# Makin' strawberry jam!



## girlndocs (Mar 12, 2004)

OK, I'm going to start making all of our jam because ds & I don't eat high-fructose corn syrup and the price of storebought jam without the stuff is absolutely sky-high. I've made jam before but this is my first time making strawberry jam (I'm just using frozen berries from Costco) & I had a few questions.

I don't like my jam to have whole berries or big chunks in it, I like a smoother consistency. How do I achieve this? Should I just smash the thawed berries really well with a potato masher or will that make long strings like when I tried it with peaches?

The pectin I have (a no-sugar-needed kind, although I'll probably use some sugar; it's mostly xanthan gum, I believe) says not to use a blender or food processor on the fruit before adding the pectin because that could interfere with the "set" of the jam. How can this be?


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## surf mama (Jan 8, 2005)

sorry I have no answers for you....but that sounds like a great idea. We are really trying to avoid corn syrup and that kind of junk too. After you make your jam could you post and tell us how....thanks. (I didn't know there was a way to make sugar free jam.)


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## Persephone (Apr 8, 2004)

If you're going to do this a lot, I would recommend a food mill. Lehman's has one... I think they're for mushing foods up, and they strain also, so you don't get the long strings. Check it out befoer you buy of course, but definitely look into it.


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## ladywolf (Aug 20, 2004)

I make all our own strawberry jam. It is freezer jam so it is not cooked, and it has pectin and sugar in it.

I always put my frozen strawberries in the blender. I like junks but my husband does not. So it is just easier to blender them. I also find a round potato masher with square holes works very well if the strawberries are completely defrosted.


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## Ilovelife (Jun 6, 2004)

ladywolf: would you share a recipe for the freezer jam? Thanks!


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## JenInMpls (Jan 18, 2004)

To make any kind of jam or jelly you need pectin, whether it's the natural pectin in the fruit or added pectin, or you need sugar. The more sour the fruit naturally is, the more pectin it contains... currants, for example, are quite sour and contain a lot of pectin. That has you adding more sugar to balance out the tartness. Raspberries have more pectin than strawberries; my raspberry jam always turns out too thick. Strawberries are so nice and sweet but if you don't add pectin you'll be stirring and stirring forever to get it to boil down to jam stage and then you run the risk of having overcooked-tasting jam









Last time I made strawberry jam I made my dp promise to make me use pectin next time. It took a LOOOOOONG time to cook down.

I have had success smashing strawberries with a potato masher, but I also like my jam chunky so haven't worried a whole lot about it. If you like it smooth I'd blend it or food process it. A few good pulses in the food processor would smooth it out a lot. I guess that the pectin would mix in more evenly if you had a consistent mixture but I'm not really sure why it would matter









You can also make jam using honey 1:1 for sugar, but I've never tried it. And I've wondered how sucanat would do.

oops, baby's awake. (already. sigh.)

jen

eta: I heartily recommend the Ball Blue Book which has a recipe for a zillion jams and jellies and canned everything else.


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## girlndocs (Mar 12, 2004)

Sooooo ... _why_ does my pectin package say that using a blender or food processor to puree the fruit will interfere with the set? The blender seems like the most commonsense method to me, but I really can't afford to have something go wrong & waste these strawberries.

The "pectin" I have is Ball Fruit Jell No Sugar Needed Pectin, and the ingredients say dextrose, pectin, sucrose, locust bean gum & xanthan gum. I've made blackberry jam with it and I did add a little bit of sugar, although according to the package I didn't need to & it was nowhere near the amount in a regular-pectin recipe. I was planning on adding a wee tad of sugar to the strawberries too.

JenInMpls, if you used regular pectin in your strawberry jam, would you use sugar?

Ooh -- my pectin has a date on it, June 2004. Would it actually go "bad"? Is it still OK to use?

Hey, pectin sounds funny if you type it a lot of times. Pectin pectin pectin


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## liawbh (Sep 29, 2004)

Just a note on using honey - my mom made everything with it, and always used half the amount (so 3 c. sugar, she'd use 1 1/2 c honey).
If you're worried about the blender, how about a wire mesh strainer? Just thaw the berries and push them through.


