Thu 17 Apr 2008
To support the school’s horticulture club I bought a flat of strawberries during their annual Spring sale. Needless to say a flat of ripe strawberries is impossible to eat before all the strawberries will go bad. Thus the reason jams and jellies were created. This was my first time making “real” jam, meaning jam which requires canning. I was a little nervous as I don’t have all the canning gear, however, I was able to retrofit an existing pot and trivet to work well. This is the standard strawberry jam recipe and makes 8 half-pint jars (twice the size of the jars in the picture).
Ingredients
- 2 quarts fresh strawberries, hulled
- 1 (1 3/4 oz) package regular powdered fruit pectin
- 1/2 teaspoon butter (optional – cuts down on foaming)
- 7 cups sugar
Directions
Place 1 cup of berries in an 8-qt heavy pot. Crush the berries. Continue adding berries and crushing them until you have 5 cups crushed berries. Stir in pectin and butter.
Meanwhile put your boiling water canner (or large pot fitted with a rack) on and heat the water to boiling. Also, begin the process of sterilizing your jars (see below).
Heat berry mixture on high, stirring, until mixture comes to a rolling boil. Add sugar and return to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim off foam with a metal spoon.
Ladle at once into the hot, sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving 1/4-inch space at the top. Wipe jar rims then put on lids. Place in the boiling water canner. Process for 5 minutes (starting the timer when the water returns to a boil). Remove jars and cool on racks.
Notes
To sterilize your jars and lids. I recommend using glass jars with self-sealing lids. Always use new lids when canning. Start by washing your jars in hot soapy water. Then rinse and dry. Place the jars right side up on the rack in the boiling water canner. Add the lids but make sure they don’t stick together. Boil 10 minutes (if at sea level). Remove and drain the sterilized jar and immediately add hot jam. Remove a lid, place on the jar and tighten with a screw band. For more information on canning see the USDA’s Complete Guide to Home Canning.