Pineapple Jam Made From Fresh Pineapple and Liquid Pectin

Pineapples are in the stores for Easter cooking.  Every year I make pineapple jam from wonderful fresh pineapple that I have let ripen on my kitchen counter until it is golden yellow.

The fruit is sweeter and juicer if you let it ripen.  I twist the tops off to replant in my garden.  I live in South Florida and pineapple grows here very well as a landscape plant.  Just peel off the little leaves at the bottom of the stem to expose about a inch of it.  That is where the stem will send out roots.

Then place the stem in a jar of water covering only the stem bottom that has been exposed.

In a few week there will be roots and you can plant it in a pot of good potting soil.  You can raise it in containers or if you live in a warm climate that doesn’t see frost you can plant it out side.   In two years it will give you a pineapple.  It will be smaller then the original  fruit that the top came from.   I currently have one growing that I planted last year that is giving me fruit.  It spent most of the year root bond in a pot with another plant.   That might of been why it set fruit early.

To prepare the fruit for jam, just cut the pineapple in to fourths.  Then remove the hard core from the center and cut like the picture below leaving the skin in tack.

You can easily remove the chunks from the skin with a small knife.   I used a food processor with the blade to crush the pineapple but you can  also crush it with a potato masher in a large pan.  I just pulsed the food processor until I had it looking like canned crushed pineapple.

Pineapple Jam using Liquid Pectin

• Difficulty: intermediate
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Ingredients:

• 1 large ripe pineapple
• 3 1/4 cups cane sugar
• 3 tablespoons  lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 package of liquid pectin
• 5 or 6 half pint jars and lids.

Read the instructions that comes with the pectin on how to use it. The jars need to be washed and sterilized in a boiling water bath. You will find instruction in this USDA publication on line on the proper method of handling and sterilizing your jars.

Add all the ingredients except the liquid pectin in a large pan.  The butter will prevent the jam from foaming and you won’t have to skim any foam off the jam when you ladle it into the jars.

Bring to a full rolling boil that can not be stirred down.

Normally your pectin instructions will tell you to remove from heat and add the liquid pectin stir in and return to heat.  Cook for one minute at a full rolling boil. Now remove from heat and jar up.

Ladle into hot sterilized jars up to a 1/4 inch from the lid.  Wipe the rim off with a wet paper towel and run your finger around the top to make sure the edge is clean.  You can hear your finger squeak.  Place a hot lid on the jar.  Add ring and tighten.

Put the jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Remove jars to cool on a towel or rack.  The lids will seal as they cool and you can here them pop when they do.   My pineapple almost gave me 5 cups of jam.  A larger one will give you more.  It varies from batch to batch depending on the fruit.

My family loves this jam and I make it every year.  It makes great gifts too.  There is really a difference in the taste from the commercial jam.  If you have the basic canning equipment,  pineapple jam is cheaper to make then buy it.  There are recipes and now low sugar pectin that can be made for special diet needs.  The recipes are easily found on the internet.