Home made Strawberry Jam

The strawberry season generally starts in mid June in Illinois, USA and continues for three four weeks, depending on the weather and how many people come to pick strawberries.  Most of the strawberry farms were within an hour and a half drive from where we live.  Some farms have attractions for children while some others have miles of fields around them.  We went to strawberry farm at Marengo, Illinois.  We were seven adults and six children and were given baskets by the farm managers to pick strawberries.  The deal was we could eat strawberries for free but whatever we fill our baskets with, we were to pay only for that.  Picking strawberries was a wonderful experience with loads of fun.  These delectable red berries were very sweet and juicy.  Since we got so many strawberries, I decided to make jam out of these.

I did not know making strawberry jam was so easy.  Only tough part was to bottle the jam so that it can be preserved for sometime.  Most people put double sugar but I tried with less sugar as my strawberries were very sweet.

Ingredients:

5 cups crushed strawberries, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 6 tbsp pectin, 5 cups of sugar

Method:

Combine strawberries, lemon juice in a saucepan.  Gradually stir in pectin.  Bring mixture to a full boil, stirring constantly.  It is a good idea to wear kitchen mitts while stirring the hot mixture as it tends to splash.  Add sugar and stir so that sugar gets dissolved.  Bring it to a boil for another minute while stirring constantly.  Mixture will get to thicken a little. Turn off the flame.  Skim foam if necessary.  Transfer the hot jam to hot sterile bottles. Fill the bottles leaving a gap of 1 CM or 0.5" from the rim.

In the meanwhile, wash the jars and lids separately and put them in boiling water in order to sterilized.  Take them out on a  towel before filling them with hot prepared jam.  If your jars will be cold, they will crack when you fill them with hot jam.

Once jam is filled, mount the lid and twist to close with moderate strength. Take a big pot of lukewarm water.  Place the jam filled jars in the water.  Make sure that water level in the pot is above the top layer of the jars.  Boil this for ten minutes by covering the pot with the lid.  Turn off the flame and let jars stay in the pot till water cools off. Take them out on a towel.  Leave them out for 12 to 24 hours before putting them in the refrigerator.  If the middle of the jar lid is firm it means it is sealed properly but if it is not sealed properly, you may have to repeat the process of pasteurizing with different lid.

If you prefer to eat your jam within three weeks, you can omit pectin.

Enjoy your home made scrumptious strawberry jam.