I wasn't able to grow any berries this year, but I was able to find a great deal on some strawberries. So I decided this would be a great time to stock up and make some delicious strawberry jam to store for later.
I am not an expert on canning, but I have made jam, applesauce, pear butter, and pickles before. Basically anything that can be water bath canned I am ok with doing. If you need more info from an expert on canning You Pick You Own is a website that has TONS of info on how to can just about everything you can think of. They also have a huge list of you pick farms in every state.
The recipe I use is one I found in a Ball Canning cookbook that I bought several years ago. If you have never tried canning before don't let it intimidate you. Water bath canning is really not as difficult as it looks. One of these days I am going to get brave enough to give pressure canning a try...that is if I can find someone to give me a lesson or two before I invest in a pressure canner.
Here is my recipe for homemade jam along with a step by step picture tutorial.
Strawberry Jam
2 quarts washed and hulled berries
3 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 package pectin
The first thing you need to do when starting strawberry jam is to take the tops off of about 2 quarts of berries and wash them thoroughly.
Set the fruit aside and get your canning supplies ready.
These next steps are very important to make sure you have sterile equipment to work with. When canning you want to make sure everything you work with is clean so you don't end up with things growing in your preserved food that could make you sick.
I start with a large canner filled with water and set it on the stove to boil. This can take a while since you have such a large amount of water to boil. Make sure to start this step first.
I use a 21.5 qt canner that you can find at Amazon, Walmart or just about anywhere you can buy canning supplies.
Next you need to get out a jar funnel, jar grabber and a magnetic lid lifter. Make sure these are clean as well.
I decided to go with small jelly jars this time around. It is very important that the jars are sterile and remain hot until you are ready to fill them. There is nothing worse then getting your jam ready to put in jars and then having a jar break because it was not hot enough when you put in the hot jam.
Some people like to put there jars in the dishwasher to sterilize them, but that method makes me nervous. I prefer to boil them for at least 10 minutes to make good and sure they are clean and stay hot.
Fill the jar rack that comes with your canner with empty jar and put them in the canner once the water is boiling and let them boil for 10 minutes. Try to do this as close as possible to the time when your jam is ready to fill the jars so they are still hot.
You also need to make sure your lids are sterile and warm. I do this by putting them in a pot of very hot, but not boiling water. You don't want the water to boil because it could cause the seals on the flats to not work properly. Leave them in the water until you are ready to use them.
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| Oops I took this picture sideways and can't get it flipped, but you get the idea. |
Mix the sugar and berries together and let them come to a full boil. Make sure you keep stirring so the mixture doesn't burn.
Boil for 1 full minute.
Next add your pectin and keep boiling for another full minute.
Make sure to keep stirring. It would be terrible to end up with a burnt taste in your jam.
Your jam is ready to go into jars when it starts to gel. One way to check and see if it is ready is to dip a spoon in the pot and then pop it into the freezer. If it comes out after about a minute and has gelled it is ready to go.
For some reason this round of jam never did gel. I finally gave up and made strawberry syrup sort of jam like substance. It still tasted great and worked on toast. I wonder if I put too many berries in. Oh well, we will still eat it.
Once you are sure the jam is ready to go start ladling it into your pre-sterilized, still hot jars.
Keep going until you have filled all your jars. I think this made about 7 small jelly jars full.
Fill each jar leaving 1/4 inch of head space in each jar. If you buy a canning kit there should be a tool to help you measure this. I don't currently have one so I had to eyeball it. I guess I need to get one.
I failed to get a picture, but make sure you run a damp rag around the edge of your jar after filling to make sure there is nothing spilled on it. If they are dirty or chipped the jars will not seal and can cause botulism to grow in your food.
After you are sure the jars are clean take your wand and pick up a flat from the water and place one on each jar.
Next take a rind and place it on each jar. Tighten it slightly, but not too tight.
After your jars are filled and the lids are on place them in the basket and into the boiling water. BE CAREFUL. The jars and water are very hot and burn. Ask me how I know.
Boil your jam for 10 minutes.
After the jars have boiled for 10 minutes remove them from the water and use your jar grabber to take each jar out of the basket and carefully place them on a towel. Jars will be extremely hot and can still break at this point.
Leave the jars alone until they have completely cooled.
If everything goes well you should start hearing popping sounds. This is a good thing. It means your jars are sealing. You can test them with your finger. If they don't bounce back it means they have sealed.
I did have one not seal this time. It was my own silly fault. I accidentally put 2 flats on the jar without noticing. Since this jar did not seal we had it with dinner. It is not safe to reboil a jar if it does not seal. The seal on the flat may be bad. The best thing to do is to put the jar in the fridge and eat it soon or reboil the jam and start again with a fresh flat.
I rarely have jars that don't seal.
After everything has cooled you can remove the rings so they don't rust shut. Make sure you label what is in your jars and the date.
This process really doesn't take as long as it looks like it does. You will feel so good knowing that the jam you are serving was homemade. They also make great gifts.
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