Long ago, in college, one of my professors gave us the assignment to write a list of 100 things we would like to do before we die...a bucket list of sorts (although this is before the movie came out). I remember loving the assignment and coming up with all of those things. While I don't remember everything I wrote down...or even most...I do remember that learning to make jam was on the list. My grandma cans the best homemade jam and I always thought that would be a fun tradition to carry on. My favorite variety is her elderberry jam (my husband ADORES her peach) and since I have not a clue where to find elderberries we decided to use my mom's homegrown strawberries to start with. Let the adventure begin!
My mom washing and
dehulling a whole lot of strawberries. This was definitely the most tedious part of the process and she did the lion's share. For that I say, "Thank you."
The strawberries, sugar, and pectin warming and preparing to boil. For this first batch we used the
cooked strawberry jam recipe that came with the Sure-Jell. Boy it smelled good!
Unfortunately, it boiled over. The mixture grew so quickly once it started boiling that we weren't able to complete the full minute cooking time the recipe called for.
It also foamed up quite a bit but since we were trying to keep this allergen-free for my son, we didn't add the butter/margarine that is supposed to take care of that problem. We just tried to scoop the foam off and avoid what we couldn't skim.
We also were working without a
canner so we tried my mom's canning technique. It involves filling the jar and putting the lid on very tight. Then you immediately flip the jar upside down and allow it to set for a few minutes. After those few minutes, you flip the jar right-side up and hope that you eventually hear the popping sound of it sealing. It can take a while for some of the jars, even a hour or more, as you wait for the contents to cool. Luckily nearly every jar sealed this way for us. Our back-up plan was to use
paraffin wax to seal the jam.
The final product: the jam tasted good but our first batch didn't set up. For our second batch we tried the
cooked strawberry jelly recipe instead (even though you aren't supposed to have whole fruit in jelly) which worked much better and set up quite nicely. Set or not set, it tastes great (and if we don't decide to recook the first batch will work really well as an ice cream topper)!
My mom washing and dehulling a whole lot of strawberries. This was definitely the most tedious part of the process and she did the lion's share. For that I say, "Thank you."
The strawberries, sugar, and pectin warming and preparing to boil. For this first batch we used the cooked strawberry jam recipe that came with the Sure-Jell. Boy it smelled good!
Unfortunately, it boiled over. The mixture grew so quickly once it started boiling that we weren't able to complete the full minute cooking time the recipe called for.
It also foamed up quite a bit but since we were trying to keep this allergen-free for my son, we didn't add the butter/margarine that is supposed to take care of that problem. We just tried to scoop the foam off and avoid what we couldn't skim.
We also were working without a canner so we tried my mom's canning technique. It involves filling the jar and putting the lid on very tight. Then you immediately flip the jar upside down and allow it to set for a few minutes. After those few minutes, you flip the jar right-side up and hope that you eventually hear the popping sound of it sealing. It can take a while for some of the jars, even a hour or more, as you wait for the contents to cool. Luckily nearly every jar sealed this way for us. Our back-up plan was to use paraffin wax to seal the jam.
The final product: the jam tasted good but our first batch didn't set up. For our second batch we tried the cooked strawberry jelly recipe instead (even though you aren't supposed to have whole fruit in jelly) which worked much better and set up quite nicely. Set or not set, it tastes great (and if we don't decide to recook the first batch will work really well as an ice cream topper)!
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