Technically, these are strawberry preserves as I used whole fruit. However, I also completely goofed up the recipe. Despite this, they still set just fine thanks to a great product. Sure Jell, you stand up to your name even when I mess up your recipes!
Remember our strawberry patch? Well we saved some of the berries that we picked throughout the Summer. We hulled them and froze them. And here they are. All ready to be cooked up into delicious jam.
We froze them in batches. The top ones apparently juiced themselves prior to freezing.
Now, in canning, you're supposed to measure everything exactly. The reason for this is that you need pretty precise proportion of sugar to acid to pectin to make it all set.
But, I'm lazy. So, did I measure the fruit? Nope. Not even close. I just guesstimated what was in there. That looks like 6 cups of crushed strawberries, right? I think so. And apparently I did a good guesstimation job as I ended up with slightly less finished product than I should have (which means more pectin for the product = a better chance of truly setting).
At this point, I was supposed to mix the pectin with 1/4 cup of sugar, which I did:
I used Sure Jell Premium Fruit Pectin for Less or No Sugar Needed Recipes. Whew! That's a mouthful! Since I used a lower sugar pectin, the recipe actually requires me to mix the pectin with some sugar, rather than just adding it directly into the fruit, like normal. Then, I was supposed to add the pectin into the fruit and bring it to a boil. However, I did this:
Oops! I added in the rest of the sugar (3 3/4 cups) my berries. And the pat of butter (to reduce foaming). Once I realized that I'd totally messed up, most of the sugar had "melted" into the defrosting berries -
Zoinks! What to do? What to do? So, I pulled out the only other pectin I had in the pantry - regular ol' Sure Jell - and guess what? Apparently you always put the pectin in first. Not canning for a while clearly messed my brain up. That and not reading directions...
So, I figured I'd try to make it work. After all, if it didn't set, then it would just be refrigerator jam! So, I threw the pectin mixed with sugar in too and turned on the heat.
Nice action shot, eh?
Waiting for a rolling boil...
Not there yet.
Not quite there...
There! See the bubbles and how the strawberry stuff looks totally pissed off? That's what you're going for. A boil that does not slow down even with constant stirring.
Now, had I followed the recipe like a good girl, this the point where I'd add in the extra sugar (the sugar that I didn't mix with the pectin), and then bring it back to a rolling boil and boil for one minute. However, since I royally messed this up, I just boiled it at the rolling boil for a couple of minutes. And, I knew I was onto something when I could feel the pectin working. It's not as weird as it sounds. I could feel the liquid thickening as I stirred it, which is part of the early stages of setting. If you're following the recipe in the package (as you should), then you'd turn off the heat after a minute. If you're not, well then, hope yours sets!
Oh, and here's a little tip. If you want to make your fruit be more crushed, you can smash it up against the side of the pan while the liquid is boiling like this -
The boiling actually cooks the fruit, which makes it softer and easier to smash. This also apparently works better with fruits like peaches than it does with strawberries...
Here's another tip. Of the safety variety. Notice that I used a really tall pot. There's a reason for that. Since I was working with a lot of sugar, I wanted plenty of space for the sugar to grow during the cooking process. If you don't leave enough space, the mixture will boil over and onto your stove. And, if you get it on your skin, it'll burn you badly. Since it's sugar, it'll stick as it burns, which means it's much harder to get off to stop the burning process. So, morale of the story is use a tall pot!
This picture shows just how much the sugar grew during the cooking process. I took it shortly after turning off the heat. Note the "high tide" line a couple of inches above the liquid. The line shows just how much the sugar grew during the short cooking time.
Now for "canning." I used the tiny, yiddle, adorable, precious, and oh-so-cute Ball mini jars. I love these jars! They're little half pints, I think. They'll be super cute for neighbor gifts at Christmas. I actually had enough left from my last canning adventure to use only that size. They also have the normal wide-mouth top, which is essential for easy canning. And, this funnel (the blue thing) fits perfectly in them.
As you can see, I took this picture after I filled most of the jars. I used a ladle to get the filling from the pot to the funnel. I would have shown you an action shot if I was a mutant and had three arms and hands. However, since I only have two, I had to put the ladle down to take the picture. My ladle holds about a half cup and I filled each jar with about a ladle and a half of liquid. Since I used whole fruit, I tried to make sure each jar had a good amount of fruit in it.
Then, I wiped the top and rim of each jar with a wet towel. You wipe the top so the seal on the lid will have full contact with the glass and will seal properly. You wipe the rim as your metal rim that will hold on the lid will contact the rim of the glass. If there's sugar and gunk on the rim of the glass, then the metal rim will stick and be a pain to open later.
Awwww....my yiddle jar got a yiddle friend...
Aren't they cute on their play date?
Take the lids from their boiling water bath (using the magnet on a stick) -And put them onto the jars.
Add on the rim bands, tighten well, and use your rubber tong thingies (also found in the canning aisle) to put them into your boiling water bath for processing.
Process for 10 minutes and remove from the water bath. Then, let the lid popping begin! Mine are still popping (almost an hour later) and will continue to pop for a while yet. Popping is good though as the sound is from the lid popping downwards indicating that a vacuum formed between the jam and the lid.
To make your own at home you need:
(1) To Follow the Sure Jell recipe exactly;
(2) 6 cups of crushed strawberries, hulled (frozen works well)
(3) 4 cups of sugar
(5) One package of Sure Jell Premium Fruit Pectin for Less or No Sugar Needed Recipes (pink box)
(6) All of the usual canning supplies.
Good Luck!
Yummy! I want some!
Posted by: Munchkin Mom | Friday, November 27, 2009 at 10:46 PM