Strawberry Season!

Strawberry Jam!!

It's July Second! And strawberries are in Season!

That means It's time to make JAM!!

I made jam and YouTubed it the other night..so today my young friend Nancy came to learn how and to help make Jam.

She did a Bang up Job with very little instruction!

Here is How we made Strawberry jam!

Start with FRESH local strawberries!

Wash them, remove the tops and slice.

Wash and Rinse your Jars and put on a parchment lined sheet in the oven at 215 degrees Fahrenheit for a minimum of 20 minutes..Leave in oven til needed.

Likewise, wash rinse and boil new jar lids for 5 minutes..then reduce heat and leave in hot water til needed.

Crush strawberries with a masher or food processor..

Measure out the amount of prepared fruit that is required by your packaged Pectin. Likewise..measure out the required amount of sugar and set aside.

( NEVER double the recipe  on the box..you jam will NOT set)

Pour your measured fruit into a large sauce pan and begin to heat on medium to high..stirring Constantly..In a small dish scoop out a 1/4 cup of sugar and mix in the pectin..then stir this mixture into pot of prepared fruit...

When the mix begins to heat..add the rest of the sugar.

Continue to stir until it comes to a boil..turn in down between high and Medium and continue to stir while it bubbles for 5 minutes. At this point you can add a half teaspoon of butter to help reduce foaming.

Ladle into hot sterile jars..3/4 of an inch from the top rim of the jar.  Be sure to wipe rime of jar with a clean moist cloth to ensure a good seal..put on hot lid and screw ring down firmly.

Place hot jars of jam onto a folded towel and cover to let cool slowly.

You will son begin to hear a series of "pings" This is the lids popping down and creating a vacuum seal.  IF the lids are not all down after 12 hours..( this can happen is the jam or jars were not hot enough when filling the jars)

Process in a boiling bath canner for 15 minutes and remove to folded towel and allow to cool again.  IF after THAT step the lids STILL do not "ping" down..then just refrigerate or freeze.

A Special Thanks to my Friend Nancy for allowing me to use this film footage for this blog!

For Those of you who can view video..here is my video of myself making Jam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0HW-y1DVyA

CHEERS!