This easy rhubarb jam recipe uses orange for sweetness, so you can try something different than a standard (but still tasty!) strawberry rhubarb jam. It’s one of my oldest recipes and the first jam I ever made!
My Jam Story From 2013
When I moved last year, I left behind my rhubarb plants. My mistake didn’t occur to me until the following spring, when I craved rhubarb and there was none. I toyed with the idea of stealing my old plants in the middle of the night, knowing the new owners would never miss it, but my husband convinced me this was not a good plan. So, I planted another one in my new home, but little good it did me this year. Thank goodness for the farmers at the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market, who have a bumper crop. I decided to make rhubarb jam for my first batch of jam, because in January, when life in Minnesota feels bleak and colorless, I will have something from the summer to make me happy.
It may come as a surprise to you that I have never made jam before. I have been in the presence of many friends and colleagues who have made jam, but I hid behind my camera. I’ve had the Blue Ribbon Queen of Preserves, Barb Schaller, take me by the hand and show me the ropes, but I was slow to follow, and that is how, all these years later, I’d never gotten around to making my own.
So when the Ball jar company wrote to me and asked if I’d participate in their CAN-IT-FORWARD event, I said YES. I knew if I didn’t do it now, it may never happen. They were willing to send me everything I’d need, and more, to make jam. No more excuses.
I am happy to tell you that it was WAY easier than I could have ever imagined! I simply followed the instructions in the Ball Blue Book for rhubarb-orange jam. Next time I will go my own way, but for my virgin run I wanted to do it exactly as they suggested and I wasn’t disappointed. Ok, maybe I added a bit more zest than they said, because I adore it, but that was my only modification. I’m hooked.
Rhubarb Jam Tips and Tricks
- This recipe uses a lot of sugar to balance out the flavors in the mixture, but it ends up with the perfect tangy flavor balancing sweet and sour.
- Always use clean jars when making jam!
- You can store the jam in your pantry before it’s opened, and in the refrigerator once opened.
- This jam is great on everything from toast to ice cream.
Orange Rhubarb Jam Recipe
See me make the recipe step by step here and find the full recipe at the bottom of this post!
In a large pot or saucepan (I finally got to use my gorgeous copper jam pot from Mauviel) cook the juice, rhubarb and zest until the rhubarb is tender. Add the pectin and let it come to a boil for 1 minute.
Add the sugar and bring back to a boil for another minute.
Prepare the jars and lids as the packaging suggests. I highly recommend that you read the Ball Blue Book and find out how to safely handle all the equipment. Maybe it was all of the food safety classes I had to take in culinary school, but I find it all rather interesting and essential to understand.
HINT: You will want to get yourself some of those handy jar lifters, to get the boiling hot jars out of the water. I did it with regular tongs and wish I hadn’t.
Fill the jars, clean the rim and put the lids on.
HINT: having a funnel would have made this way easier and cleaner, but my ladle did a pretty good job.
Lower the jars into the canning pot. Cover and bring to a boil for 10 minutes. Remove the lid, turn off the heat and let the jars sit for 5 minutes in the water before removing.
Let the jars sit at room temperature until cool, don’t test the tops, they will make a popping sound as they cool.
Label your rhubarb-orange jam so that you will remember what you’ve created after a few months in the pantry.
If you like this recipe, you must try the most gorgeous canned blueberries on earth, by Suvir Saran!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lbs rhubarb sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
- 2 oranges, juiced (should be 1 cup – add water if needed) Then remove the peel of just one of the oranges. Cut away the bitter pith and slice it into small ribbons. I used twice as much orange zest as the recipe called for.
- 6 tbsp Ball pectin
- 6 cups sugar
Instructions
- In a large pot (I used a copper jam pot from Mauviel) cook the juice, rhubarb and zest until the rhubarb is tender. Add the pectin and let it come to a boil for 1 minute. Add the sugar and bring back to a boil for another minute.
- Prepare the jars and lids as the packaging suggests. I highly recommend that you read the Ball Blue Book and find out how to safely handle all the equipment. Maybe it was all of the food safety classes I had to take in culinary school, but I find it all rather interesting and essential to understand. You will want to get yourself some handy jar lifters, to get the boiling hot jars out of the water. I did it with regular tongs and wish I hadn't.
- Fill the jars, clean the rim and put the lids on. Having a funnel would have made this way easier and cleaner, but my ladle did a pretty good job.
- Lower the jars into the canning pot. Cover and bring to a boil for 10 minutes. Remove the lid, turn off the heat and let the jars sit for 5 minutes in the water before removing.
- Let the jars sit at room temperature until cool, don't test the tops, they will make a popping sound as they cool. Label your rhubarb-orange jam so that you will remember what you've created after a few months in the pantry.
I’d love to win this prize. I haven’t made jam or jelly in years and no longer have any supplies to do it. Great post and inspiration.
I associate canning with the pungent aroma of vinegar and pickling spices filling the whole house in the summer, when my mom would can bread and butter pickles. The jars lined up on towels, upside-down, were art!
My Auntie Eva canned until she was 92. So I better get started.
Wow what a great combo of flavors! Never thought of it!
Making jam has become a favorite hobby for me this year! I love sharing my bounty with friends. I’ve made vanilla bean rhubarb twice this year! I would love to win this package so I have more to share.
We have only made freezer jam in the past but with extra tomato plant we are going to try making them into jam and canning them fir use in the fall and winter.
I think this post has finally inspired me to start canning! I’d love to preserve all the blueberries from my parents’ patch in the UP of Michigan. They’d be great on my lemon ricotta pancakes!
My first canning experience was last summer, I canned mint jelly. It’s my husband’s favorite and his 96 year old Grandma’s recipe. It was so fun!
I always love the sound of the ping….
I’ve never made jam either, but would love to make seedless raspberry jam!
apple garlic jam — it’s the best!
I canned my first jam this summer- a simple blueberry jam from the blue book, with just blueberries and sugar.
It came out PERFECT and now I’m so excited, because tomato season’s starting, and I LOVE salsa. LOVE.
I just purchased a book on canning because this is something I want to try…I’m thinking strawberry and blueberry jams. Yummy 🙂
I’d make apricot orange jam
I never intended to make jam until I found a recipe for it in the booklet that came with my bread machine. For real. It was strawberry season, so I rushed out to get some, put it in the bread maker with sugar and pectin, and a few hours later poured it into jars. Couldn’t have been any easier — or more surprising!
I always wanted to make fig preserves , but thought I might mess my beautiful figs up so have never tried:(!!
So, I’ve been on a lifelong quest for the best bitter orange marmalade! Mom never made it, but bought one brand when I was very young sitting on the East Coast! None have measured up to my memory since then! Always wondered, could I make it myself, a good one? Sure would love to try some day!
Haven’t canned in years. But I used to have a lot of fun making jam with my (ex) brother-in-law, singing “we’re jammin” over and over!
I would make raspberry peach jam
I would probably make a jalapeno jelly, which I love with cream cheese on crackers!
I have made strawberry jam many years ago Now that I am retired I would love to make James and jellies again.
I’d like to can some more tomatoes.
My favorite thing to can is wild blueberry syrup. We pick the berries locally. Whenever we have guests, they request pancakes with the syrup for breakfast. It is SO easy to make and have on hand and I love that it is our signature breakfast!
My parents were prolific canners – I loved being in charge of the muddler and the china cap strainer. Hot summer tomatoes, squished bright red…maybe it’s time to start up an old tradition.
the idea of cherry jelly has been teasing me all summer. 🙂