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Plum lemonade concentrate captures the sweet-tart flavor of ripe summer plums in a shelf-stable drink you can pour all year long. A jar from the pantry turns into a pitcher of plum lemonade whenever you want one, still or sparkling, on a hot afternoon or in the middle of winter.
Table of Contents
- Notes from My Kitchen
- Quick Look at the Recipe
- Plum Lemonade Concentrate Ingredients
- Adjust the Ratio to Your Taste
- Yield Notes
- How to Make Plum Lemonade Concentrate
- Canning Plum Lemonade Concentrate
- Waterbath Canning Altitude Adjustments
- Serving Ideas
- Plum Lemonade FAQs
- Plum Canning Recipes
- Plum Lemonade Concentrate Recipe
- Drink Canning Recipes
This recipe has been reviewed for safety and accuracy by a Master Food Preserver certified through the University of Cornell Cooperative Extension.
If you’re swimming in plums and looking for more plum canning recipes, this concentrate is an easy way to use up a big haul. Once you’ve put up plum jam, plum jelly, and plums canned in syrup, a drink concentrate is a different way to hold onto the harvest.
This homemade plum lemonade concentrate is something apart from all the jams and syrups, and it’s a good way to make a flush of plums last into the colder months, when a glass of summer is very welcome.
This recipe is based on a tested canning method for fruit purees from the NCHFP, and it’s one of more than a dozen lemonade concentrate canning recipes I’ve built on those guidelines, from strawberry lemonade concentrate to blueberry lemonade concentrate and cherry limeade concentrate.
Plum is a juice version rather than a puree one. You simmer the plums and strain out the juice, then combine that with lemon and sugar, which keeps the finished drink smooth and lets the plum color come through clear in the glass.
Notes from My Kitchen
We grow a dozen varieties of cold hardy plum here on our Vermont homestead, and they all seem to coordinate on good years. I started making this the year I had more plums than I knew what to do with, and now I keep a few jars going just for the cold months. Mixed with seltzer it turns into a quick homemade soda, and a glass of it in the middle of winter tastes like a little bit of summer.
I tend to mix mine on the lighter side, with a bit more water than the usual pour, since I like it less sweet. A single pint makes a half gallon of plum lemonade, so a few jars on the shelf stretch a long way.
It’s a lovely lemon canning recipe, but you can also make it as a lime canning recipe by using lime juice in place of the lemon for plum limeade concentrate.
Quick Look at the Recipe
- Recipe Name: Canning Plum Lemonade Concentrate
- Recipe Type: Fruit Drink Concentrate
- Canning Method: Waterbath Canning
- Prep/Cook Time: About 1 hour 30 minutes (includes juice draining time)
- Canning Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: About 5 pints
- Jar Sizes: Half Pint, Pint or Quart
- Headspace: 1/4 inch
- Ingredients Overview: Plum juice, lemon juice and sugar
- Safe Canning Recipe Source: Fruit puree canning times consistent with National Center for Home Food Preservation guidance
- Difficulty: Easy! The plums are simmered and strained into juice, then everything is heated together and ladled into jars for processing
- Similar Recipes: The process is similar to other fruit based lemonade concentrates, including Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate and Blueberry Lemonade Concentrate, and you can put up the plain version with Canning Lemonade.
Plum Lemonade Concentrate Ingredients
This recipe uses just a few ingredients, but each one matters. The plum juice brings the fruit flavor, color, and body, the lemon juice provides both flavor and the acidity needed for a clean lemonade base, and the sugar balances the tartness while helping create a stable concentrate.
- Plum Juice: Provides the main fruit flavor and color, simmered and strained from fresh plums
- Lemon Juice: Adds tart lemonade flavor and acidity
- Sugar: Sweetens the concentrate and balances the sharp lemon flavor
You can use fresh or bottled lemon juice here. Every ingredient sits well below the 4.6 pH cutoff for water bath canning, so both fresh and bottled are safe in this recipe. Fresh, strained well, gives the fullest flavor, while bottled is convenient and has a steady acidity.
