bags to save space in freezer?
Sure! 🙂
Mine did not set up either I used the Ball freezer pectin and unfortunately I did put it in the refrigerator too soon but i ran out of time after the fact I did use extra pectin . The peaches were very fresh and juicy I did also double the recipe and i know that that sometimes that makes a difference? can it be re-done somehow?
I’m just not sure of a way to re-make it. Hate to hear you had trouble.