How do I make huckleberry jam?

Huckleberry jam from a tested extension recipe is 5 cups crushed huckleberries, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, one 1 3/4 ounce package of powdered pectin and 4 cups of sugar, boiled hard for 1 minute and processed in sterilized jars. That is the University of Alaska Fairbanks recipe, and it makes about 5 cups. Washington State University has a second one, Huckleberry Supreme Jam, with orange and lemon. Both use pectin and both add citrus. This page gives the two recipes, how to stretch a small wild harvest, processing at mountain and valley elevations, and what to check before you sell jam made from wild-picked berries.

The berries behind the recipes

"Huckleberry" covers several wild berries. The two extension sources found for this page were written where red huckleberries are common:

• University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) writes about red huckleberries, which it calls "acidic berries" [1].
• Washington State University (WSU) Extension, Lewis County, describes the red huckleberry, a bright red, acidic berry used for jam, jelly and pie, and the evergreen huckleberry, with a strong-flavored berry [2]. Its jam recipe says simply "huckleberries" [2].

Neither source says whether its recipe was tested with the dark mountain huckleberries picked across Idaho, Montana and eastern Washington. Both recipes add lemon, and the WSU recipe adds orange as well, so if you use mountain berries, keep every bit of that citrus. Do not leave it out because your berries taste tart.

Huckleberry is a federal Group I fruit [3]. Jam sold under that name needs at least 47 parts fruit to 55 parts sugar.

UAF huckleberry jam

From Red Huckleberries (FNH-00107), University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension, revised November 2021 [1]. Older copies of the 2015 edition, still posted on other extension sites, list 4 cups of crushed berries with the same lemon, pectin and sugar; UAF's current revision lists 5 cups, and this page follows the current revision.

Ingredients

• 5 cups crushed huckleberries
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 package (1 3/4 ounces) powdered pectin
• 4 cups sugar

Yield: 5 cups.

Method

1. Sterilize pint or half-pint canning jars and prepare lids. Measure the sugar and set it aside.
2. Combine the crushed huckleberries and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Stir in the pectin until dissolved.
3. Over high heat, stirring constantly, bring to a full rolling boil.
4. At once, stir in the sugar and bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.
5. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim off foam quickly.
6. Immediately pour the hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims, adjust two-piece lids and process 5 minutes in a boiling water bath.

WSU Huckleberry Supreme Jam

From Preserving Washington's Wild Berries, WSU Extension, Lewis County [2].

Ingredients: 2 pounds huckleberries; 1 orange and 1 lemon (rind, pulp and juice); 3/4 cup water; 1 package powdered pectin; 5 cups sugar.

Method

1. Wash and crush the huckleberries and set them aside.
2. Remove the skins from the orange and lemon and take off the white membrane. Chop or shred the rind fine.
3. Simmer the rind in the 3/4 cup water for 10 minutes.
4. Add the fruit sections and juice to the rind and simmer, covered, 15 minutes.
5. Combine the berries and the cooked citrus in a larger pan. Add the pectin and bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly.
6. Add the sugar. When the mixture returns to a full rolling boil, boil 1 minute.
7. Pour into clean, hot jars, seal, and process 5 minutes in a boiling water bath canner. WSU gives no yield or headspace for this recipe.

WSU's directions say "clean, hot jars" [2]. Because the process is 5 minutes, sterilize them instead; NCHFP says jars must be pre-sterilized for any process shorter than 10 minutes [4].

Making the most of a small harvest

Wild huckleberries usually come home a few quarts at a time, and both recipes are small. Keep them that way.

• Do not double the recipe. NCHFP says larger batches need longer boiling, which can lower flavor and darken and toughen the product [9], and USDA limits jelly without added pectin to 6 to 8 cups of juice at a time [5]. Why doubled pectin batches fail to set is on can you double a jam recipe.
• Freeze as you pick. WSU's method: freeze berries soon after picking, wash a small amount at a time in cold water, drain, freeze on a cookie sheet, then pack in moisture- and vapor-proof containers [2]. Several outings' worth can then go into one batch at its tested size.
• Measure crushed fruit exactly. The UAF recipe is written in crushed cups [1]. Crush, then measure.
• Consider syrup for the last cup or two. WSU's wild berry syrup is 4 cups huckleberry puree, 4 cups sugar, 1/4 cup lemon juice (optional) and up to 1/2 package powdered pectin (if desired), boiled rapidly 2 minutes while stirring to keep it from sticking, skimmed, poured into half-pint or pint jars with 1/2 inch headspace, and processed 10 minutes in a boiling water bath with the water at least 2 inches over the jars [2]. WSU gives no altitude adjustment for the syrup either; add time for elevation as shown on how long to process jam. WSU says puree with lemon and no added pectin makes a medium syrup, about like corn syrup [2]. More on syrups is on fruit syrups and sauces.