Most any plum works for the juice, though they do vary. Red plums give good color and flavor here. Damson plums run a little too tannic for this one, so save those for damson jam, and milder greengages and golden mirabelles tend to hide behind the lemon, so they’re better in a fruit-forward greengage jam or yellow plum jelly.
Adjust the Ratio to Your Taste
Both the plum juice and the lemon juice are safe to can on their own, so the exact ratio is up to you. Lean toward more plum for a fruitier drink or more lemon for a sharper one, and raise or lower the sugar however you like, all without affecting whether the concentrate is safe to can.
The sugar is there for flavor and body, not preservation, so cutting it back changes only the taste. Because this follows the fruit puree canning times, you can also leave some plum pulp in rather than straining all the way to a clear juice. Straining is a quality choice for a smoother, clearer drink, not a safety one.
Yield Notes
A “batch” of plum lemonade concentrate uses:
- 4 cups plum juice (from about 4 pounds of plums)
- 4 cups lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
- 6 cups sugar
That should make a canner batch of about 5 pints. (See notes on yields)
How to Make Plum Lemonade Concentrate
Once your plum juice is extracted, the rest comes together quickly.
Juice and Strain the Lemons
Start by juicing the lemons, then strain the juice well to remove seeds and pulp. Lemon pulp can add bitterness, so it is worth straining it out before combining everything. Set the strained lemon juice aside.
Extract the Plum Juice
Wash about four pounds of ripe plums and pull off the stems, then cut them into chunks. There’s no need to peel or pit them. Put the plums in a stock pot with a cup of water, bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, mashing the fruit with a spoon or potato masher as it softens to help release the juice.
Strain the cooked fruit through a jelly bag or a fine-mesh strainer lined with damp cheesecloth, and let it drain for at least an hour. For a clear juice, don’t press the pulp. If a little pulp is fine, press gently to get more liquid. You’re looking for about 4 cups of juice for the concentrate, and any extra is nice saved for jelly, syrup, or popsicles.
Heat the Concentrate
Combine the plum juice, strained lemon juice, and sugar in a large saucepan. Stir to start dissolving the sugar, then heat the mixture over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the sugar has fully dissolved and it reaches 190 degrees F. Do not let it boil. It comes up to temperature quickly, so a thermometer helps you catch it without guessing.
Canning Plum Lemonade Concentrate
Since there’s plum juice in this recipe, the canning time is a bit longer than when you’re canning plain lemonade.
Prepare a water bath canner, jars, lids, and rings before you begin filling jars. Keep the jars hot until needed.
Ladle the hot concentrate into prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims, adjust the lids, and load the jars into the canner. Process the jars for 15 minutes (half pints, pints, and quarts are all the same), adjusting for altitude.
When the processing time is complete, turn off the heat and let the jars sit in the canner for 5 minutes before removing them. Set them on a towel to cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours. After cooling, check seals and store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator. Properly sealed jars can be stored in the pantry, and you should refrigerate after opening.
This recipe follows the canning times for “fruit purees” as set out by the National Center for Home Food Preservation. Their times for all three jar sizes are the same. Do not can this in half gallon jars, the largest size jar allowable is quart.
(This exact same recipe could also be frozen in freezer-safe jars with appropriate 1” headspace.)
Waterbath Canning Altitude Adjustments
The altitude adjustments for water bath canning Plum Lemonade Concentrate are as follows:
- For Under 1,000 Feet in Elevation – 15 minutes for half pints, pints, and quarts
- For 1,001 to 6,000 Feet in Elevation – 20 minutes for half pints, pints, and quarts
- Above 6,000 Feet in Elevation – 25 minutes for half pints, pints, and quarts
Once the jars are sealed and shelf-stable, all that is left is turning the concentrate back into lemonade.
