How to Can Plums Step by Step

I don’t think there’s anything nicer than home-canned fruit. Whether you’re preserving the hard-earned reward for your labor in the garden or you just don’t want to see that perfect produce you brought home go to waste, canning is the answer…

And canned fruit has a special quality all its own. It’s just so yummy! Whether you’re snacking on it out of the jar, enjoying it as a side dish, or mixing it into pie filling, it’s great.

Plums are one of my favorite fruits to can at home. They are tender, sweet, fragrant, and best of all, very easy to make.

Keep reading, and I’ll walk you through canning your own plums step-by-step with photos, hot-packed or raw-packed, both based on the “latest” 2015 guidelines from the NCHFP!

Pressure Canner or Water-Bath?

Yes, you can. You can actually process plums in a pressure canner or a water bath canner, depending on which one you have. Today I’ll be showing you how to do it in a water bath below because it’s more convenient – and I think they turn out better overall.

Ingredients

Plums: You aren’t going to get canned plums if you don’t have fresh ones! Most types of plum are fine to use as long as they are mature, at peak freshness and undamaged. Freestone or clingstone varieties can both be canned whole, and freestone varieties can also be pitted or halved.

You’ll need around 9 lbs of fruit to make a full canner load of 9 pint jars, or 14 lbs to make a full canner load of 7 quart jars.

Sugar: Plums turn look and taste best if they are packed in 40% heavy syrup, so you’ll need sugar to make it. Don”t use a medium syrup, as that one is best for other fruit like sweet apples and sweet cherries. So:

• for your 9 pint jars, 3¼ cups sugar
• if canning in seven quart jars, you”ll need 5¼ cups sugar

Water: Water is needed for making the syrup (above) and also for operating the canner. Alternatively, you can pack plums in water alone and do it safely. Fair warning, though: they won’t be nearly as tasty.

• for your 9 pint jars, you”ll need 5 cups of water
• if canning in seven quart jars, you”ll need 7¾ cups of water

Tools

Water-Bath Canner: As mentioned, the walkthrough below is for a water-bath canner. You can use a new one or an old one, stove-top or electric, as long as it works and you know how to use it.

Large Saucepan w/ Lid: Whether we are hot-packing or raw-packing, we will need a large saucepan for preparing our syrup, boiling our water, and cooking our plums in the case of a hot pack. If you are hot-packing, you will also need a tightly fitting lid for the saucepan. Disregard it if you are raw-packing.

Large Stockpot: A large stockpot can be handy for preheating your jars if you can’t, or don’t want to, preheat them in your canner.

Measuring Cup: A one or two-cup capacity measuring cup is needed for measuring water and sugar in this recipe.

Paring Knife: Ripe plums are very easy to cut and split. You’ll only need a paring knife for this recipe, but if you’re more comfortable with a larger kitchen knife, you can use that.

Cutting Board: Always handy for cutting up your produce. A clean, dry plastic or wood cutting board can also be handy for protecting your countertop from scorching hot jars during the packing and cooling process.

Colander: A large colander for rinsing off all of your plums prior to prepping them.

Pitter: If you don’t want to waste time getting the pits out of freestone varieties or you’re dealing with stubborn clingstone plums, an appropriately sized pitter for the variety of fruit you’re working with will make short work of an annoying task.

Canning Jars, pint or quart: You can use pint or quart jars at your preference for this recipe. I’ll let you know what to adjust at the appropriate times in the walkthrough below. Whatever size you choose, make sure the jars are in perfect condition with no chips, cracks, or other defects.

2-Piece Lids: If your jars don’t have attached, reusable lids, you’ll need fresh, two-piece lids for each of them. Pint-sized for pint jars, quart-sized for quart jars.

Under no circumstances should you reuse one of these disposable lids: they will be highly prone to failure. Bands, on the other hand, may be reused as long as they are not cracked, split, or otherwise defective.

Lid Wand (optional): A magnetic lid wand will allow you to drop a lid on each of your jars quickly, easily, and without contaminating the sealing compound or the rim of the jar.

