I am making strawberry jam this week. I usually miss the first crop of strawberries that come in here in Tennessee. But this year I got some! I bought 2 gallons. I made jam from 1/2 gallon, froze 1 gallon and we ate 1/2 gallon fresh. If you have a house full of children, you know that 1/2 gallon strawberries doesn’t go far.
I make strawberry jam without pectin. Why? Well, because that’s how I was taught to make it. My Grandmother didn’t use pectin much. And her jams and jellies where excellent.
Here’s the recipe
Strawberry Jam
4 cups berries, topped and cut into chunks
(or weigh them and use 2 pounds)
4 cups sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 – 1 inch wide and 2 inch long piece of lemon peel
You’ll need 3 or 4 pint jars, lids and rings.
You’ll need a heavy bottomed pot. The heavier the better. Don’t try to make jam using a thin aluminum pan, it will probably burn.
Combine everything in a heavy bottomed stock pot and bring to a rolling boil. Turn the heat down a little, don’t let it boil over. Allow it to boil for about 15 minutes. Sometimes it takes longer.
Stir constantly. You can test it and see if it is setting up by putting about 1 teaspoon of the jam on a cold plate and blowing on it. If its ready, it won’t come back together when you rake your finger through it.
What I do is put a small plate in the freezer to get cold while the jam is boiling. Then I put a little jam on the cold plate and set it back in the freezer a few minutes, then check to see how thick it is. Once it is as thick as I like my jam, I know the pot has boiled long enough.
When the jam is ready, put it in hot sterilized jars, seal and water bath the jars for 15 minutes.
Deb
You probably can. I’ve only made plum, grape and strawberry using lemon juice and no pectin though. If you try it let me know how it went!
Hi Sylvia!
Can you do the same for peach and grape or other jams?