There is nothing quite like homemade Jam
Homemade strawberry jam, to be exact. My boss’ mother owns a farm, and periodically sends produce. This time, it was baskets full of strawberries. Plump, picked ripe, in season, succulent strawberries with no whiteness on the tops. I was given six and a half quarts and instead of gorging ourselves silly, I proposed a night of jam making.
When a man is ready to make jam with you, he’s a keeper. Now, if he actually goes through with it, he’s officially settled down. Yours for good, basically.
There are MANY recipes for strawberry jam. It’s very, very simple, and you probably already have all the ingredients in the house aside from the massive quantity of strawberries. Store-bought strawberries tend to make a firmer jam (they have a higher concentration of pectin), and picked-ripe ones make a dribbly jam. You can use it on top of anything - frozen vanilla yoguart, waffles, breads. It also makes a great baking component; add fresh strawberries and rhubarb for a rhubarb pie filling.
After you’ve tasted this, you’ll never want to buy a jar off the shelf again.
Ingredients
Two and a half quarts of fresh strawberries
1/3 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 cups of sugar
1 TSP real vannila extract (optional)
A few jam jars, sterilized. (boil them in a water bath)
Instructions
Hull the strawberries. If you don’t have a strawberry huller, just pull off the stem, cut the fruit in half, and cut the fuzzy white middle bit out. Put it into a large saucepan or wide pot and mash them with a potato masher. Don’t overdo it! Think of each strawberry only needs to be mashed once to release the juices. Turn the heat to medium and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
Add lemon juice, sugar, and vanilla (if using) and bring the heat up to boil. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon to prevent the sugar from burning. Afte boiling for 5 minutes, bring it back down to a simmer and cook until jam coats the spoon. Run your finger down the spoon after dipping it in the jam - the line should be clean and the jam shouldn’t run back together. Careful - it’s hot! The fruit should not spend more than 30 minutes in the pot.
Make sure your jars and lids are sterilized. I did this by boiling them as I was cooking the jam, but you can use the oven as well - 250f for 15 minutes. Fill your jars with your fresh strawberry jam, close the lid, and let it cool for a few hours before refridgerating. If you are using proper jamming jars with two-piece lids, there is no need to refridgerate until you open them.
The whole process took us a few hours, but we made 2 batches (about 12 1oz jars). They make great hostess gifts, and the only drawback? You probably wouldn’t want to look at a strawberry for a while after eating all the jam.
July 6th, 2006 at 9:01 pm
It sound very interesting and just wonder can it be a commercial product?
July 7th, 2006 at 12:02 pm
If you go to a farmers’ market, you can usually find “homemade” jam being made in one of the booths.
It really doens’t keep as well as regular jam, and it’s only as good as the strawberries that make it, and that’s only going to be in season once a year.
(btw, I was inspired to make jam as well because I went to a strawberry festival a couple of weeks back in Niagara-on-the-Lake where they sold homemade jam. Yum.)
July 8th, 2006 at 2:12 pm
I don’t know…I would drive an hour and 8 minutes just to make jam with you, Sally, on a first date…but maybe that’s just me. And, it would have to actually be you…no substitutions, please.
July 9th, 2006 at 2:14 am
hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
July 9th, 2006 at 8:12 am
Can you substitute the strawberries for blueberries for example and keep the same recipe?
July 9th, 2006 at 8:14 am
Nice. I love strawberry jam. I would never have to make it for myself however. I get one to two jars a years from a relative who makes her own. But thanks for the recipie.
July 9th, 2006 at 6:21 pm
You should try to go to the Philippines one time to go to this city named Baguio. It’s famous for 3 things: the climate (which is relatively cooler to the rest of the furnace/country), the purple yam jam and strawberries (and of course, jam). You can get almost any variety — chunky, smooth, and almost everything in between. Word of caution: there’s so many stores and so many kinds out there that you really have to find the one that suit your taste. Good thing they let you sample it all you want. I’d be glad to tour you around there but I’m not coming home until December. Oh well.
July 9th, 2006 at 8:33 pm
PS.
Would this recipe work with mangoes/?
July 10th, 2006 at 1:05 pm
Technically, jam recipes like this one would work only with fruits of high pectin. You might have to buy liquid pectin (2 pouches should be enough) to add to this recipe or it wouldn’t gel.
As for mangoes, I’ve never tried to make jam from mangoes, but I see no reason why it wouldn’t work if you put a pouch of pectin in it.
Btw, if you’re going to use it for anything other than strawberries, CUT DOWN ON THE SUGAR! Because the sweetness of fruit vary, it’s best to add 1/2 cup at a time to a batch and keep tasting it until it tastes “right.”
July 10th, 2006 at 4:06 pm
Hi…! we’ve just went last week for a picking in one of the farms somewhere at Altona and I still got lots in my fridge, quite interesting… may be I’d try that… thanks
July 10th, 2006 at 9:04 pm
Now I have an urge to make some jam. How about with peaches? Time to experiment.
July 25th, 2006 at 10:33 am
maybe your home made jam taste better than the commercial ones. how i wish i could taste it.
August 6th, 2006 at 7:53 am
I think all jams taste good, personally, I don’t eat much jams. Remember the times when I have jams are only for breakfast and maybe lunch. There was one time I went camping and it was pita bread with peanut butter james and strawberry james, it was good, I like it. And a friend tauch me to have fresh apples with peanut butter jam, it also taste good.