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## girlndocs (Mar 12, 2004)

Welp, I made it. First I tried the potato masher, but there was a lot of juice they were floating in and I couldn't pin the little buggers down to mash 'em







So I poured them into a sieve over my cooking pot, then mashed them in the sieve, which worked well, but it was all still very stringy so in the end I decided to live dangerously and buzzed them for a couple seconds in the blender on "chop".

I think one of the reasons the package advised against doing that was that it introduced air bubbles. Now that the sealed jars are partly cooled each has a 3/4" layer of froth that rose to the top. But it jelled just fine (I know 'cause I had one half-filled jar that went right into the fridge while the others processed) and OH MY MAUDE it's wonderful







The best strawberry jam I ever had -- if it cost twice as much to make as the storebought stuff it would still be worth it, but it cost less. I ended up returning the Costco strawberries & using little frozen local ones instead, which might have had something to do with the exceptional flavor.

Anyway here's the recipe I used:

2 qt frozen berries (5c smushed)
1 pack Fruit Jell No Sugar Needed pectin
1c sugar
1/2c water

Mixed berries, water & pectin; brought mixture to a boil; added sugar & boiled briskly for 2 minutes. Filled "pint" jars and processed in boiling-water bath for 10 minutes.

If anybody's never made jam before, it's ridiculously easy. You don't need any special equipment other than jars, lids & a pair of tongs and it is SO worth it!


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## Zhlake (Mar 19, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *girlndocs*
Filled "pint" jars and processed in boiling-water bath for 10 minutes.

If anybody's never made jam before, it's ridiculously easy. You don't need any special equipment other than jars, lids & a pair of tongs and it is SO worth it!


I have been thinking about making jam for awhile now---and now you have convinced me!! What does "processing in boiling water bath" mean? How many pints did that recipe make?


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## gardenmommy (Nov 23, 2001)

I try to make jam every summer with fresh picked strawberries. It makes the absolute BEST jam I have ever tasted! We just polished off a jar the other day.

And, I do run my berries through the blender; on a low setting for a maybe 30 sec., not any longer, and they are just fine. A few small chunks, here and there, but mostly a nice, smooth jam. I'd love to try using a low/no sugar recipe.

BTW, you can make mango jam with the same recipe used for the strawberries. Mmmmm, my second fave! And peach is really good, too. I think I need to think about something else! Can't wait for summer to start again.

Seems like I get about 5 pints from one batch, and I think my measurements are similar to the ones posted. Course, I usually plan it so that I have some "left over", that just HAS to be used quickly!

Happy jamming! Once you start, your family won't let you stop. You won't want to stop. You won't ever want to go back to the store-bought stuff again.


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## chalupamom (Apr 15, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *gardenmommy*
You won't want to stop. You won't ever want to go back to the store-bought stuff again.

Totally true - I make strawberry and mango jams every year, as well as ginger/grapefruit marmalade. I even keep the failed batches around for sauces and syrups. Just can't beat it - I even started my blog talking about canning.

Anyway, back to the question at hand. I don't know why you can't blenderize the berries - do the directions say this is just a function of their being frozen? I would think for fresh berries it would actually help. Then again, fresh berries respond better to a masher. Hmmm...do you have a ricer or press of some kind?

I've used fairly standard pectins and homemade pectins, but the best I've ever used was Pomona's Universal Pectin. It allows you to use about half the amount of sugar because it also includes acid and calcium in the mixture. I don't have any on hand to check, but I'm almost certain they have a recipe for making jam with frozen berries. Might be worth a look if this is flummoxing enough.

Good luck! If I come up with any brainstorms I'll come back and post.


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## girlndocs (Mar 12, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Zhlake*
What does "processing in boiling water bath" mean? How many pints did that recipe make?

In a nutshell, you put the lids on the jars and then you put them in a big pot with water & boil them. I'm hazy on exactly how, but that creates a vaccuum-seal on the jars. Boiling-water-bath canning is safe for most fruits, tomatoes, relishes, pickles & jams/jellies/spreads. To can meat or veggies safely you need a steam canner.

The recipe made 3 full "pint" jars (they actually hold 12oz) and a half-full one which I didn't process, just stuck in the fridge. Anybody know why you're not supposed to double jam recipes, by the way?








_Mango jam?_ Sounds positively blissful. And mangoes are cheap this time of year! Oh boy oh boy. Do you put the mango chunks in the blender, or what? What about peaches? I had a hard time getting a peach jam with a texture I liked, last year.

