Strawberry Jam

Rosie from "Rosie Bakes 'A Peace Of Cake'" is hosting a preserves blogging event called "Putting Up" originated by Pixie at You Say Tomahto, I Say Tomayto. I decided to make small batch of strawberry jam because they are in peek of season right now,I bought 5lbs of fresh berries on Sunday for just 3$.After searched long and hard I found this recipe for making jam without using a pectin. I’ve never made jam before and it turned out pretty good. Very simple to make with few ingredients yet so wonderful.

INGREDIENTS:

Fresh Sliced strawberry - 3cups
Sugar - 1cup
Lemon juice - 1/4cup
Butter - 2tsp

METHOD:

In a medium bowl add the strawberries, sprinkle over all of the sugar and place it in the fridge overnight. Remove from the fridge, bring this mixture to boil in thick pan and allow the sugar to dissolve. Turn down the heat to keep the mixture boiling but watch it carefully as it will bubble up and, if the heat is too high, boil over. If that happens it will become sticky consistency.

Cook for 8-10 mins.Now add the butter,lemon juice and the mixture needs to be cooked till it reaches the jam consistency.

Testing for 'jam consistency' is very important in jam making process. Keep a metal tablespoon sitting in a glass of ice water, then take a half spoonful of the mix and let it cool to room temperature on the spoon. If it starts flowing then the jam is not ready yet. If it doesn’t move, then it is ready, remove from heat immediately.

Now pour the jam into the airtight jar (I bought from IKEA) and close tightly. Another important step is 'process the jars in the boiling water bath'. Putting the jars in the boiling water bath REALLY helps to reduce spoilage. Keep the jars covered with at least 1 inch of water and boil them for 10 mins.

Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a dry place.Once cooled, they're ready to store. Will store in a cool dry place for almost a year.

For video: see here.