Making and Canning Strawberry Jam!

Hi. My name is Tasha. You know how most people love jam for toast? Well, I can help you be able to enjoy your favorite jams, even when the store is out. Jams are a great way to encourage breakfast, as well as a great topping/ingredient in desserts. I’m going to show you how to can and make your own strawberry jam at home, just in time for the holidays! Did you know that only 24.4% of people under 35 years of age know how to can and home preserve their own food? So, let’s get canning!

First thing to be done in order to make and can strawberry jam is to gather everything thing that will be need. For this recipe, it requires need 12 cups of fresh strawberries, 1\4 cup of water, 1 package of fruit pectin and 7 cups of sugar. The pectin will help solidify the jam while it is cooking. Also needed is the canning equipment, which is a large stock pot or hot water bath, 5 pint jars with lids and rings. As well as, a saucepan, spoon, measuring cup, spatula, tongs, ladle, funnel, and a towel.

The next step is to fill up your hot water bath or stock pot half way with water and place on the stove to start to heat up. While it is heating up, place the jars, lids and rings in the water to sterilize and heat up the jars so the jam doesn’t shatter the glass. During this time, wash and remove the stems and leaves from the strawberries, placing them in a large bowl. Next, crush up the strawberries thoroughly, making sure there is not any big pieces of strawberry through out the mixture. This should make about 5 cups, but measure out 5 cups and place it into the saucepan.

Continuing, place the saucepan on the stove and add the packet of pectin. Mix this thoroughly, turning the heat to high. Make sure to stir continuously, making sure the strawberries do not burn. Once the strawberries come to a rolling boil, add in your 7 cups of sugar quickly. Continue to stir, while bring the mixture to a full boil, or a boil that doesn’t go away when stirring. When this happens, stir for 1 minuet and then remove from the heat.

From here, the hot water bath should be hot, and the jars and tops will be sterilized. Using tongs, remove all of the lids and rings, setting them aside as you fill your jars. Now, carefully pull one jar out at a time, dumping the water back into the hot water bath. Place the funnel into the jar and using the ladle, start scooping the jam into the jar. Make sure to only fill to the bottom of the rim, to allow space from the seal to form. Once all 5 jars are filled, make sure there isn’t any jam or water on the rim and place your lids on. After this, screw on your rings to finger tight. Do not over tighten, or they will be difficult to remove later.

Finally, place all of your jars into the hot water bath, making sure the water covers the tops of the jars and cover with the lid. Once the water is boiling, let the jars boil for 5 minutes, while this is happening, start cleaning up. The sugar will start to solidify and become difficult to remove if left. Once the 5 minuets are up, turn of the heat and leave jars in the water bath for an additional 5 minutes. Using the tongs again, remove the jars and place the jars on the towel. Leave them to cool several hours or overnight. Once jars have fully cooled, check lids to see if the jars sealed. This is shown by the button on the top of the lids will be pulled down and won’t pop back up.

And now you have created and preserved your very own strawberry jam! Enjoy!