Canning Funnel: A necessity for this procedure. A canning funnel will help you get slippery plums and boiling hot liquid into the jars without making a mess or, hopefully, hurting yourself.

Note that getting any syrup or water on the rim of a jar during packing increases the likelihood of seal failure, so this little gadget is invaluable.

Ladle: Also very helpful for packing your jars without making a mess. Otherwise, you’ll be handling a big, heavy saucepan full of plums and liquid!

Slotted Spoon: Used for preparing your syrup and cooking plums when hot-packing. If you’re not making syrup or hot-packing, you won’t need it.

Fork: The perfect tool for pricking the skins of plums that you are canning whole; they will likely split and burst if you don’t. You won’t need this if you are halving your plums.

Jar Tongs: Also known as a jar lifter, this is another invaluable canning tool. It will help you lift and maneuver scalding hot jars before and after the canning process. If you don’t have these, you need them. Get a pair!

Step-by-Step Instructions

Even if you have a little experience canning, take the time to read over all of these steps before you start.

There are a few time-sensitive operations, and I will indicate in a couple of steps the different things you’ll have to do depending on whether you’re making syrup or using water, hot-packing or raw-packing.

Step 1: Wash equipment and kitchen tools. Break out your canner and wash it thoroughly according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

All of your kitchen tools, jars, and other equipment should be sent through a dishwasher cycle. If you don’t have a dishwasher or prefer to hand wash, wash everything thoroughly in hot, soapy water and then rinse.

Note that you don’t need to sterilize the jars after you wash them because you’ll be processing them for at least 20 minutes. That long processing time and the food”s natural acidity are what will take care of all of the bacteria inside the produce.

Step 2: Clear your workspace. This isn’t the most complicated canning recipe by a long shot, but there’s still plenty that can go wrong if you run out of counter space or aren’t organized.

Clear your work area, set your tools out, gather your ingredients, and get ready. This will make for a much smoother experience.

Step 3: Prep plums. Load your plums into a colander and give them a thorough rinse under running water. Make sure to turn and toss them thoroughly, but gently, until they are all clean. Then carefully remove the stems.

If you are canning them whole, prick the skin twice on opposite sides with your fork. Remove the pits if desired using your pitter. You don’t have to do this, but remember that they aren’t pitted before you bite into them later!

If canning halved plums, split them and pop out the pit. In both cases, throw the pits away; we won’t be needing them.

Step 4: Add water to canner, preheat. Fill your canner with water and make sure the filled jars are covered by at least an inch of water (that’s 2.54 cm).

Then turn on the canner or turn up the heat on the stove to preheat it. Don’t bring it to a boil just yet because it might be a little while before we load the jars, and you don’t want to steam off too much water.

Step 5: Preheat jars. If you are preheating the jars separately in a stockpot, fill it with water now, then add the jars and bring it to a boil. If preheating your jars in the canner, use your jar tongs to load them so you don’t get burned.

Once all of the jars you are using for the batch are preheating, move on to the next step.

Step 6: Prepare syrup or boil water. If you are packing your plums in water, pour six cups into your saucepan for a load of pint jars or nine cups for a load of quart jars. Bring it to a boil.

If you are preparing medium syrup for packing, you’ll need five 1/4 cups of water and two 1/4 cups of sugar for a load of pint jars. For quart jars, you’ll need eight 1/4 cups of water and three 3/4 cups of sugar. Bring it to a boil and stir until all of the sugar is completely dissolved.

Once the water or syrup is boiling, move on to the next step.

(Hot pack only) Step 7: Cook plums. If raw-packing: skip this step.

Only if you are hot-packing, now is the time to steadily and carefully add your plums to the hot water or syrup. Get them all in the saucepan, give them a stir, and then bring them back up to a boil. Boil them for 2 minutes, whole or halved:

Once they’ve boiled for 2 minutes, cut the heat to the burner and cover the saucepan tightly. Let the plums sit for 20 to 30 minutes:

Step 8: Remove jars, make ready. Using your jar tongs, carefully remove the preheated jars from the pot or the canner, emptying the water from them. Set them aside, mouth up, on your countertop on a clean, dry cutting board or on folded kitchen towels.

