Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam

Published by Homesteading Hen on

Here in the beautiful Great Lakes Region, June normally means strawberries. This year our berries came on a little later due to the cool rainy weather we have been having, but late or not they help mark the true start of summer! With their cheery bright red color and sweet-tart taste nothing beats fresh garden strawberries!

Bring a taste of summer with you into the cooler snowy months with this timeless classic, strawberry jam recipe. Nothing beats fresh strawberry jam on top of fresh breakfast toast, pancakes or even on top of homemade vanilla bean ice cream!

Ingredients:
6 cups of crushed strawberries
4 cups sugar
1 box of powdered Fruit Pectin ‘For Less or No Sugar Needed Recipes’
Juice of ½ of a lemon (optional)
This helps the jam set, and aids in achieving a bright cheery looking finished product. If using bottled lemon juice, add approximately 1 tablespoon.
1/2 teaspoon butter OR oil of choice (optional)
This item is used to help prevent foaming, but is NOT
required to make successful jam.

Makes: 4 pints.

Note: I have doubled this recipe before with good results, but success at doubling is not always repeatable due to variations like humidity and dew point or changes in cooking due to volume of jam. Doubling is normally not recommended when making jams and jellies, if you choose double this recipe, you do so at your own risk. 🙂

Directions:
Start by prepping your jars and lids according to manufacturer’s instructions; set aside.

Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

Wash and prep your fresh strawberries. The riper the berries used the softer the set of jam they will make.

Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

For best overall results, I like to have a mixture of berries, riper ones for adding flavor and sweetness and a few on the medium ripeness area for helping achieve a nice thick jam set.

Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

Smash your berries 1 or 2 cups at a time using a hand-held potato masher. You can use a blender, but I find purée does not produce as good a texture of jam. You really want to keep some of those berry chunks, which is why I find using a potato masher works best.

Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

Measure your six cups of smashed strawberries into a 6 or 8 quart saucepan.

Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

Measure and place 3 3/4 cups of sugar into a bowl and set aside.

Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

Place the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar into a bowl and stir in your box of pectin until well mixed.

Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

Combine your sugar/pectin mix with your smashed berries.

Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

Squeeze in fresh lemon juice and add in butter/oil if using.

Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

Place your saucepan on high heat and bring to a full rolling boil. This is where it continues to boil even while being stirred.

Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

Sorry, the steam and my camera were not getting along. 🙂

Make sure to keep stirring so jam does not scorch. Add in remaining sugar and bring back up to a full rolling boil.

Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

Continue boiling for 2 minutes longer. Remember to keep stirring jam constantly. Remove from heat and skim off any foam, if needed.

Skiming off the foam on jam, Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

Working quickly, ladle jam into your clean prepped jars, leaving ½ inch headspace on top.

Pouring hot jam into jars, Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

Wipe rims of jars and add prepared lids and rings.

Wiping Rims before adding lids and rings, Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

adding lids and rings onto jam jars, Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

Place jars into water bath canner and make sure water comes up over jars 1-2 inches.

Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

Bring to boil and process jars in canner for 10 min. Remove from canner and let completely cool, check lids to make sure lids have sealed. (They should NOT spring back when lightly pressed.)

Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

I found this recipe to set up rather quickly, but if yours seems slightly runny after completely cooling, just give it a little more time. Pectin jams can sometimes take up to two weeks to reach a full set.

Fresh Made Strawberry Jam, Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

BTW This tasted amazing on the fresh made Amish, gluten-free potato bread we were given! 🙂

Happy (Belated) Strawberry Moon, the Homesteading Hen

<img src="https://heritage-river.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Strawberry-Jam-Main-BloUsing Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

Using Your Resources: Classic Strawberry Jam, By Heritage River, Heritage River LLC, Heritage-River.com

20 Comments

Annaliese · July 1, 2019 at 14:30

Delicious!! I’ve never homemade jam before but I would love to!!

xoxo A
http://www.southernbelleintraining.com

    Homesteading Hen · July 19, 2019 at 19:48

    Definitely give it a try, you will find it taste so much better than store bought! 🙂

mamawritesreviews · July 1, 2019 at 21:14

MMMMMM! Delicious! I tend to use less sugar in my jams and I absolutely recommend using the lemon juice!

    Homesteading Hen · July 19, 2019 at 19:53

    I agree on the less sugar in most cases, but wanted to make it more “flop proof” for beginners. I love what the lemon brings to the strawberry jam for sure!

travelandhikewithpcos · July 1, 2019 at 21:47

I love strawberry jam on my multigrain breads and this recipe seems easy to make. I would give this a try when I get strawberries. Thank you for sharing.
Heena.

    Homesteading Hen · July 19, 2019 at 19:58

    Yummy!That is actually how my kids were enjoying the strawberry jam yesterday. Yes, it’s super simple to make. Enjoy!

Cristina · July 2, 2019 at 01:35

This is exactly how my Mum makes strawberry jam!

    Homesteading Hen · July 19, 2019 at 20:02

    Sometimes the classic way is the best way! This was how my Mom made strawberry jam as well, and then taught me as a teen. 🙂

Fiorella Madsen (@lacasadefreja) · July 2, 2019 at 01:45

My husbands granny makes them and the difference in flavor with the one you can buy in a supermarket is huge. Would love to try these holidays.

    Homesteading Hen · July 19, 2019 at 20:09

    Yes, the taste difference in homemade strawberry jam vs. store bought is very noticeable! Nothing beats jam from Grandma! 🙂 Enjoy your jam journeys!

thesmalladventurer · July 2, 2019 at 04:26

This post came at a perfect time as I have been wanting to experiment with making more things at home to learn how certain products are made. Jam is something that’s always been on my “to make at home” list as it is not only DELICIOUS, but also doesn’t seem *too* difficult, so it’s right up my alley! 😂🙌

    Homesteading Hen · July 19, 2019 at 20:42

    So glad you enjoyed our post! Yes, making homemade jams and jellies is not only very easy, but lots of fun as well! Knowing how the things we consume are made and whats in them, is not only interesting but so important nowadays. Best of luck on your quest!

JENRON DESIGNS · July 2, 2019 at 08:59

Yum my husband loved Strawberry Jam and it is Strawberry season right now too! This is a must try.

    Homesteading Hen · July 19, 2019 at 20:45

    My husband was the reason I did this post. He requested strawberry jam, so I figured two birds with one stone! Hahaha I hope you enjoy the recipe. 🙂

Viano Dee · July 2, 2019 at 10:49

I’ve always heard of strawberry jam. Never known how it was made. Don’t know why I didn’t even look it up. Thanks for this info.

    Homesteading Hen · July 19, 2019 at 20:47

    Glad you enjoyed the post, strawberry jam is definitely worth trying if you have never had it.

Cindy · July 2, 2019 at 13:25

Looks really yummy! I’ve never tried making my own jam. I’ll have to give it a go!

    Homesteading Hen · July 19, 2019 at 20:51

    Nothing taste like homemade! You will find making jam is super easy! Word of warning though, you might never want to buy store bought jam again. 😉

Erin · July 3, 2019 at 20:42

Adding this to my to do list my boys would love to make this with me!

    Homesteading Hen · July 19, 2019 at 20:56

    My kids loved making strawberry jam together! Have fun making memories, and don’t forget to grab a camera! 🙂

Leave a Reply