Description
Instead of going through my water bath canning process in detail, I’m going to talk about my basic approach, a list of equipment and key ingredients, and resources & guides you can use to can safely. If you have any questions, add them to the comments or email me at sammi@dairyfreestate.com – I’m happy to answer what I can, and point you in the right direction for what I can’t!
Ingredients
- 4 cups hulled &; crushed strawberries
- 7 cups sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tbsp butter or Earth Balance
- 3 oz liquid pectin
Instructions
To make your process more efficient, start by boiling your water in the canner and washing your jars. For canning safety and basics on setup, again, refer to Blue Ribbon Preserves or an Extension guide, or any newer canning resource.
Once everything is clean, I start prepping the fruit. Using a strawberry huller can make everything go faster, so get one if you can. I love this one by OXO.
The pectin you use will determine the order in which do you do things. Powdered pectin comes at the beginning, while liquid pectin comes at the end. One of my favorite tools to know whether my jam is ready to put in jars is a plate in the freezer – put it in when you’re prepping everything and take it out after you think your jam will set at room temperature. Put a small bit of jam on the plate and put it back in the freezer. Take it back out after 5 minutes and you’ll have a good idea of whether it’s ready or not.
These recipes should get you about 8 half pints of jam.
Notes
Another option is to use the Ball Canning recipe for strawberry jam, which is fairly close to this, but calls for powdered pectin and one more cup of strawberries.
Here are some supplies you may need:
Progressive Canning Set
Canner with Jar Rack
Ball Jars
Strawberry Huller