How do I make fig jam safely?

Fig jam is safe to can only with the acid a tested recipe calls for, because figs naturally sit right around pH 4.6, the line that matters for botulism in a sealed jar. The National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) fig jam is 2 quarts chopped fresh figs (about 5 pounds), 3/4 cup water, 6 cups sugar and 1/4 cup lemon juice, cooked until thick, for about 10 half-pints. The lemon goes in at the end and is never optional. This page explains why, compares the acid in each tested fig product, gives the recipe step by step, and covers dried figs, freezing and selling.

Why figs are a safety question

Most fruit is acidic enough that ordinary jam is a high-acid food. Figs are one of the exceptions. NCHFP says figs "display a borderline pH value for preserving as an acid food," that a few fruits, figs among them, naturally range in pH right around 4.6, and that some acid must be added to figs to keep them safe from botulism [1]. Its instruction is direct: lemon juice or citric acid must be added, in the amounts called for, to home-canned fig products [1].

Penn State Extension lists figs among the low-acid ingredients that can bring a nonstandardized spread you sell under the federal acidified food rules [2], and University of Wisconsin Extension says all home-canned figs must be acidified [3]. All three treat the acid in a fig recipe as a safety step. The reasons pH 4.6 is the line are on can jam give you botulism.

On the cooking side, NCHFP also puts figs in its "always needs help" band, fruit that always needs added acid, pectin or both for the set [4].

The acid in each tested fig product

The amounts differ a great deal from one recipe to the next, which is exactly why you never move a lemon amount from one recipe to another.

NCHFP explains part of the spread: its fig jam without added pectin contains less sugar and less lemon juice than its crushed-fruit, pectin-added counterpart [1]. Sugar, acid and cooking time are balanced together in each tested formula. Pomona's larger amount belongs to a low-sugar method that uses much less sugar [6]. Use the acid that comes with the recipe you are making, measured exactly.

NCHFP fig jam without added pectin

From NCHFP, adapted from So Easy to Preserve (2014) [5].

Ingredients

• 2 quarts chopped fresh figs (about 5 pounds)
• 3/4 cup water
• 6 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice

Yield: about 10 half-pints.

Method

1. Sterilize canning jars.
2. Prepare the figs: pour boiling water over them and let stand 10 minutes. Drain, stem and chop.
3. Measure and add the 3/4 cup water and the sugar to the figs. Slowly bring to boiling, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.
4. Cook rapidly until thick, stirring often to prevent sticking.
5. Stir in the lemon juice and cook 1 minute longer.
6. Pour hot into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
7. Wipe the rims with a dampened clean paper towel, adjust two-piece lids, and process in a boiling water canner.

Two details to get right. First, measure the figs after chopping; the recipe's 2 quarts is chopped fruit. Second, the lemon juice goes in at the end, after the jam is thick, and cooks for a minute. Do not leave it out because the jam already looks set. NCHFP's sugar substitute FAQ, printed with the recipe, says not to substitute Splenda in long-boil or no-pectin jams meant for room-temperature storage, which describes this one [5].

Fig preserves: a recipe this page does not recommend yet

NCHFP also publishes whole-fig preserves, cooked in a heavy syrup [7]. Its ingredient list marks the 2 thinly sliced lemons as "optional," and the method removes and discards the lemon slices after the syrup is made [7]. That sits awkwardly with NCHFP's own statement that acid must be added, in the amounts called for, to home-canned fig products [1]. The two NCHFP pages may both be right in context, but neither explains how. Until NCHFP reconciles them, this page recommends the fig jam above for the shelf. If whole fig preserves are what you want, put the question to NCHFP or your county extension office before you can them.

NCHFP's recipe index also lists strawberry-fig preserves made with gelatin [8]; check its storage directions on that page before you treat it as a shelf product.

Fresh, frozen and dried figs

Fresh figs are what the tested jam uses [5].

Frozen figs are a good way to hold the harvest until you have time to cook. NCHFP says acid does not need to be added to figs to freeze them safely; lemon or ascorbic acid is used only to prevent darkening [1]. When you make jam from frozen figs later, follow the jam recipe, acid included.

Dried figs are a different ingredient. None of the sources checked for this page has a tested jam made from dried figs, and the fresh fig recipe cannot be converted by soaking dried figs, because the water, sugar, acid and density would all change. A dried fig spread made by your own method is untested and belongs in the refrigerator; see refrigerator jam.

Processing fig jam

That is NCHFP's chart for this recipe, in sterilized jars [5]. NCHFP says to pre-sterilize jars for any process under 10 minutes [9]. For unsterilized jars, use the longer chart on how long to process jam. Processing does not replace the acid: the short boiling water process is designed for high-acid food, and the lemon is what puts fig jam in that category [1].

Adding flavors to fig jam

Makers often want to add spices, balsamic vinegar, port, nuts or onions to fig jam. Some of those change the acidity or density of the jam, and a fig recipe already sits close to the line. What you can safely change in a tested recipe, and what you cannot, is on what you can change in a tested recipe. Any fig jam built on your own formula is untested and belongs in the refrigerator.

Selling fig jam

Fig is a federal Group II fruit, so fig jam sold under the standard name needs at least 45 parts fruit to 55 parts sugar [10]. Fig is not one of the fruits named in the federal fruit butter standard [11], so "fig butter" is not a standardized name. Because figs are a borderline fruit, a seller may be asked for a pH reading or a process review; Penn State notes that a nonstandard product with low-acid ingredients should have a final pH well below 4.6 [2]. When a reading is needed and how to take one is on measuring pH, and when you need to.

Other fruits in the same position

Figs share the borderline with white peaches, Asian pears and elderberries. What each needs, and which have no tested canning method at all, is on fruits that need extra acid.

References

1. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Preserving the Fickle Fig, October 8, 2013. https://nchfp.uga.edu/blog/preserving-the-fickle-fig
2. Penn State Extension, LaBorde, Food for Profit: Commercial Production of Jams, Jellies, and Fruit Butters, updated May 24, 2024. https://extension.psu.edu/food-for-profit-commercial-production-of-jams-jellies-and-fruit-butters
3. University of Wisconsin Extension, Canning Fruits Safely (B0430), rev. June 2020. https://iowa.extension.wisc.edu/files/2021/08/Canning-Fruits-Safely-B0430.pdf
4. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Jellied Product Ingredients, accessed October 2026. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly/jams-jellies-general-information/jellied-product-ingredients/
5. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Fig Jam without Pectin, adapted from So Easy to Preserve, 6th ed. (2014). https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly/jams/fig-jam-without-pectin/
6. Pomona's Universal Pectin, Create Your Own Recipe: Developing or Converting Recipes for Cooked Jam or Jelly Using Pomona's Pectin, modified August 24, 2023. https://pomonapectin.com/?p=21164
7. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Fig Preserves, adapted from So Easy to Preserve, 6th ed. (2014), slightly revised September 2016. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly/preserves/fig-preserves/
8. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Jams & Jellies recipe index, accessed October 2026. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly
9. National Center for Home Food Preservation, Do I Need to Pre-Sterilize My Jars before Canning?, May 21, 2014. https://nchfp.uga.edu/blog/do-i-need-to-pre-sterilize-my-jars-before-canning
10. U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, 21 CFR 150.160, Canned fruit preserves and jams (Cornell LII text, current). https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/21/150.160
11. U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, 21 CFR 150.110, Fruit butter (Cornell LII text, current). https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/21/150.110