Preserving season has arrived with the red stained fingers and sweet ping of strawberry jam.
I know there are people that will tell you to wait until berries get cheaper to make jam, but I’m not one of them. I think that the first berries of the season make the freshest tasting jam. I always make half of my strawberry jam now and the other half when the berries are cheaper. Then I refuse to mark the jars and mix them together so I don’t eat all the best first.
Tonight I made 16 half pints of jam. I’d give you my recipe, but I went seriously off the reservation and I’m afraid the USDA might come after me… 
In all seriousness, I used the UMN recipe for no pectin jam last year with great success. Tonight I was possessed by demons and decided to short the sugar by 2 cups (7 instead of 9 to go with my 9 cups of smashed berries), add 1 TBS of lemon juice per cup of berries and then 2/3 of a packet of pectin.
So far so good. The foam is delicious - just a bit tart and tasting of fresh fresh berries. We’ll see if the jam is as good - it may turn out to be a bit too tart. If so, I’ll keep it all for me as I like it that way and go back onto the reservation for the other batch. That way I can give people a choice when I inevitably give a third of it away as gifts.
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I’ve been pulling back on the sugar as much as I dare. I believe June Taylor does a 4:1 ratio, which is really low for sugar but her stuff tasts fantastic.
Yay, canning! I don’t like strawberry jam (much) or I’d be in there with you (although your early season fresh-tasting jam does sound good). Mostly I’m holding out for raspberry and blackberry and peach…
Oh, you do like to live dangerously, don’t you?
I cut back on the sugar on most of my preserves last year, but at most to a 2:1 fruit:sugar ratio. (I love June Taylor’s preserves, but haven’t been that brave… yet.) I’m looking forward to cherries (sweet and sour), blackberries and nectarines… can’t wait to hear the happy ploink of sealing jars!
I plan to can next week’s strawberry pickings…. but I hate the thought of all the sugar. Is there an alternative? How much can be cut back? Do you still have to add sugar if you are not making jam and just canning the whole fruit?
Hah! Sticky season has begun!
I’m maybe a week out, though I do agree with you Laura that there’s something about the first…berries. That, and I always hope for a week or more of no rain because THOSE are supremely tasty berries too, albeit lots smaller than their water-soaked siblings.
Have a great season…
Although I have a couple of pounds of strawberries on my counter right now, they’re reserved for a strawberry gorge-fest today. Hopefully next week when the June-bearing really get going, I’ll sneak enough past the boys to make a couple batches of jam. A dozen no-pectin jars is the required amount right now at our house. If the weather stays good, I may make a third batch for presents.
I always freeze my berries and make jam in the winter. I also make low-sugar jam and I usually use a granny smith or transparent apple or crabapples for the pectin instead of buying it in packets.
I’ll be making strawberry jam soon, too. I love the finished jars. There’s something so beautiful about canned food, and especially jam with its red jeweled hues. I’m also hoping to make raspberry and blackberry jam this year, too. Yum!
There really isn’t anything else in the world like the ping of jars sealing. I think it’s one of the most delightful sounds around!
I made a batch of strawberry jam a few weeks ago and did a 2:1 fruit to sugar ratio. Far less than what’s called for typically, but still quite sweet. I rationalize including that much sugar by reminding myself that jam is a treat that should be eaten sparingly. However, do I always succeed in being sparing? Emphatically no.
One good way to get around all the sugar is to make fruit butter instead of fruit jam. There the sweetness comes by cooking the fruit down and concentrating the natural sugars. Peaches and nectarines makes amazing butters.
Looks yummy! I haven’t tried canning yet but I really want to this season. I need to invest in some real canning jars and what not.
Yum. I love strawberry jam. There’s nothing better than seeing a countertop full of those beautifully filled jars. As a former home ec teacher and 4H leader, I sorta stay with the recommended recipes, but your secret’s safe…I won’t tell the USDA. Just curious as to your method of processing? Do you let them have a hot water bath for 10 minutes, or do you just turn them over? Also, do you make other jam too…like when the blackberries are out? Hate dealing with those dreaded seeds, but isn’t that what cheesecloth is for? When our daughter got married almost 3 years ago, she decided she wanted to give out strawberry jam as her wedding favors. That was a busy few weeks, but 200 jars later, I was glad we did it. I just didn’t want to see another strawberry for awhile.
I’ve been using Pomona’s Pectin for ages, so I totally forget the crazy sugar amount that “regular” pectin calls for. I’m pretty sure I do a 2:1 (fruit:sugar) ratio…. it just makes the fruit flavors shine so much more. I’m sure I could cut back further with my strawberries, but I’ve noticed that lower sugar jam tends not to hold on to the color as well. Oh well, it tastes good and that’s all that matters, right?
I missed some of the previous posts. I sure have missed them! Did I get deleted off the list?
As soon as I saw the ‘ping’ I knew exactly what the post was going to be about! I thought that strawberries always had to be frozen, but then again there is Smucker’s! I think the sugar in fruit spreads acts as a preservative, so to eliminate too much is not good either since bacteria will be able to grow. I agree that there is too much sugar, but sometimes I think the recipes are made by companies that profit from sugar sales.
Beautiful! I make strawberry freezer jam, that I am just now finishing the last of last year’s bounty.
Can I stand in line for a gift jar, in case my first ever attempts at canning this year go horribly awry? Oh, how happy I would be today for just one more jar of my grandmother’s boysenbarry jam and a plate-full of her okra! In all seriousness, I do not expect a gift jar, but thank you for the useful link and information!
I used a 3:1 (fruit to sugar) ratio with my strawberry jam and I think it’s plenty sweet. Of course I used to scrape the frosting off cake as a kid (still do) so I may not be the most impartial judge
I’ve already given 4 jars away and people (hi Mom) are loving it!