All My Eggs

I don’t think that anythings says summer like the taste of fresh strawberry jam!

I knew when I moved back to Washington this last spring, if I did anything, it was going to be to make a batch of fresh strawberry jam with local strawberries! One of my favorite indulgences! So one of the first things I did when I stocked my pantry was to make sure that I had some pectin ready and waiting for those strawberries!

When I started looking at the canning sections of my local stores, I found that things had changed a little since I had been here (funny how nothing stays the same isn’t it?). I found that Ball (one of the oldest names in canning jars) had pectin on the shelves, and they had more than one kind. When I made jam before, there was your standard powdered pectin, and liquid pectin. So when I saw a little plastic jar that said that it was pectin for flex batches, well …. that peaked my curiosity. I read a little on the label, found that you could adjust the sugar content, vary the type of sugar that you used, and the amount of fruit that you used in each batch. I decided to give it a try. I must say, I love how the jam turned out! I did use sugar, but less than half of what the regular pectin recipes call for. That not only saves you calories, it save you money as well.

I am not going to post the exact recipe that I used, because I think that the ingredients, as far as sugar, lemon juice etc., is a matter of personal preference. I actually did a combination of old and new in my recipe. I suggest that you select the pectin and or recipe that you would like to use. Here I will outline the technique or process of making the jam, just to give you some direction. I just wanted to mention the option of using the flex pectin instead of the regular (which I now have 3 boxes/containers of in my pantry, lol!). It’s all up to you.

First step is to get your jars washed and sterilized, sealing lids into a pan of water to boil, and your water bath canner full of water and ready to go. Note: you only need to do this if you are going to seal your jars. If you are making a really small batch, or going to freeze your jam, follow the directions that come in your pectin box.

Water Bath Canner ready to go!

Jar Lids Boiled!

Next, get some really great strawberries……..

Then you want to clean and hull them…..

Next you need to mash them in a bowl, and measure the amount that you need for your particular recipe. You can usually double recipes when making jam if you’d like…..

When you have enough for your batch, pour them into a pan that you will be cooking them in. Use a jam making pan, or a heavy bottom pan. Make sure you have a pan large enough to handle the batch of jam once it starts to boil, and you can add the sugar.

Jam Making Pan

This is my jam making pan, but I didn’t need one this size this time, because I had a small batch. After you add the strawberries to the pan, mix in the lemon juice and/or water if your recipe calls for it, and your pectin.

Mix in Pectin and Lemon Juice

Next, bring the strawberry mixture to a rolling boil. My recipe said to boil it for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Note: it will scorch, so make sure you are keeping an eye on the strawberries. This is where you add in the sugar. I measure my sugar into a bowl ahead of time and have it ready to go.

Bringing Mixture to a Boil

Next, skim off any foam, using a metal spoon.

You can see the foam here.

After your foam is skimmed off, fill your jars up to about 1/4″ from the rim. Then wipe off the rims, add the boiled canning lids and bands.

Ready to Seal

Now the jars are ready to place on the canning rack,. Lower the rack and jars into the water bath canner. Make sure that the water in the canner covers the jars 1″- 2″. Bring to a boil, and boil for about 10 minutes. Then remove the jars with a jar lifter, and place them on a wire rack to cool. I usually cover my jars with a dish towel. When you hear those lids pop, you know the jars are sealed!

Now your jars are ready to eat, or give as gifts! I made four batches this year. I know several people that are going to love to get a jar of fresh strawberry jam for Christmas this year!

Thanks for coming by!

Cheryl

It’s Strawberry Season!!

Here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s strawberry season. Generally, strawberry season starts the first half of June, but since we had cooler weather this spring, the strawberries were late.

Now I haven’t had the pleasure of having fresh, I mean really fresh, strawberries since I moved to Arizona 14 years ago. It’s just not the same buying strawberries shipped a few days before, from out of state. The flavor just can’t compare! So I was excited to be able to get some this year. I skipped the u-pick and just went to the roadside fruit stands!

I wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss any of them, and I wasn’t sure how many there would be with the late spring crop.

I ended up getting 4 flats, that’s about 48 lbs. this year! One thing I have really missed is homemade strawberry jam, not that I eat a lot of jam, but it has been a favorite for as long as I can remember. And I wanted to make sure that I could give some strawberry jam away at Christmas as well.

Another reason I got so many strawberries was so that I could freeze them too! My husband and I love to make protein smoothies, and we usually use frozen fruit to make them. So I have been preparing and vacuum sealing and freezing the strawberries (those that don’t make it into my tummy, that is!)

This is how I prepare my strawberries, so they don’t end up a mashed up mess in the freezer.

First I wash and hull (remove the stem from) the strawberries and cut off any soft spots. I use a sink of cool water, and only put a few in the water at at time. This keeps them from getting soft.

I then get out a flat pan with a lip on it. A cookies sheet or jelly roll pan works great for this.

Note: if your freezer space can’t handle a pan this size, be sure to select one that will fit on a shelf in your freezer. You may have to use several pans to to it this way.

I then took the clean strawberries and laid them out on the pan. I made sure that they weren’t dripping in water, but have drained a little after washing, before I did this.

I try to keep my strawberries whole if possible. Any that I have to cut I usually set aside for my jam. They usually need to be used right away (or I eat them lol!).

I then place the tray on a flat surface in my freezer, and leave them overnight. This usually assures me that they are hard as a rock, so that I can vacuum seal them without mashing them.

The next morning I set up my vacuum sealer and get the quart size bags that I am using ready. I set up first so that the berries don’t thaw at all before I get them sealed and back into the freezer. I then remove the strawberries from the freezer.

They immediately get a frosty look to them, it was so cold in the freezer!

I fill up my quart bags, this tray gives me 4 quarts. I then seal them (you see a paper towel inside the top of the bag, habit to insert one when sealing), write the contents and the date with a permanent marker, and ta da! They’re done!

I then run them to the freezer! To date, I have 12 quart bags.