One thing about low-sugar jams: sugar acts as a preservative in jams & jellies. (It's actually possible to make jam that doesn't require canning, by adding enough sugar, but it would have to be something like 70% sugar. Yuk.) Anyway, this means low-sugar jams spoil a bit more quickly than regular jams once they've been opened -- you can't just leave them in the fridge a month or 2, till they're gone. So either use them up at a brisk rate or put your jam up in half-pints instead of pints.

Hey, how long will this pectin I have stay usable? As I said, it's dated June 2004, and I have *lots* because I bought it in, I think, April '04 when it was on clearance for 25 cents a box (they were getting rid of it to put later-dated boxes on the shelves). It's been kept dry, dark & cool.


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## JenInMpls (Jan 18, 2004)

eta: Kristin, we cross-posted.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Zhlake*
What does "processing in boiling water bath" mean?

It means put the jars with bands on fingertip tight (don't screw 'em on super tight but just enough that they catch) into a pot of boiling water with at least 3 inches of water covering them, and cook them for 15 minutes, more or less depending on your altitude. When they're done, remove them, try to avoid disturbing the seal, and set them in non-drafty place to cool. You should hear each jar pop when you take them out as they seal.

That pop is just the most satisfying sound ever!! I made currant jelly this summer and when all 6 of them popped I danced around the kitchen







I would, however, not suggest that anyone 7+ months pregnant spend 5 hours making currant jelly in summer, although I'm still so proud of them and they turned out GREAT.

My friend's mom in Germany simply ladles jam into sterile jars, puts the lids on tight and then flips the whole thing over. They seal. I don't understand.







anyone understand that?

girlndocs: I would probably still put sugar in my strawberry jam if I used pectin because I'm married to a sugar addict







but not as much as the recipe called for.

jen, getting hungry for summer berries


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## surf mama (Jan 8, 2005)

I'm going to the store tomorrow for mangoes...that sounds so good.

girlndocs-thanks for inspiring me to make jam and teaching me about low sugar jam too!


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## Zhlake (Mar 19, 2003)

What other kinds of fruits would be good for jam this time of year? Mango jam sounds heavenly! They are pretty expensive though here.


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## girlndocs (Mar 12, 2004)

You could make marmalade. I don't know if you're supposed to use a certain kind of orange, though ...

Also you can use any kind of frozen fruit that you can get at a decent price. If you *can't* get a decent price, and you're worried about wasting a whole batch of spendy fruit (or just can't afford it), you can halve the jam recipe -- just use half of everything, including the packet of pectin.

I am told that in season, U-pick berries are ridiculously cheap. I'm kicking myself for never finding that out before. A friend & I are already planning to do some major jam-making & fruit-canning this year


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## JenInMpls (Jan 18, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *girlndocs*
You could make marmalade. I don't know if you're supposed to use a certain kind of orange, though ...

I don't think so, although you do spare yourself a lot of work if you buy navels! No seeds to dig out. Let me grab the ball blue book and check - (that way I can grab myself some food on the way to the bookshelf in the kitchen! :LOL)








it's gone! Must have fallen behind the shelf.

Technically (I'm reading online) you're supposed to use Seville oranges.

here's a nice looking set of instructions for orange marmalade. In fact if you nose around on that site it looks like it has a LOT of good recipes and instructions. I like the picture instructions!

I think it would be cool to make blood orange marmalade - and they're in season right now, although not exactly cheap (cheaper than store-bought blood-orange marmalade, though!). In fact, after looking over that page, I think I just might!! I've got a friend who LOVES orange marmalade, it would make a perfect gift...

happy canning! jen


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## ladywolf (Aug 20, 2004)

Here is the freezer jam recipe:

2 C crushed stawberries

4 C sugar

3/4 C. water

1 box pectin (I like SureJell. I have had the best luck with it)

Stir the sugar into the crushed berries. Let stand 10 minutes. Mix water and pectin in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and let boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add to fruit/sugar mixtrue and stir for about 3 minutes or until the sugar is well dissolved. Fill containers within 1/2 inches of tops. Wipe clean, cover, and let stand for 24 hours. You can use the jam at this point or put into the freezer.

If you miss place this recipe, every pectin I have tried has the freezer jam (the one that usually says jam in less then 30 minutes) on the instructions in the box. This is my family's favorite.


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