YUM!!! I'm getting hungry again just thinking about this delicious jam we made while I was in California.
Last week we went strawberry picking with the little ones, my sisters and my mom. Each of the kids had their own bucket for their goodies. It was so much fun!
I highly recommend this recipe but FOLLOW the directions. I got a little carried away and it didn't gel as well as it was supposed to. Also, *USE no-sugar needed pectin* Canning instructions at
Back to the Basics!
Homemade Strawberry Jam
from Pick Your Own
Ingredients
10 cups chopped Strawberries
4 cups sugar
1 1/2 boxes Sure Gel (pectin)
If you plan on canning this jam, you'll need canning supplies *bottom of the page*
From
Pick Your Own "Strawberry
Jam can ONLY be made in rather small batches - about 6 cups at a time -
like the directions on the pectin say, DO NOT increase the recipes or
the jam won't "set" (jell, thicken). (WHY? Alton Brown on the Food
Channel says pectin can overcook easily and lose its thickening
properties. It is easier and faster to get an even heat distribution in
smaller batches. It takes about 8 cups of raw, unprepared berries per
batch. For triple berry jam, I use 4 cups of mushed (slightly crushed)
strawberries, 1 cup of raspberries and 1 cup of blackberries. For
strawberry-only jam; you’ll need 6 cups of mushed strawberries."
Directions
Wash and hull the fruit. You can either chop, crush or mush fruit.
You'll need 4 cups of sugar
(or about the same of honey). You can make a strawberry jam with no added
sugar if you use the "No-added sugar pectin" but honestly, the resultant jam
just isn't as good. It tends to be darker, more runny and less flavorful.
But using the no-added sugar pectin with a reduced amount of sugar, about 4 cups
instead of the usual 7 cups, works GREAT!
After measuring the sugar, set 1/4 cup aside to mix separately with the pectin
in the next step.
Strawberries
don't contain much natural pectin, so you need to add a package and a
half of
the boxed pectin, or the jam will be pretty runny. Mix the dry pectin
with about 1/4 cup of sugar and Keep this separate from the rest of the
sugar. If you are not using sugar, you'll just have to stir more
vigorously to prevent the pectin from clumping. This helps to keep the
pectin from clumping up and allows it to mix better!
Stir the pectin into the berries and put the mix in a big pot on the
stove over medium to high heat (stir often enough to prevent burning).
It should take about 5 to 10 minutes to get it to a full boil (the kind
that can not be stirred away).
Why use pectin?
Another tip: as mentioned above, use the lower sugar or
no-sugar pectin. You can add sugar to either and it cuts the amount of
sugar you need from 7 cups per batch to 4 cups or less! And it tastes
even better!
When the berry-pectin mix has reached a full boil, add the rest of the
sugar (about 4 cups of sugar per 6 cup batch of berries) and then bring
it back to a boil and boil hard for 1 minute... If you bring it back to a
full boil fairly slowly (on medium heat rather than high) that will
help reduce foaming.
Remove from the heat.
Notes about "set" (thickening or jell): It takes 3 ingredients
for jams and jellies to set: pectin, sugar and acidity. The amount of
pectin that is naturally occurring in the fruit varies from one type of
fruit to another and by ripeness (counter intuitively, unripe contains
more pectin).
See this page
for more about pectin in fruit. It takes the right balance, and
sufficient amounts of each of pectin, sugar and acidity to result in a
firm jam or jelly. Lastly, it takes a brief period (1 minute) of a hard
boil, to provide enough heat to bring the three together. Generally
speaking, if your jam doesn't firm up, you were short in pectin, sugar
or acidity or didn't get a hard boil. That's ok - you can "remake' the
jam; see
this page!
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| Strawberry Fields Forever! |
Amazon has a great "utensils" kit for canning:
If you need the waterbath as well...This is a great value:
Find out HOW to Can this delicious Jam at Back to the Basics!
I'm linking this delicious recipe HERE.
