Canning Strawberry Jam - A Tutorial

Canning is a mentally overwhelming process.  However, when I talk to canning pros, they always brush it off as no big deal and assure me I will do just fine.  I have been fascinated with the "old art" of canning since my days of watching Pollyanna on VHS every rainy Saturday of my life.

Turns out they were making Calf's Foot Jelly...and while it's not exactly what I'm setting out to do, the memory remains...

I googled "How to can strawberry jam" and came up with multiple sites that I had to flip-flop through in order to complete the job.  I really needed clear and concise step-by-step directions on how to can jam with pictures.  I am a visual learner and can't function without photos.  I couldn't find them.  So - here they are!!

Canning Strawberry Jam


YOU WILL NEED:
Food needed:
8 cups fresh picked strawberries
6 T. pectin (or one box)
7 cups rapadura sugar (or white)

Tools needed:
Soup ladle
Canning funnel
1 large canning pot
1 large pot (for strawberry mixture)
Plastic or metal canning rack
Large Metal Tongs

Step-by-Step Tutorial

1) Eat something.  Otherwise you will eat all your strawberries and won't have any left for the jam ;)


2) Clean and sterilize all your jars, rings and lids.  Keep in mind you can re-use rings and jars, but the lids have to be brand-spankin' new in order to have an effective seal.  Throw your jars in the dishwasher, or you can toss them in your water bath to simmer until you are ready to fill them up with jam (do not boil).  The lids and rings should sit in water on simmer (do not boil) until you are ready to pull them out and seal the jar. 

3) Get all your supplies ready.  You will need pectin, a huge pot for boiling the jars of jam, jars, rings, unused lids, and that fancy green thing for dropping the jars in the hot water.  I made 2 batches of jam.  That little jar of pectin was only enough for 2 batches (it was equivalent to two boxes of pectin).  Each batch of jam was 8 cups of uncut strawberries and yielded 6 cups of jam.

4) Wash your freshly-picked strawberries 8 cups at a time.  (Don't do more than 8 cups per batch.)


5) Hull and chop the strawberries.

I used my food processor to chop the strawberries.

But be careful not to puree them!!


6) Measure out 7 cups of Rapadura Sugar (white sugar is okay too).  Scoop 1/4 cup of sugar into a small bowl.  Add 6 tablespoons of pectin (or 1 box of pectin) and stir.  *If you are using the low sugar pectin, you only need 4 cups of sugar.

7) Pour the chopped strawberries in a large pot on the stove and turn the heat to med-high.

8) Immediately stir in the pectin and 1/4 cup of sugar you measured out already.  Bring the mixture to a full boil while stirring frequently to prevent burning.

9) Turn the heat down a little.  Pour in your rapadura sugar and slowly bring it to a full boil.  The slower you boil, the less foam will form on top. 


10) Let it run a full boil for one minute and then remove it from the heat.  Skim off any foam that sits on the top.  (My jam is so dark because rapadura sugar is unbleached, unrefined dehydrated cane sugar juice.  Since rapadura is a more expensive sweetener, I will be doing the low-sugar pectin next time!!!!)



11) Your jars should be in the canning pot in a simmering hot water bath.  Remove one from the bath, pour the hot water back into the pot and place the wet jar on a towel. 

12) Put the canning funnel on top of the jar and ladle your hot strawberry jam into the jar.  Leave about 1/4 inch of space at the top (or if you are measurement-impaired like me, make it an inch and call it a day...)


13) Wipe the rim of the jars with a warm towel after you are done filling them.  You do not want anything to prevent the ring and lid from sealing properly.  It's a messy process!!


14) Remove a hot lid and a ring from your simmering water.  Place the lid on the jar and then the ring and tighten.


15) Repeat Step 14 until all the jars are sealed!


16) Place the jars in your plastic or metal rack and gently place in the hot water bath and check that the water is at least 1 inch above the lids.


17) Cover the pot and bring it to a full boil.  Boil for 10 minutes.  If you use a smaller pot like I did (I just used my spaghetti pot), you will need to adjust the heat down as the water boils to ensure that the water doesn't bubble over and out.


18) Take a brief break to check that the kids are okay...


19) After 10 minutes, remove the cover and turn off the heat.  Let the jars sit in the hot water for 5 more minutes.  Then pull the jars out and set them on a towel.


20) Leave your jars to sit out for 24 hours in a draft-free place.  After 24 hours, check your lids.  They should be flat and tight.  If they aren't, just move them to your fridge to eat first!  Store the rest in a cool dark place :)


21) ENJOY!!!!!!



If you want a great tutorial without any pictures try Country Home Cannings' Strawberry Jam Instructions.

This blogpost was shared on Simple Lives Thursday at Gnowfglins!