Note: Never set a hot jar on a marble, cold metal, or stone surface because the thermal shock can crack it.

Step 9: Pack jars. Using your ladle, funnel, and slotted spoon as necessary, do the following:

Hot Pack: Add your plums to the jars, leaving exactly half-inch of headspace. Fully cover the plums in each jar with the hot water or syrup, leaving a half-inch of headspace.

Make sure the plums are completely covered and each jar has the required headspace before you move on.

Raw Pack: Fill each jar with the prepared plums, pressing them in firmly and leaving EXACTLY half-inch of space at the top. Then cover the plums with hot water or syrup, leaving a half-inch of headspace.

Step 10: Turn up heat on canner, cap jars. Turn the heat on your canner up to high to bring it to a boil.

Quickly wipe off the rim of any jar that got splashed with syrup or water using a damp paper towel. Using your lid wand, carefully place a lid on each jar and secure it with a band. Only tighten the band down finger-tight. Do not overtighten!

Step 11: Load canner. Use your jar tongs to place the jars in the canner. Take great care to keep the jars perfectly upright and level, and avoid sloshing the contents around. If you tilt the jars, it might interfere with a good seal during processing.

Step 12: Process jars. Once all of the jars are loaded and the canner is back at a full boil, process your jars according to the guidelines below:

For pint jars: Process for 20 minutes if between sea level and 1,000 ft in elevation, 25 minutes if between 1,001 and 3,000 ft in elevation, 30 minutes if between 3,001 and 6,000 ft in elevation, and 35 minutes if above 6,000 ft in elevation.

For quart jars: Add 5 minutes to each of the figures above according to your altitude.

Start your timer and keep an eye on the canner to make sure it reaches a hard boil initially. You can then lower the heat a little, but make sure it stays at a gentle but complete boil the rest of the time.

Step 13: Turn off heat, rest jars. Assuming the canner has stayed at a hard boil the entire time, once the timer goes off, cut the heat but don’t remove the jars. Leave them to rest for 5 minutes undisturbed.

Step 14: Remove jars cautiously, let cool. Using your jar tongs carefully, lift the jars out one by one, taking care again to keep them perfectly upright.

Set the jars on folded kitchen towels on a clean, dry wood or plastic cutting board. Popping or dinging sounds are normal during cooling.

Again, do not set the hot jars on a cold surface (like stone or metal), or they might shatter when the glass comes into contact with a cold surface. Likewise, take care to protect them from drafts, which could cause the same.

Step 15: Check lids when cool. Once the jars have cooled down completely to room temperature, something that will probably take between 12 and 24 hours, do a lid test.

First, press on the top of the lid with a fingertip. It shouldn’t flex, move, or pop when you touch it:

Second, remove the band and then carefully lift the jar up off the countertop about an inch, holding it just by the edges of the lid. You shouldn’t perceive any movement, it should not hiss or bubble, and the center of the lid should not pop up.

If a jar passes both tests, it is good.

Step 16: Store and done. Place your canned plums in a cool (50 °F to 70 ºF, 10 °C to 21 ºC), dark place that’s protected from temperature spikes, hot or cold. Your produce should keep for about a year in storage if unopened and kept cool, possibly longer!

Don’t Throw Out Jars That Fail the Lid Test!

If any of your jars failed either part of the lid test, don’t throw them away. You have options.

Your first one is to crack open the contents and enjoy them within three or four days. They are safe and ready to eat as is, and refrigerate the rest pronto. Treat them as normal food and consume within 5 days.

Your other option is to pour the contents into a new jar and, using a new lid, reprocess them in the canner, keeping in mind a few rules.

Warning: only do this one only works if you do it within 24 hours from the first can, so if you discover the failure early on and move quickly. Otherwise, eat some of the contents on the spot and put the rest in the fridge for later.

The other thing is that you need to remove the food from the jar, bring it to a oil in a pot, then dump it into a new jar. Only then can you process it again in the water bath.

If they pass the test the second time around, they are good to store. Note that reprocessing will significantly soften the plums, though, and that re-processing needs to be done using the hot pack method, not the raw pack.