Strawberry jam

Nothing says homemade like a pot of homemade strawberry jam!

It’s easy. Just needs some time & patience. The taste is amazing! Its full of fruit not jelly, has no additives, it’s completely natural and tastes oh so much better than anything shop bought!

I started jam making with strawberries which are a not easy yet not difficult to set. I’ll start working with more challenging & exotic fruits soon I hope 🙂

But what is the challenge? Its getting the jam to set without boiling it for ages. Boiling it too long degrades the color and texture of the fruit and can result in a scorched batch. So easy fruits are those with high pectin levels, they set fast. Consider the pectin as the gelling agent. Strawberries don’t have that much pectin, so we help them along with added pectin and acid.

Keeping it all natural I use a grated green apple (Granny Smith) to add the pectin and some lemon juice for the acidity. I tried extracting apple pectin and it turned out great but this is easier and less fiddly!

Only use the best, sweetest smelling, firm strawberries you can find! Nothing soft or bruised or blemished or you will spoil the jam.

I use a 50% ratio of sugar to fruit which sets well yet isn’t too sweet. And I macerate the strawberries over night. This actually draws out the water, makes the skins tougher and helps with the pectin extraction.

The addition of a small tsp of butter at the end gets rid of the foam and there isn’t any need to keep removing the foam during the cooking process. (Do remove scum though if any appears!)

This makes a small quantity, 2 x 450 ml jars. You can double it if you like but you really must have a very large and tall pot or it will bubble over. A safer way would be to make it in batches, each batch 1.5kg of fruit, that will be more manageable.

I re-use old jam & paste jars by sterilizing them. I don’t have any fancy jamming & canning equipment. And I have never had a batch spoil on me! The jam is usually all eaten up in a couple of weeks 🙂

I don’t use a candy thermometer, but if you want to, the correct temp to maintain your hard boil is 104 to 107 C.

I use the old fashioned “place on a cold spoon test” and the “twin peak spoon sheet” test. So far they work out just fine:-)

For more on making jams, I really like this page from High Heel Gourmet

Enjoy!

Strawberry Jam

Servings: 2x 400/450ml jars, weight about 950gm
Time: 20 to 25min
Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients:

1000 gm best fresh firm unbruised sweet strawberries
500 gm fine sugar
1 large (about 215 -230 gm) grated firm, unbruised, Granny Smith apple
Juice of 2 lemons (you will need between 4 & 6 tbsps)
1 tsp butter

You will need:

Large cooking pot with high sides (I used my pressure cooker!)
Long handled wooden spoon
Large plastic or glass bowl
2 x 450 ml jars
a few metal spoons or saucers placed in the freezer

Method:

Choose your strawberries! Hand pick the best only. Wash and remove the stalks & leaves. Leave small strawberries whole and cut large ones into 2 or 3 thick pieces. Place in a large bowl.
Top is soft and discolored – don’t use

The small one on the right leave whole, the medium; just slice in half, the largest I halve across then cut the bottom into 2 chunks.
Grate a large very firm granny smith or other tart apple directly in with the skin on. Tear up any large skin shreds with your hands or a sharp knife.
Grate the apple all the way to the core!
Weigh out your sugar and sprinkle it over the apple & strawberry and with a big spoon, mix them together (The smell is great!). Make sure all the strawberries are coated with the sugar. Cover and leave overnight in the fridge. The sugar will draw out the juice from the fruits and melt. Stir every once in a while to make sure no solid sugar is lurking in the bottom.
By the next day and after a few stirs you will only have fruits & juice and an amazing smell!

The next day:

Preheat your oven to 220 C.

Sterilize the jars by pouring boiling water over them and their jar covers then dry from them outside. Place the jars in the oven for 20 min upside down. When time is up, place the covers in too for another 5 min. Keep them in the oven, door closed even after turning off the heat, till your jam is ready.
Give the strawberries a final mix and transfer to your big pot. Stir in 3 tbsps of the lemon juice (Don’t strain it, just remove the pips).