Diving into the Strawberry Patch

Every week Leo picks a new favorite book.  One that determines whether he goes to bed willingly and without a fight.  Even if the book of the week is a user manual, we just read it to him.  This week, the book is Blueberries for Sal.  I LOVE this book!!  On one side of the mountain, Sal and his mom go blueberry picking.  On the other side of the mountian, a baby bear and a momma bear go blueberry eating.
When we woke up on Saturday morning, I told Leo we were going to get ready to go strawberry picking.  He screamed "I KNOW!" and excitedly ran to the fridge.  He opened the fridge, grabbed a strawberry and came running to the bucket and dropped it in.  "I did it!!  I picked the strawberries!"

My kid...the genius.

After a quick round-up of our friends Jennie and Justin and their kids, we loaded up for the farm.
 

Leo was ready with his bucket and Elena's bucket.  And Elena was....well....


We're not quite sure what happened to her.  She's more of an "eater" than a "worker"...


She perked up after she saw the strawberries though :)


Initially, I had 4 good workers.  Myself, Jason, Leo and Elena.


Weeeeeellll...make that 3 good workers.  She just ate the strawberries all morning...


Leo picked a couple strawberries and then lost interest.


Jason had to wrangle Elena so she stopped eating all the strawberries we picked.



At one point, it looked like she was helping Jennie's kids pick strawberries and I was so proud!!


We heard Taylor said "No no no!" and we looked over to see Elena picking strawberries out of Taylors' bucket as soon as she put them in...


I managed to get 14 pounds of strawberries.  (Jennie's working team of five got 23 pounds or more!!)


Now I just have to get to work canning these for jam...

But first - a sampling of our hard work:

Strawberry Banana Kefir Smoothies!!

Fresh Strawberries, Homemade Chocolate Chip Shavings, and Homemade Pastry Cream!!
(It tastes better than it looks - PROMISE!!)

Pastry Cream Recipe (from Allrecipes.com)
Ingredients

2 cups raw milk
1/4 cup rapadura sugar or sucanat
2 farm fresh egg yolks
1 farm fresh egg
1/4 cup cornstarch or arrowroot powder
1/3 cup rapadura sugar or sucanat
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1.In a heavy saucepan, stir together the milk and 1/4 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

2.In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and egg. Stir together the remaining sugar and cornstarch; then stir them into the egg until smooth. When the milk comes to a boil, drizzle it into the bowl in a thin stream while mixing so that you do not cook the eggs. Return the mixture to the saucepan, and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly so the eggs don't curdle or scorch on the bottom.

3.When the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla, mixing until the butter is completely blended in. Pour into a heat-proof container and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled before using. 

7 Quick Takes (#4)

-1-
I used a Neti Pot for the first time this week.  Scariest experience of my life (and I've given birth drug-free!).  You feel like you are drowning.  I compensated by swallowing a billion times to make sure my throat wasn't full of water.  However, I understand the biology of why a person can string a noodle through their throat and nose now.

-2-
I tried my hand at making Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies with my Homemade Chocolate Chips.
Needless to say, I'm not devoting a post to the recipe for these...pancake cookies.  However, when I successfully make this recipe work, you all will be the first to know! 

And it's not like they were inedible.  My family devoured them ;)



-3-
I was recently chatting with some other moms about grinding my own whole wheat berries, making kefir, soaking grains, and other traditional foods we are trying.  I guess I sounded like I was conquering the world without batting an eyelash.  One of the moms asked how I do it all.  I almost choked!

The reality is I don't!!  I spend so much time cooking, baking and eating that my kitchen perpetually looks like this:

Perhaps I enter ADD land when I start cooking/baking because I can only accomplish one thing: the finished dish.  I can follow directions and cook up a storm but I'm not that good at cleaning up the aftermath.

Sometimes my husband needs a spoon or a bowl.  So he washes it himself ;)

-4-
I won the grain mill attachment for this gargantuan Juicer on Ebay!

I was so pumped when a package arrived at the door this morning and thought for sure this was my attachment!!  But then I noticed it was from Mexico.  This was a package for my husband.


I then went online to find out where the package was.  I stupidly forgot to update my address on Ebay.  It had arrived at my old address!!  I frantically called my old landlord (good friends of ours) and emailed the current rentors at work.  Creeeeeeeppppyyyyy!!!


Now, after knocking at my old address at 9 pm in the rain wearing my husband's flip flops, the grain mill attachment is in my possession!  I sure hope the stupid juicer works.  I guess I should have checked that before I got all competitive on Ebay...  (I was a little worried that these two pieces don't actually fit together.  But upon further inspection and research, I further solidified my idiocy by putting it together wrong.)


-5-

-6-
I made this delicious Broccoli Pesto from 101cookbooks.com.  I strongly recommend it!!  (I added some already cooked chicken from our freezer and it was perfect!)


-7-
Have a fantastic Memorial Day Weekend!!!

And, if you have to bring the appetizer for your BBQ, bring these!!

7 Quick Takes with Jennifer at Conversion Diary
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