Strawberry Jam Recipe

“Yeah, Strawberry Jam, If you want the best jam, you gotta make your own” so sang Michelle Shocked back in 1992 phew!!

I agree wholeheartedly with those lyrics and it is also easy to make and seems to capture the essence of summer in a jar. When I first started making jam I was a bit disappointed with the results as even though it tasted delicious it was sometimes on the runny side. However thanks to the advice of a very helpful jam maker at Union Square Farmers Market here in NYC, I discovered Pomona’s Universal Pectin, which I was able to buy in the nearby Wholefood’s Market. This product helps your jam set. Growing up in Ireland when making jam my Mum would use sugar that contained pectin from the Irish Sugar Company, Siurca.

     

Ingredients

• 2 pounds/ 950g of ripe strawberries washed, hulled {remove the leaves and tiny core} and roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 -2 cups/ 10 oz/ 300g  of sugar
• Box of Pomona’s Universal Pectin {just follow the directions there are two packets in the box one is for calcium water and the other is a powder that you mix through the sugar. There is enough of each to make several pots of jam}
• Sterilized empty jam jars and lids

Method:

Place a clean plate such as a saucer in the fridge to chill.

Wash jam jars and lids in hot soapy water and rinse. Cover a baking tray with a clean tea towel and pop the upside down jars and lids on the tray and heat in a preheated oven at a low temperature 200F, 100C for 15 minutes.

     

Place roughly chopped strawberries and 2 teaspoons of calcium water in a large saucepan, I use a potato masher to crush them up a little more. Bring them to a boil over a medium heat while stirring which doesn’t take too long.

Add sugar and pectin to the strawberries and stir until it begins to boil again. Turn off heat.

To see if the jam is set I place a couple of tablespoons onto the chilled saucer and pop back in the fridge for 10 minutes or so. Remove it from the fridge and run your finger through the jam and it should wrinkle up so then you know your jam is ready to pour into your jars. Donna Hay the Australian food writer suggests turning the filled and sealed jars upside down to create a vacuum and ensure that it is airtight, I haven’t tried this before so not sure yet if it makes a difference. I usually just cut out enough circles from parchment paper to cover the top of all the jams before closing the lids tightly.

When cold turn the jam jar the right way up. I store ours in the fridge. If you have a cool, dark cupboard it can be stored there. We use up our jam very quickly as we add it to plain yogurt and spread on bread or sponge cakes.

Homemade jam makes great hostess gifts too, just add a fabric top, ribbon and a nice label.

24 Jul This entry was published on July 24, 2015 at 12:03 am. It’s filed under #homemade jam, #summer fruits and tagged strawberry jam recipe. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.