Cranberries are such an awesome treat for Christmas but watch for those sales that “should” come after boxing day on them. It’s a perfect time to pick up extra bags and make up some awesome Cranberry jam.
This is a very simple recipe to make and can up using a water bath method.
- 4 cups of cranberries (or two small bags)
- 1 can of frozen orange juice (I used no pulp)
- 2 cans of water in the orange juice tube
- 1 tsp of salt
- 5 to 7 cups of sugar (I went with five because I didn’t want to it to sweet, please do not reduce it below 5 cups if you want to can it.. you can reduce it below 5 cups if you want to freeze it. If you want it sweeter, can use up to seven cups of white sugar)
Take your cranberries/juice/water/salt and add it all to a big heavy steel pot, bring it to a boil and then drop it down to a simmer for about 8 to 10 minutes till the cranberries start all popping, if you want chunky jam, use a potato masher, if you want a smooth jam, carefully take it off the stove and hit with a stick blender till you get the smoothness you want.
Put it back on med-heat and add your sugar stir in and continue to stir while you bring it to a boil, skim the foam. Jar into hot jars, wipe your rims and into a hot water bath for 20 minutes for shelf stable Orange Cranberry Jam.
Bet you thought I forgot the pectin? Nope.. I just like this one as is. Its got natural thickness to it. Its a cross between a jam/butter in texture.. just lovely!
If stored in a cool dark pantry, it will be good for up to a year. Use it for jam but so much more than that. .use it in salad dressings, use it in sandwich’s its outstanding with old aged cheddar cheese! and don’t forget to consider using as glaze for meat, or adding a kick to your homemade BBQ.
Made 4 pints plus a bit leftover for fresh use.
Just another Day on the Farm 
Hi Valeria,
Wow this sounds tasty =-cranberries and orange jam. Perfect for holidays or anytime. Would be great for bagels or toast for breakfast. Thanks for sharing simple easy to make recipe and I’ll be sharing on social media.
Glad you enjoyed it Marla, its a very good jam and can be used in many ways.
J > Are these bags of cranberries that you mention, on sale at this time of year, frozen, dried or fresh? Surely they were harvested some months ago? (Cranberries in Europe are a completely different species)
Hi J, They do bring in cranberries that are fresh out of country but I buy the frozen that are locally produced. I guess I will need to start going to directly to the farm in season and buying them fresh and then making them instead of waiting for them to come to the local store..
http://uc-cranberries.com/index.html
I know that they normally harvest between sept-nov but I expect with this early cold fall we had, that they were done by oct.. I have planted cranberry plants in my “slew” but while they lived for years, they did not produce much, I rely on my high bush cranberries which are totally different and sometimes I do like the real cranberries. At least we have a nice local (within an hour) farm
Mmmm…cheddar and cranberry orange jam would be delicious! Jam and cheese is a favourite of mine. The fresh bagged cranberries we cook up at the holidays thicken up nicely cooked just with sugar – Mom and I always eat the leftovers as jam. So easy to make in just a few minutes, too.
Hi Susan, I agree, so good together and no need for extra’s added 🙂
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