Turn the heat up to high (the fruit can take the high heat as they have been macerated) and start bringing it to the boil. Give a few stirs to make sure all the fruit is getting the same heat.
When it’s at a hard boil set a timer for 15min. Make sure your saucers or spoons are in the freezer. And keep your eye on it as the foam will rise!

When it starts to foam up and rise you can take the heat to medium high (or medium if you fear its going to boil over, but keep a rolling boil). You want a hard boil but not erupting volcano lava!
The jam will foam and bubble away. You can stir but not frequently or often. Every once in a while to make sure nothing is catching. Near the 15min mark the foam will start to go down.

At 15min, unless you stir and see that it’s very runny, take it off the heat and give it a min. Check the consistency by letting the jam drip off the spoon (please see the photos for the spoon sheet test below). Take 1 spoon from the freezer and drop some jam on it. Does it spread immediately? If yes, its likely not ready but place it in the fridge for 5 minutes. Take it out and run your finger through the middle. If it parts and collapses immediately its not ready.
Also taste the jam and see if you need to adjust sugar or tart flavor. I usually add another tbsp of lemon juice at this point.

Jam test 1 — Jam spread as soon as it hit the spoon

Place the jam pot back on the medium high heat, bring to a rapid boil and give another 5 min then repeat the test.
And another 3 – 5 min again if not ready. I actually gave mine only 3 in the last interval as I could see the sauce around the fruit getting thick.

Mine was ready at 23 minutes. At 20 min it was soft set which is still fine if you like a softer jam.

My test 3: When it hit the spoon it didn’t spread much.

When parted in the middle it held its ground:-) Well for a little while then it started to close up very slowly. Now it is set!

As its already off the heat, and now ready, add in the tsp of butter and gently stir it in. This is what it will look like after the foam has disappeared.
Let it settle for a few more minutes before using a large ladle to spoon out the jam into the hot jars. Fill all the way to the top to minimize any air. Close the lid immediately and leave to cool.

When the jars are completely cool, open one, eat & Enjoy!!!

Notes:

Be brave and boil hard on medium high heat. You want to get to the right consistency in the least amount of time. Simmering is BAD! You will end up with stew not jam!
Store them in a dark cool place. Place in the fridge once opened.
If you think its too syrupy add an extra tbsp of lemon juice (above I use 3 + 1 tbsp)
If your jam is too firm after it cools, gently warm the jar in a pot half filled with hot water till it warms up. Place a couple of spoons in the freezer. Transfer the jar contents to another pot and add just a little bit of warm water – start off with 100ml. Bring to the boil and stir gently for a min. Let it come to a hard boil for a minute then take off the heat and do the freezer test like before. If its still too thick you can add more water, just use small amounts so it doesn’t end up being runny! Repeat till you reach a consistency you like. When ready, place the hot jam in hot sterilized jars.
If your jam is too runny after it cools: Place a couple of spoons in the freezer. Transfer the jar contents to a pot and add 1 tbsp of lemon juice. Bring to a boil and stir gently for a min. Let it come to a hard boil and check the consistency of the syrup. When its thick again, take the pot off the heat and do the freezer test like before. Repeat till you reach a consistency you like. When ready, place the hot jam in hot sterilized jars.

The non scientific 🙂 twin peak test or “sheet test” 🙂 It’s how I judge if the jam “syrup” is almost ready or not.
- Lift up the spoon and let the syrup all fall away. If its very runny then its not ready.
- If it runs and then the last of it starts dripping slowly, take a closer look.
- Focus on the last few drips. If you are left with 2 drips that sort of hang there like the photo below:

And then they start to bond together into a hanging sheet:

That slowly becomes 1 largish hanging drip or “sheet” that will just stay there or drip really slowly. When I see that I know my jam is most likely ready.