Recipe: First Crop Strawberry Jam

Step 1. Visit DeGroots Strawberry Farm in Gregory, Michigan and pick a lot of strawberries. Just kidding. But, if you want the freshest, ripest berries (which make the best jam) find a place you can pick them yourself and make jam the same day.

Step. 2. Assemble your ingredients and supplies. You need:

6 pints washed, de-stemmed strawberries

4 cups sugar in a bowl

1 package of Sure-Jell Low-Sugar fruit pectin

A water-bath canner (large pot with tight fitting lid and, preferably, a rack inside), potato masher, measuring cup, jar tongs, 4 clean pint jars with lids & rings, another (smaller) pot for cooking the jam, large spoon, ladle, canning funnel (optional), clean cloth for wiping the rim clean, cooling rack.

Step 3. Place the jars in the canner and fill it so the water comes 1 inch over the top of the empty jars. Place on high heat and bring the water to a full boil. This takes awhile and you should probably do this before you start cutting and mashing the strawberries.

Step 4. Mash the strawberries. You need to have 6 cups. If you are little short you can add apple juice, grape juice or even water to stretch it to 6 cups.  Stir in the pectin mixed with 1/4 cup of the sugar.

Step 5. Cook the strawberries over high heat stirring constantly until they are boiling so hard that it continues to boil when it is stirred.  Add the sugar all at once.

Step 6. Continue to stir and cook over high heat until it reaches a full boil again. Let it boil 1 min. Pull the jars out of the canner, making sure all of the water stays in the canner and doesn’t come out with the jar. Use the ladle to fill the jar within ½ in. of the top. A canning funnel makes this easier, especially with small mouth jars. Repeat until all of the jars are full. If there is jam left in the pot, put it in a clean jar and store in the fridge or eat it out of the pot with a spoon.

Step 7. Wipe the rims of the jars with a damp clean cloth. Place the lids on the jars. If you have reusable lids check your rubber rings and lids to make sure nothing is damaged (or the jar won’t seal properly). If you are using a new, metal lids, use tongs to dip them in hot water so they are close to the temperature of the jars, then place them on the jars. In either case, screw on the metal rings, tightly but not as tight as you can (that can actually prevent a seal). The rings are cool but the jars and their contents are very hot so you probably need to hold the jar with the jar tongs or a hot pad when you are screwing on the rings.

Step 8. Use the jar tongs to place the filled jars back in the canner. The water level should be at least 1 inch above the tops of the jars (though may be higher). Replace the lid. Bring back to a full boil and boil the jars of jam for 10 min. Turn off the heat and remove the lid and let the jars sit in the water for 5 min (this step really helps the jars to seal).

Step 9. Then remove the jars with the jar tongs and place on a cooling rack. (A towel under the rack prevents water from running everywhere.) Be sure not to tip the jars to either side when pulling them out of the canner. You want the water on the top of the jar to stay on the top of the jar as it’s cooling (this also helps them seal). If you are using metal lids you will hear a pop sound and the lid will become concave. Then it is sealed. If you are using reusable lids, wait 30 min and unscrew the metal ring and gently try to lift the lid off. If it is sealed the lid will not come off.

Properly processed homemade jam (like this jam) will keep in a cupboard for a year. But, honestly, these 4 jars will only last my family a couple of months. I need to make at least 3 more batches...

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.