Beautiful.
It didn’t get made until the day after I had actually planned on making it; but it did get made. This summer. I usually don’t want to make jam because to me all of the sugar defeats the purpose if it is going to eaten much. But Aneliese was given a jar of jam as a welcome here gift and she has since become slightly obsessed with jam. And so when our neighbor has strawberries, what else could I do?
Anyways, I am not going to go through a whole how to on making jam, just a few pictures to say that it can be made and be delicious without more sugar than fruit. I made freezer jam because I didn’t feel like dealing with a canner on the stove on a hot day.
What I used:
Strawberries
Honey
Grape Juice (straight up, no sugar and not from concentrate)
Pomona’s Universal Pectin ( no sweetener in it, just citrus pectin and calcium. No this is NOT the same as No Sugar pectin which is sweetened with dextrose or some other delightful sweetener) I actually had made my own pectin from oranges which has worked well before, but forgot to tell Dan what it was so he threw it away whilst doing the dishes.
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My ingredients and set up to cut tops.
So there you go, that’s all I used. Dan likes his jam more smooth so I processed it the same way his Mom did. Apparently with strawberries, their natural pectin will work better if they are just mashed, didn’t seem to make a whole lot of difference to me.
Big Pot holds topped strawberries that will be pulsed in the food processor, black pot will be turned into jam
I did 12 c. strawberries mixed with 1 1/2 cup honey. Basically I followed the directions for Pomana’s Pectin for the pectin part with just one important change. They call for adding one package of powder to 2 and 1/4 cups of boiling water but I chose to use grape juice because 1. it would add a little more sweetness and 2. grape juice also has natural pectin so would help thicken a little. Anyways, blend the pectin until smooth, mix it well with the fruit and add the Pomona’s calcium water (also in package) until it is as thick as you would like. Pour into sterilized jars, cover and let it sit for a while, then freeze.
The end result. I ended up freezing a whole bunch of strawberries because I realized they would store more compactly if not in jars. Plus this is going to last a long time.
We had on bread and have enjoyed it in yogurt. If you like your jam super sweet, you will want to add more honey or if you want to use this pectin with sugar, it still takes way less. Either way, for me, I am happy to give the girls a bit of honey so it works well.
And I got the jam made.
Missy, You totally inspired me to make some freezer jam this summer! I had just ordered 4 flats of strawberries from our local u-pick yesterday, all of which I was planning to freeze for smoothies, when I read about your jamming. (Yes, I’m paying the u-pick people a little extra to do the picking for me; I had a hot, poor crop picking experience 2 summers ago, and I’m still recovering.) I think I’m going to try the orange pectin, just because I’m doubting I’ll find the Pomona’s at our health food store, plus it’s seems fascinating!