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5 from 6 votes

Persimmon Jam (Recipe for Canning)

Persimmon jam is an easy three ingredient preserve that's absolutely delicious on your morning toast.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Canning Time (Optional)10 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Author: Ashley Adamant

Ingredients

  • 4 lbs persimmons about 10-12 large fuyu persimmons, or about 11-12 cups sliced
  • 1 to 2 cups sugar adjust to your tastes
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup lemon or lime juice see note

Instructions

  • If canning, prepare a water bath canner and jars before beginning. Canning is optional.
  • Wash and slice persimmons, removing tops/leaves. You should have around 11-12 cups of slices from 4 lbs fresh fruit.
  • Place persimmons in a deep, heavy bottomed stock pot or dutch oven.
  • Add lemon juice, but don't add sugar yet.
  • Turn on the stove to medium heat and cook the persimmons for about 15 minutes. Stir frequently to avoid scorching and mash with the fruit to encourage it to break apart.
  • After about 15 minutes of cooking, the fruit should have mostly fallen apart. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve.
  • Continue cooking the jam over medium heat for another 20 to 30 minutes, stirring frequently. The jam should thicken up nicely.
  • When the jam reaches your desired consistency, remove the pan from the heat.
  • Ladle the finished persimmon jam into prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Cap with 2 part lids.
  • If canning, load the jars into a water bath canner and turn the heat up to high to bring the canner to a full rolling boil. Once the water is boiling, start a timer and process the jars in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove the jars and allow them to cool on a towel on the counter. After 12 to 24 hours, check seals and store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator for immediate use. Properly canned and sealed jars will maintain peak quality on the pantry shelf for 18 months, and keep much longer. Refrigerate after opening.

Notes

Sugar

For a just barely sweet jam, use 1 cup of sugar. For a traditional full sugar jam, go with 2 cups. The yield will be higher with more sugar.

Lemon or Lime Juice

Persimmons are not very acidic, and the lemon juice helps add tart flavor notes to balance out the sugar. It also adds pectin to help the jam set. Lime juice works as well, and adds its own unique flavor.
For a refrigerator jam, the lemon juice is optional, but highly recommended for both flavor and set.
If canning, the lemon juice is not optional, and is required to lower the pH of the fruit to safe levels for canning. You must use at least 1/4 cup per batch (4 lbs fruit). that's 1 Tablespoon per pound of fruit.
Personally, I like more citrus juice in my persimmon jam, which brings out the flavor of the fruit better. I use 1/2 cup, or 2 tablespoons per pound of fruit.

Citric Acid Substitution

If you don't want to add the flavor of citrus juice to your jam, but still want to lower the pH for safe canning, you can use citric acid granules instead.
Citric acid granules are much stronger than citrus juice, and they're used at a rate of 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid in place of each Tablespoon of lemon juice (or lime juice) in a recipe. 
This recipe needs at least 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice per pound of fruit, so you'd need 1/4 teaspoon per pound.  For a batch, that works out to at least 1 teaspoon of citric acid since the recipe uses 4 lbs fresh fruit.
Dissolve the citric acid in 1/4 to 1/2 cup water and add it in place of the citrus juice in the recipe.