It’s Strawberry Jam Time

It’s strawberry season and I put together a group order of fresh strawberries from Chino, CA! Flats were 15lbs ad only $15 for 1 flat! We took preorders, loaded a truck bed full of berries when they arrived in town, and then spent the evening checking off names from my master list when people came to pick up there berries! Anyone who knows me knows I love coordinating big group events so I find this kind of stuff enjoyable!

I did order myself I flat and we started eating them whole the night we got them! I gave 1/2 of mine away! The next day we ate them too and barely put a dent in our 6 little green baskets! I was not intending to make freezer jam, but I decided to since we’re on day 3 of berries at every meal and getting a little burned out!

If you have never canned or made jam then I definitely suggest starting with strawberry freezer jam- there’s no special canning equipment required! If you can use a potato masher, a measuring cup, and boil water then you can do this!

I even enlisted my kiddos to help! First you need 1 green basket full of strawberries. Rinse them under water and set them in a strainer! Cut off the green tops and then cut up the berries in half then in half again (I find it easier to mash them up when they’ve been cut into smaller pcs). Put the cut up berries in a large pot with a flat bottom (I originally put them in a mixing bowl, but the curvy bowl shaped bottom made it hard to mash them). In the pot you will mash them with a potato masher until you like the consistency. Some people prefer chunky jam while others like smooth! Last year I put berries in the blender, but thought it was too runny for our liking!

Pour your mashed berries into a large measuring cup that holds at least 2 cups! You need 2 cups of mashed berries, which I find is pretty equivalent to an entire green little basket of berries! So cut, mash and add more berries if needed!

Pour 4 cups of sugar into your mashed berry mixture and stir until sugar is dissolved. Set timer for 10 minutes and just stir the sugar berry mixture occasionally!

At about 5 minutes left on the timer put 3/4 cup of water in a small pot and an entire pkg of pectin (in the baking aisle by the canning jars). Turn stove on high heat and stir water mixture. Bring to a boil (still on high heat) and let boil for 1 minute while stirring constantly! After 1 minute of boiling and stirring, pour water mixture into your mashed strawberry mixture (after they’ve sat for 10 min) and stir continuously for 3 minutes.

After 3 minutes of stiring you can ladle the mixture into your little plastic containers. Wipe off the edges of any spillage and put on lids. Let your jam set on the counter for 24 hours at room temperature. Then you can move the jam to the freezer or the fridge. Refrigerate any opened containers of jam!