Prepare the fresh Northwest Sweet Cherries by rinsing under cold water, removing the stems and pitting them with my favorite cherry pitter.
Put the 2 ⅓ cups of chopped cherries in a large stainless steel or non-reactive 6-quart pot. Add the lemon juice and mix well. Stir in the pectin for about 2 minutes to allow the sweet cherries to release some of their juice.
Over high heat bring the mixture to a full rolling boil stirring constantly. Add the sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute stirring constantly.
After one minute remove the pot from the stove and skim any foam from the top.
Ladle the hot jam into hot ½ pint canning jars leaving ¼ inch headspace. Wipe the rim of the jar with a damp cloth. Place the flat lid on the jar and apply the band just finger tight.
Place the filled jar into your hot water bath canner. Repeat filling the remaining jars.
Process the jars 10 minutes in a hot water bath canner, adjusting for altitude. After 10 minutes turn off the heat, remove the pot lid and let jars stand 5 minutes. Remove the jars from the canner with a jar lifter and place on a dry towel on the counter to cool overnight.
Check out my Best Cherry Pitter review for details on how I tested 3 different cherry pitters before I finally found one that worked the best for pitting a large number of fresh cherries.
As you chop the whole fresh cherries keep an eye out for the cherry pits you may have missed while pitting the fresh cherries.
Lemon juice adds flavor and also helps keep the fresh cherry pieces from browning.