You may be surprised to be seeing a recipe for strawberry jam at the end of September. I was equally surprised to be making it! Just as I thought it was a sad farewell to our strawberry jam as we tucked in to our last jar, providence smiled on me, and I was offered a crate of strawberries at my local market for a tenner! The lovely gentlemen there do tend to call me the jam lady, so they know to look out for me if they have a good deal.
Best Strawberry Jam Recipe - Excellent texture
Ingredients:
1 kg Strawberries
500g Granulated Sugar and 450g Jam Sugar
150mls lemon juice (2 or 3 good juicy lemons; have 4 or 5 to hand in case they are thick
skinned)
First, place a saucer or small plate in the fridge. You will need this later to test for the setting point. Secondly, put your clean jam jars and lids in to a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring them to the boil, and allow to boil for 5 - 10 mins to sterilise them.
Transfer the sterilised jars to the oven on a low heat, to dry them and keep them warm for pottting. Next you want to sort and dehull your strawberries. I find the best thing to use is the end of a traditional potato peeler rather than simply cutting the tops off. It reduces waste and removes the inner stalk. Put 200g of your strawberries into a large soup pot along with 200g of the granulated sugar. (N.B. if you are making a large batch do
not use more than 3kg of fruit at a time as the pot will not be large enough to
bring the fruit to a rolling boil and setting will not be achieved!)
With a potato masher, mash the strawberries to pulp. Move them to the stove and
warm gently, stirring regularly. Once warm add the rest of the strawberries
1 kg Strawberries
500g Granulated Sugar and 450g Jam Sugar
150mls lemon juice (2 or 3 good juicy lemons; have 4 or 5 to hand in case they are thick
skinned)
First, place a saucer or small plate in the fridge. You will need this later to test for the setting point. Secondly, put your clean jam jars and lids in to a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring them to the boil, and allow to boil for 5 - 10 mins to sterilise them.
Transfer the sterilised jars to the oven on a low heat, to dry them and keep them warm for pottting. Next you want to sort and dehull your strawberries. I find the best thing to use is the end of a traditional potato peeler rather than simply cutting the tops off. It reduces waste and removes the inner stalk. Put 200g of your strawberries into a large soup pot along with 200g of the granulated sugar. (N.B. if you are making a large batch do
not use more than 3kg of fruit at a time as the pot will not be large enough to
bring the fruit to a rolling boil and setting will not be achieved!)
With a potato masher, mash the strawberries to pulp. Move them to the stove and
warm gently, stirring regularly. Once warm add the rest of the strawberries
Very gently, bring the strawberries to a simmering point, stirring regularly, to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom and allow to simmer for 5 minutes, softening the fruit. Add the remaining granulated sugar and fruit sugar, stirring gently for 2 - 3 mins until the sugar has dissolved. Add the lemon juice. Increase the heat to a full rolling boil and boil rapidly for 8 - 9 mins.
How do I know when my jam is ready? How do I test for setting?
There are three ways to see when your jam is ready. I use two, as I found relying on a thermometer often produced runny non set jam. When the jam reaches 104.5oc put a little of the jam onto the saucer that you placed in the fridge at the beginning of your jam making session. After a minute or so, push it with your finger. If it starts to crinkle then the jam has set.
How to pot jam
Once your jam is ready, remove the jars and lids from the oven and ladle the jam into the jars and seal immediately. Be careful, the jam is extremely hot! Use a cloth or your apron to aid you in tightening the lids on to the jars.If you are using screw top lids there is no need to use plastic discs or cellophane. Once cooled, store the jam in a cool place.
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