In a jam about what recipe to use!

August 10, 2007 7:58 AM

Does anyone have any good recipies for making strawberry jam?

I am 35 weeks pregnant, and all i can think about today is jam. I am a good cook, if i have a recipe to follow, so am wanting to know if anyone had a good recipe for making strawberry jam.

It has to be a something which will taste delicous on crispy french stick and proper butter....

posted by spotty_dog to food & drink (9 comments total)

Freezer jam! I just discovered the delights of no-cook jam. You don't cook it, so the flavor is fresh, not syrupy. Plus, you can use much less sugar. It's much quicker, and the kitchen doesn't get all hot and steamy.

I don't have time this morning for the Google-fu, but look for a recipe that uses less sugar than fruit.
posted by ottereroticist at 8:03 AM on August 10, 2007

I don't have a recipe here, but this more or less works: Put a pint of strawberrys and about a quarter cup of sugar in sauce pan, cook until it looks like strawberry soup. Add a teaspoon more or less of lemon juice. This jam will likely be runny. More sugar or pectin (perhaps in the yummy form thin, peeled apple slices) added to the mix will thicken it up.

I can look in my cookbooks when I get home if you like.
posted by shothotbot at 10:01 AM on August 10, 2007

The ultimate authority on jam-making in the UK is the Women's Institute. Here are two of their recipes.
posted by essexjan at 10:08 AM on August 10, 2007

How much are you planning to make? Will you be canning in boiling water bath? This site can get you started once you have decided how much jam and what method of preservation to use.

The key to jam is all in the pectin - added or otherwise. Strawberries usually need help to gel, which is where commercial pectin comes in. If you use powdered pectin (that site linked above is a good brand), then you will need to use a large amount of sugar in your strawberry jam. There is low sugar pectin out there, but I've never cared for the finished product. The commercial pectins have very detailed instructions in the packaaging.

If you don't care about a firm gel, then just hull and crush a few pints of ripe strawberries, add sugar to taste if they're too tart, and cook for a half hour or so, stirring so that the mixture doesn't scorch. Then pour into a clean container and refrigerate when cooled down a bit. If you want, you can throw in some liqueur (you'll be boiling off the alcohol when you cook it) for added flavor.
posted by Flakypastry at 10:13 AM on August 10, 2007

Freezer jam! (As mentioned by ottereroticist)
posted by triggerfinger at 10:20 AM on August 10, 2007

Thirding freezer jam if you enjoy the flavor of fresh strawberries more than a cooked taste. Also lets you customize the chunkiness a bit more.
posted by artifarce at 10:55 AM on August 10, 2007

If you're keeping it for a while, use liquid pectin, not powdered pectin. Ignore the recipes that come in the pectin packets.

I use the following recipe:
4 C sliced berries
3 C sugar
1 T lemon juice
a pat of butter (optional)
3-4T liquid pectin

In a non-reactive pan, bring berries, sugar, and lemon juice to a boil and drop to a simmer. Drop the pat of butter on top to keep the foam down - or just skim it off with a spoon. Cook for 10-15 minutes, add the pectin and cook for another 5 minutes. Pour into sterilized jars and seal and let the jars cool upside down on a towel. Check the seals - if they didn't seal right, put the jars right into the fridge.

The pectin packets usually recommend 7-8 C of sugar and powdered pectin already contains sweetener. I can't imagine using that much sugar - this will be plenty sweet.
posted by plinth at 12:48 PM on August 10, 2007

The canning method that plinth recommends above is called the "open kettle method" and it is no longer considered safe by the USDA. If you're going to keep your preserves outside of the refrigerator after canning, please make sure that you can them by using a boiling water bath for the proper amount of time. That USDA site has lots of directions for safe canning methods.

I've been making my own jams for over 20 years, and I can tell you that the directions that come with the packets are the only ones to use if you want guaranteed gelling of your jams. This is because there is a variable amount of pectin in each fruit, and especially in the case of strawberries, not enough natural pectin to guarantee setting up. You don't have to use the pectin and all of that sugar - you can just eliminate the added pectin and add sugar to taste as I mentioned above, and then take what you get as far as gelling goes - it may gel beautifully, or you may get soup. Naturally gelled jams also tend to set up over time - my cranberry jams tend to set up with storage after a few weeks.

In any case, if you choose not to can, then put anything that you make in the refrigerator after it's made.
posted by Flakypastry at 2:04 PM on August 10, 2007

I second Flakypastry, open kettle method can sometimes be sketch (personal experince though, no fancy USDA action).

I highly reccomend strawberries, (unrefined) sugar to taste, and finally cardamom to taste.

cardamom = jamlove.
posted by furnace.heart at 6:38 PM on August 11, 2007