Strawberry Jam!! A local stand was offering a full flat of "seconds" (12 baskets, slightly bruised)

J

joe

Well-known member
for $8.00.

I used this formula, which I have used in the past for berries that are about to expire.

For 1 lb. berries (weigh before washing):

2 cup sugar

2 Tbs. lemon juice.

Rinse the berries, hull them and cut them up roughly. Combine with the other ingredients in a roomy pot and cook to 220* on a candy thermometer.

I put it in pint containers and froze, but of course it can be canned

Surely there are more sophisticated recipes around which might give a clearer, more spreadable product (mine is a little foamy and some previous attempts have been a little sticky) but this one is full of flavor.

I got 12 pints of jam this afternoon, doing four pounds of berries twice in a 6-quart pot, and a 2-lb. batch in a 3-qt pot.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/strawberry-jam/

 
Our strawberry shortcake was TDF

I purchased a 4# container (not the 2# ones) of nice looking, lightly scented Driscoll California strawberries from Costco earlier this week - it snowed here in Michigan on Tuesday or Wednesday, so no farm stands yet! The strawberries were hard but flavorful so after a couple of days of unsatisfying, unjuicy, unaltered berries, I cut them into thin slices, wet the slices, sprinkled with a mixture of white and dark brown sugars, and let them sit from noon until dinner. Served over toasted and buttered slices of Entemann's poundcake and scoops of Carmel Butter Pecan ice cream, one of the best tasting strawberry shortcakes we've eaten. I bet that those strawberries would have made awesomely flavorful jam. Think I'll go get more!

 
I do mine similarly, but canned.

I crush the berries with a potato masher, stir in sugar & let stand in the fridge overnight before cooking until the jell point.

 
My pectin-less jams always end up either too runny or too sticky. Clearly I under or overcook

them. But even with a thermometer, spoon test, freezer test, I am hopeless. Any words of wisdom to share with us pectin-less challenged folks?

 
Steve has encouraged me to try pectin but so far I haven't gotten around to it.

I've had runny and sticky batches too. The strawberry jam has all been in the range of spreadability, but I made some jam with leftover blackberries from Easter, just to try it, and it is so sticky I could use it for glue.

 
I'm on my last jar and still have two month to go. Do any of you who can it have a problem

with the berries floating to the top? I've tried just about every solution I can find and none have worked for me.

 
What I like about the pectin is you don't HAVE to "cook down" the fruit which results in a fresher

taste without sacrificing the quality of the set. If you're working with old, tired fruit, boiling the bejeezus out of it until it reduces doesn't matter but I don't like the "stewed fruit" flavor that results from non-pectin setting. I exclude figs and citrus from this qualifier because they actually BENEFIT from the cooking.

 
That is a nice way of explaining it; I was under the impression that it was a hierarchy thing; ie

experienced jammers do not need to use pectin because they used the proper amount of acid, sugar, fruit, etc. You explained the difference beautifully. Thanks! I always use pectin, because it seems to work for me. Even the "glue" works in my home..... Thanks Steve. Makes alot of sense re: overcooking....

 
Cheez, that's true but the flavor key is length of time. ie. When you cook fruit a long time, you

reduce the amount of liquid in it while concentrating the sugars, this concentrate is affected by heat, thus changing the way it tastes. Think about how "fresh" a stewed fruit tastes compared to a bowl of slightly warmed fruit.

I've found that strawberries, in particular, change flavor when they're reduced in cooking so, I try to avoid that flavor when making preserves. IMHO, the much shorter boiling time called for when using pectin really makes a difference.

 
If I ever get the red goo off all my cupboards, I may try this again before the season is over and I

will try the pectin.

One question--can I sill get away with freezing it instead of canning it? I can do without all that steam in summer!

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top