A couple weeks ago we took advantage of some cooler weather to drive out to a farm for strawberries. These are the little flavourful strawberries that only come once a year (not the everbearding ones which come back in late July through August). Amelia is carefully washing and lying them out to dry in preparation for making jam and packing some in the freezer.
Hugo is sneaking in to steal some to eat.
The jam turned out wonderfully though we did have some moments of concern. I used a candy thermometer and the freezer test. I've made jam lots of time before and I knew what we were looking for. This jam did not want to thicken. We cooked it for over 30 min and just when I thought it would be almost done (I was only about 3 degrees C away from my target temp), it started to really get thin!
Eeek. I decided to yank it off the heat, jar it and can it there and then. I figured worse case scenario would be that we'd have runny jam. Well, we don't. We have glorious jam, just the right consistency for spreading.
Strawberry Jam
3 lb. fresh strawberries (about 9 cups), washed and hulled
4 cups sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp unsalted butter (optional - I don't)
In a large saucepot, bring strawberries up to a simmer over medium-low heat, mashing roughly with a potato masher or flat spoon. Add sugar and lemon juice, stir, and bring up to a simmer for 2 minutes. Add butter and bring to a vigorous boil, stirring often and cook for 10 to 20 minutes. Once jam is ready*, remove from heat and skim off foam. Fill sterilized jars, fasten lids securely and boil jars in a vat of water for 15 minutes. Remove jars with tongs and let cool upright. Check for secure seals on jars (lid should not spring when touched) and store in a cool place away from light for up to a year.
To test readiness:
-candy thermometer should reach 105ºC (221ºF)
or
-place plate in freezer. Drop a spoonful of hot jam on plate & return to freezer for 1 min. Drag index finger through the puddle. If the 'jam canyon' remains, it's ready. If the banks spill down, cook more.
Yum.
5 comments:
Yay, another jam maker & canner!
I've had inconsistent results with my strawberry jams; sometimes they turn out wonderfully and others... they're more like strawberry sauce. Last time I made jam was a case in point; I got one fabulous thick jam, one that looks promising in the jars and a third batch that clearly wishes to be a sauce.
I came across this recipe at The British Larder a few days back and am going to try out her jam method for my next batches (which should be next week, as we're hoping to hit the farm when raspberries, blackcurrants and tayberries are all ripe).
http://www.britishlarder.co.uk/my-signature-jam-strawberry-and-redcurrant/
I was especially interested in her method of brushing the pan with water to help prevent crystallization; foam is a big problem with my strawberry jams in particular. I also apparently need to stop obsessively stirring my jams while they're cooking!
Hi Vicki - long time no hear! What is up with your blog girl? Gone private?
Thanks for the link to the recipe. I'll be making more strawberry jam when the everbearing are ready so I might try her method. I have a recipe for strawberry & rhubarb which also looks promising.
Foam - yeah. My jam won't be winning any awards for good looks (the taste though is DI VINE). I skimmed off a bunch but then I got lazy & just jarred the rest. Then I had to point out to everyone that the white bubbly stuff in the middle is not mould; it's just lazy jam. Just so that when they pick up a jar a few months down the road, they won't freak out.
But no stirring??? I don't think I can hold myself back!
The brushing thing I can do.
But the food safety person in me just about blew my top at the parchment seals she suggests. No, no, no. My MIL used to seal with paraffin until my public health nurse SIL reamed her out. Can those suckers properly!
Although, I did read that some people seal jam effectively by using regular canning jars/lids & insead of a hot water bath, just fill & tip upside down for a while, then stand upright. This is for jam only. But honestly, after all the effort picking & cooking the jam, a few mins in a hot water bath doesn't seem like that much hardship if it means the jam is going to seal & preserve correctly......
Today is raspberry jam day. :-)
I had the same reaction to the parchment paper & rubber seal thing. Yikes! It's not like it's that much trouble to set up your water bath on the stove while you're getting your jam ready.
Where did you pick your raspberries? We're planning to try Emma-Lea Farms on Westham Island next week. I haven't picked there before so it'll be interesting to try them out.
I haven't felt like blogging much for a while; I blame twitter :-P That said, I have written a few times over the past month and hope to become more consistent again. I miss writing real sentences and paragraphs.
I've been going to Krause
http://www.krausebrothersfarms.com/
but I have been to Emma Lea in the past. Where we live now, it's faster to go to Krause because we're close to Hwy 1 so it's a fast drive (the only thing sometimes gets me is the bridge).
Krause is a really yuppy farm - terribly clean and posh. Their shortcakes are to die for & the kids get milkshakes after we pick. There's a store with jams, honey and syrups and they sell really nice breads also.
A couple more weeks and blueberries will be ready!
This report is a bit late but I tried out the British Larder Lady's jam-making technique. In the spirit of lazy jam, I didn't bother brushing the pan with water, but consistently checked the temperature and didn't stir once the jam was properly boiling. Over about 6 batches of jam I consistently had little or no foam. The blackcurrant jam came out extremely thick and absolutely will not move when you turn the jar upside down, so I probably would not cook it as long in the future so that it has a slightly more spreadable consistency (no complaints about the flavour though). My mixed berry jams were also quite thick, but foam-free. The raspberry jam came out with a tiny bit of foam which I could easily scrape off without feeling that I was sacrificing my lazy jam principles :-) A couple of times toward the end I found my willpower weakening and I stirred the raspberry jam as it was bubbling. This caused the mixture to bubble up furiously for several seconds, like something out of a horror flick. Clearly I was meant to leave it alone.
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