Processing huckleberry jam at your elevation

Both recipes give 5 minutes in a boiling water bath and neither gives an altitude adjustment [1] [2]. Huckleberries grow high, and many pickers cook at elevation, so you need one.

A 5 minute jam process with sterilized jars is the same process USDA uses for its jams and jellies, and USDA's chart for that process is [5]:

Boise and Eagle kitchens fall in the 1,001 to 3,000 foot band, so there it is 10 minutes in sterilized jars; look up the elevation of your own address before you rely on a band. In a mountain town above 6,000 feet, it is 15. If you do not sterilize the jars, the process starts at 10 minutes and steps up with altitude: 15 minutes at 1,001 to 3,000 feet, 20 at 3,001 to 6,000, 25 at 6,001 to 8,000 and 30 at 8,001 to 10,000, per the band steps this book uses [6] [4]. Why the book uses 15 minutes and not 12 for unsterilized jars at Treasure Valley elevations is explained on how long to process jam, and the set temperature at altitude is on how altitude changes jam making.

For a low-pectin berry made with pectin, sterilizing and using the short time is the better choice, because NCHFP says the longer process for unsterilized jars can weaken the gel [7].

Less sugar

UAF advises that if you want less sugar in a recipe that calls for pectin, use a no-sugar-needed pectin and follow its package directions [1]. Do not simply cut the sugar in the recipes above; with regular pectin, sugar is part of the set. The routes to a lower-sugar jam are on low-sugar jam.

Selling jam made from wild huckleberries

Wild fruit raises questions that garden fruit does not. Check three things before you price a jar.

1. Whether your rules accept wild-picked fruit. Food rules commonly require ingredients from an approved source, and some local agencies read that strictly. Plumas County, California, for example, requires all fruit for cottage food jams to come from an approved source and states that no fruits picked or grown in the wild are allowed [8]. Ask your own regulating agency how it treats wild-picked berries. For Idaho, see selling jam in Idaho; for the national pattern, see preserves cottage food laws often exclude.
2. Whether you may pick for sale where you pick. Picking on public land for resale can be regulated by the land manager. Ask the managing office for the land you pick on before you harvest berries to sell.
3. Whether the product meets the name. Huckleberry is Group I [3], so a jar labeled "huckleberry jam" needs the 47 to 55 fruit floor and at least 65 percent soluble solids [3]. A low-sugar version may need a different name, covered on what you can call your jam.

Huckleberry's cultivated cousin

If you run short of huckleberries, blueberries have their own tested recipe with lemon, on blueberry jam. Do not blend the two in a recipe written for one of them without a tested source for the blend.

References

1. University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension, Red Huckleberries (FNH-00107), rev. November 2021. https://uaf.edu/ces/publications/database/food/files/pdfs/FNH-00107-Red-Huckleberries.pdf
2. Washington State University Extension, Lewis County, Preserving Washington's Wild Berries, undated. https://wpcdn.web.wsu.edu/wp-extension/uploads/sites/2057/2021/04/Preserving-Washingtons-Wild-Berries-1.pdf
3. 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
4. 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
5. USDA, Complete Guide to Home Canning, Guide 7: Preparing and Canning Jams and Jellies, rev. 2015. https://nchfp.uga.edu/papers/guide/GUIDE07_HomeCan_rev0715.pdf
6. South Dakota State University Extension, Kleine and Botzet, A Guide to Water Bath Canning (P-00255), 2022. https://extension.sdstate.edu/sites/default/files/2022-10/P-00255-v2.pdf
7. National Center for Home Food Preservation, General Information on Canning Jams, Jellies, and Marmalades, accessed October 2026. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly/jams-jellies-general-information/general-information-on-canning-jams-jellies-and-marmalades/
8. Plumas County (California) Environmental Health, Cottage Food Operations: Requirements for Fruit Butters, Jams, Jellies and Preserves, rev. January 25, 2016. https://ca-plumascounty.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/44685/CFO-Jams-and-jellies-Part-150-Self-certification-11-7-13
9. National Center for Home Food Preservation, General Jams and Jellies FAQs, accessed October 2026. https://nchfp.uga.edu/faqs/general-jams-and-jellies/category/faq-jams-and-jellies