Strawberry Jam: A Tutorial

Are we ready? This is going to be fun. Really, it might seem complicated, but canning is simple if you’ve got everything in place. Come on, if 19th century women without high school educations wearing homemade feminine care products can do it, you can, too.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Large pasta pot or canning kettle (unless you will be using the dishwasher method of sterilizing)
• Sauce pot large enough to cook jam
• Colander
• Rubber spatula
• Glass measuring cup; standard measuring cups
• Paring knife
• Potato masher
• Tongs
• Small sauce pan
• One medium mixing bowl, one small
• Jars, dome lids and bands
• Ladle
• Kitchen towels
• Ripe strawberries, sugar and one box of Sure Jell Premium Fruit Pectin (For Less or No Sugar Needed Recipes)

Get yourself set up by running the jars through the dishwasher or putting them in a large pot with enough water to cover. (If you’re using the dishwasher, time the cycle accordingly. I don’t know about yours, but my dishwasher’s cycle is pretty long.) Bring the water to a boil and then lower the heat, leaving the jars in the lazily bubbling water while you make the jam. Place the dome lids in the small pan, cover with enough water and bring to a simmer.

Measure out 4 cups of sugar and pour into the medium bowl. Take 1/4 cup of the sugar from the medium bowl and mix it with the pectin in the small bowl.

Rinse the strawberries in a colander. Slice off leafy tops and cut strawberries into small pieces. Measure two cups of strawberries in a glass measuring cup. Two cups only! You must measure carefully. Place the berries in the sauce pot and smash with the potato masher. Don’t worry about pulverizing the crap out of the strawberries. You want some bits of fruit in the jam, plus, the process of cooking the jam will break the fruit down further. Don’t use a blender, immersion blender or food processor. We’re being pioneer women prairie girls here.

Clean, chop, measure and mash another two cups of fruit. Then again, for a total of six cups of strawberries in the pot.

Add the contents of the small bowl (the sugar and pectin), stir and bring it to a boil. This is crucial for jam that looks good and sets correctly: Bring mixture to a full rolling boil, a boil that does not stop bubbling when stirred. Stir constantly. A FULL ROLLING BOIL, did you hear me?

Dump in the remaining sugar. Stir and return to ANOTHER FULL ROLLING BOIL. Stir it. Do the bubbles stop? Then it’s not a FULL ROLLING BOIL. Once you get the fantastic, glorious, blessed, absolutely critical FRB, boil exactly one minute. Stirring all the while. Remove from heat.

We’re going to fill the jars now. The jars are hot, the water’s boiling, the jam is SCALDING. I have a burn on one thumb to prove it. Do I need to say it? Be careful. Work quickly yet carefully. Shit. Did I scare you? I didn’t mean to. It’s truly not difficult. Just, um, a little warm. You can do this.

Ladle the jam into the prepared jars. If your jars are in the pot of water, pull the jars out using the tongs, one jar at a time. Quickly blot the exterior of the jar on a towel. Fill the jar to within 1/8 inch of the top. (I know this sounds exactingly scary. Just do your best. Don’t fill jars to the top; leave a squidge.) Wipe jar rim and threads. With the tongs, remove one lid from the water, blot quickly on the towel, and place on the jar. Hold the lid down in the center with one index finger while you screw on a band. Give the jam in the pot a stir before you fill the next jar.

Now. You might notice on the instructions that come in the box of pectin that this would be where we need to place the filled jars in a rack in a canning kettle and boil for another period of time. If you and your legal team feel you would like to follow Sure Jell’s instructions to the letter, please, have at it. But I am telling you that this is an extraneous and ass-covering step dreamed up by the nice people at Sure Jell. It’s not necessary. When all the jars are filled, the lids are on, the bands are screwed, YOU ARE DONE. Done, I say.

At this point, as you are cleaning up your kitchen (which, yeah, is a complete mess. I intentionally kept that from you because, if you knew this little project would leave your kitchen a wet, sticky, steamy mess you’d never entertain this mishegas. So sue me.), you will hear a sound lovelier than angels singing – the popping sound of canning lids sealing. Pop, pop, pop! It’s the sound of you spending less this coming December because you have little gifts of love already sitting on your kitchen counter and it’s not even summer yet.

Let the jars stand at room temperature overnight. Check to see that all the jars have sealed. If you press on the lid with your finger and it springs back, the jar did not seal. Place unsealed jam in the fridge and use within a week. (Don’t give unsealed jars as gifts.) I have a 100 percent seal record. You should, too, if you followed directions. 

Wasn’t this fun?! What should we try next? Peach jam? 

Notes:

• Make only one batch at a time. Do not try a double batch to save time.
• I only get 5 half-pint jars of jam from each batch, but I always make sure I’ve got a sixth jar sterilized and ready to go, just in case. If you come across any 4-ounce jars, you might want to pick up a few. They’re perfect if you have a little extra but not enough for a half-pint jar.
• If you buy brand-new jars, lids and bands come with, so you’re all set. But if you buy lids and bands for jars you had around the house, make sure you buy the right size – regular or wide-mouth. 
• I’ve been buying two gallons of strawberries, for $20. Those two gallons are enough strawberries for three batches, making 15 half-pint jars of jam. (I also had enough berries left over to serve for dessert.) I can make three batches in a little more than three hours.
• Check to see how long strawberry season will be in your area. The woman I’ve been buying strawberries from says in this part of SC, there are only about two more weeks left in the season. Tink only has four more days of school, so those four mornings will be spent finishing this little Christmas project. 
• Remember – get the jam up to a full rolling boil twice. And hot jam + hot jars = a perfect seal.

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Tagged as: Christmas gifts, handmade, preserving, recipes, strawberry jam