Recipe(tried): Chokecherry jam - is water bath necessary?

I made chokecherry jam for the first time this weekend and also came out with lots of syrup. I was just at a local store buying more jelly jars and started a conversation with an older woman behind me. She asked what I was canning and I told her chokecherry jam. She then told me that she has many bushes in her yard and how she makes her jam. I asked how to get it to gel and she said you have to boil it A LONG, LONG time. She said she boiled hers for over an hour (on a rolling boil) but you must keep stirring it so it doesn't burn. When she sees that the jam is getting thick on the spoon, she puts it on a small saucer which she keeps in the freezer to see if it gels when it gets cold. She also said you can add slices of fresh green apples to the syrup in order to get it to gel because of the high pectin content in the apples. She also said that you can empty the syrup back in a pan and start over. Once it gels, you then process in a water bath. Hope this helps. I'm going to go home and try it today.