Jammin'

Hey, remember how we went strawberry picking a little while ago? Well, I actually managed to make 4 jars of jam out of the berries we didn't eat immediately (ie less than half of what I picked, but we couldn't help but eat them, they were so good!). See!



My jams are so cool, haha.

Anyways, here is how I did it:

First I washed 2 jars and lids with soap and water. Then I put the jars (not lids) in a tall pot and boiled them for 10 minutes. Once the 10 minutes were up, I took them off the burner and put the lids in and let them sit along with the jars in the "hot water bath".

While that was going, I cut off the stems and sliced the strawberries (the first time I did 3 cups, but it didn't quite fill both jars, so I recommend doing 4 cups of sliced berries). I mashed the berries with a potato masher, but there were still lots of chunks in it. Then I squeezed the juice out of 1 big lemon (was a little over 2 tbsp). I put the strawberries and lemon juice in a wide pan, and added 1 cup of sugar and mixed it.

Then, once the jars were done boiling (because I only have 1 working burner on my stove) I put the pan on the burner over high heat, mixing continuously. It took about 10 minutes for it to seem "ready". The berries I used were very juicy, so they took a bit longer than usual. Apparently it normally takes 5-8 minutes. It's a lot like making candy I found. When it first boils it's really frothy, but then as it keeps boiling and you keep stirring, there is less and less foam, and it starts to look more glossy. I tested it once there was no longer any foam (I kept intentionally mixing it back in, and when there was no more foam I just had that feeling that it was ready). I had put a small plate in the freezer when I started (put the jars on to boil), so I took that out and put a little jam on it. I let it sit for a minute or so, and then tipped the plate up to see how runny it was. If it's the consistency of, well, jam, then it's done!

So then I took the pan off of the burner, and took the jars and lids out of the hot water using tongs and a magnetic grabber. I used a funnel made for mason jars, and filled up the 2 jars (leaving a little space at the top). I put the lids on tightly (using a towel, they were hot!), and then used the tongs to put them back in the pot of hot water (making sure there was at least an inch of water over the top of the jars), and boiled them for 10 minutes. Once they were done, I put them up on a pot holder on the shelf to cool for 12-24 hours.

I did 2 batches of this, and the second time there was a bit leftover because I used 4 cups of berries instead of 3, so we ate the left overs in the pan with some bread and it was SO GOOD. A couple days later I made some home made bread, and we cracked open a jar and tried it. It was perfect, and so yummy! I felt very satisfied knowing that I had made that entire snack from scratch. It was way better than store-bought stuff. I'm not sure if I will ever buy jam again!

Here is a video of how I made it (Youtube has played a vital role in teaching me how to cook, btw).



So, just in case you are wondering, it IS possible to make jam in a ridiculously small kitchen with only 1 working burner.