Strawberry Jam

The Kansas strawberry season is over, but unless one is a localvore, it isn’t too late to make old-fashioned strawberry jam. The under-ripe strawberries sold in grocery stores make excellent jam. Being under-ripe these berries have sufficient natural pectin to thicken jam without darkening the color because the jam doesn’t need to cook very long. This is a pint of jam I made last year from grocery store berries.

I’ve always used the “longer-cook” strawberry jam recipe from this old Farm Journal cookbook.

The recipe doesn’t call for added pectin. I added the bit of butter to help control foaming during the cooking process. I’ve also rewritten the instructions.

8 cups strawberries

6 cups sugar

½ teaspoon butter or margarine

Crush the berries with a potato masher or give them a few pulses in a food processor in three batches. Put them in a very large pot because the jam will foam up considerably. (I use and eight-quart stainless steel Farberwear pot.)

Stir the sugar into the berries, turn the burner on medium or medium-low and stir frequently until the sugar dissolves. Now crank up the heat and bring the berries to a rolling boil. Stir steadily with a long-handled metal spoon during this phase to keep the jam moving over the bottom and sides of the pan and to keep the foam from flowing over the rim of the pan. (The bit of butter considerably reduces foaming.)

From time to time, take up some of the jam in the bowl of the spoon, hold the spoon above the pan and let its contents flow back into the pan. Keep your focus on the edge of the spoon, observing the thickness of the jam as it slides off. The longer the jam cooks the more frequently the thickness check. The objective is a thick but not jelled consistency. You can also put a few drops of the jam into a cold saucer and observe how it spreads.

The moment the jam reaches the consistency you prefer, remove the pan from the heat. Ladle the jam into hot, sterilized jars and seal with two-part jar lids. I never use the five-minute hot water bath recommended by the USDA and canning supply manufacturers. Maybe my strawberry jam will make me sick someday, but I’ve slipped by for 35 years this way and don’t intend to change my reckless ways.

Copyright 2013 by Shirley Domer