Serving Ideas
To reconstitute, mix 1 part concentrate with 3 parts water. For a 1 pint jar, you’d add 3 pints of water. For simplicity, you can just add a pint to a half-gallon mason jar, which holds 4 pints, and then fill it up the rest of the way with cold water.
That gives you a plum lemonade that’s strong but not too strong, and you can adjust to your own tastes. It’s also good mixed with seltzer or tonic for a homemade soda, poured over ice with a splash of ginger ale, used as a mixer for cocktails, or stirred into herbal iced tea.
Plum Lemonade FAQs
A pint jar (2 cups) of plum lemonade concentrate makes about 1/2 gallon (8 cups) of prepared lemonade. Mix 1 part concentrate with 3 parts water, then adjust to taste. That’s 2 cups concentrate with 6 cups water.
You don’t have to strain it down to a perfectly clear juice. This recipe follows the fruit puree canning times, so you can leave some plum pulp in if you like. Straining through a jelly bag gives a clearer, smoother drink, but it’s a quality choice rather than a safety one.
Both fresh and bottled lemon juice work here, and the recipe stays safely acidic either way. Fresh, strained well, gives the fullest flavor. If you choose bottled juice, make sure it is plain lemon juice with no added ingredients that would affect flavor.
If you’re looking for other ways to put up a plum harvest, there are plenty more plum canning recipes to try, from jam and jelly to plums canned in syrup.
Plum Canning Recipes
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Plum Lemonade Concentrate
Ingredients
For the Plum Juice
- 4 lbs plums
- 1 cup water
For the Concentrate
- 4 cups plum juice, from above
- 2 cups lemon juice, fresh or bottled
- 6 cups sugar
Instructions
- Before you start, prepare a water bath canner and bring the water up to a simmer, and wash your jars and lids in hot soapy water. Keep the jars hot until you fill them so they do not crack when they meet the hot concentrate. There is no need to sterilize, since the jars are processed for more than 10 minutes.
- Extract the plum juice. Wash the plums and pull off the stems, then cut them into chunks, with no need to peel or pit. Put them in a stock pot with the water, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until soft, mashing as they cook to release the juice.
- Strain the cooked fruit through a jelly bag or a cheesecloth-lined strainer and let it drain for at least an hour. For a clear juice, do not press the pulp. For more yield with a little pulp, press gently. Measure out the plum juice you need for the recipe.
- Juice the lemons and strain the juice well to remove seeds and pulp, which can add bitterness. Set the strained lemon juice aside.
- Combine the plum juice, lemon juice, and sugar in a large saucepan. Stir well so the sugar begins to dissolve before the mixture heats up.
- Heat the mixture over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the sugar has fully dissolved and it reaches 190°F. That is hot and steaming, just short of a simmer, so a thermometer takes the guesswork out of it. Do not let it boil.
- Ladle the hot concentrate into your prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. Run a bubble tool or thin spatula around the inside of each jar to release trapped air, then wipe the rims with a clean damp cloth.
- Center a lid on each jar and screw the band down to fingertip tight. Load the jars into the canner, making sure they are covered by an inch or two of water.
- Bring the canner to a full rolling boil, then process for 15 minutes, adjusting the time for your altitude (see notes). Start timing only once the water reaches a full boil.
- When the time is up, turn off the heat and let the jars sit in the canner for 5 minutes before lifting them out. That short rest keeps the liquid from siphoning out.
- Set the jars on a towel and leave them undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours. Do not retighten the bands while they cool, and you may hear them ping as they seal.
- After cooling, check the seals by pressing the center of each lid. A sealed lid will not flex. Store sealed jars in the pantry, and move any that did not seal to the refrigerator to use first.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Looking to put up more than just plums? These other drink canning recipes are worth a look.
Drink Canning Recipes
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Plums work so well with lemonade, and they give it such a nice pink color too!