We used to go out to Uncle Pat's place in the Texas Hill Country to pick figs, resulting in the need to face abundant consequences. We now have a fig tree of our own which has started producing abundantly consequential harvests of figs, and the jam making is deliciously overwhelming! Fortunately, I have my Ball Blue Book of Preserving out with the recipe for Fig Jam marked and have found a few other amazing recipes for figgy jam.
Choose figs that are ripe, very ripe, and not quite ripe, but discard those that have gone beyond ripe and now smell punky or fermented. Wash them and cut off any bad spots. These recipes are for 5-pound batches of figs, so measure your fruit out into approximately 5-pound lots. Since figs have their own natural pectin and there is no need to add powdered or liquid pectin you can vary the amount of fruit slightly, but keep in mind the size of your pot and the number of canning supplies and jars you have prepared.
