Recipe: Strawberry Freezer Jam

This last week I tried making strawberry freezer jam - for the first time! I KNOW, given where I live, home canning is practically REQUIRED, so what took me so long? Sorry, I'm a slow learner. As a matter of fact, Mrs. Igor and I had our first canning experience PERIOD just a couple of weeks ago - she had gotten 25 pounds of tomatoes as an add-on to a Bountiful Basket one week, and SOMETHING had to be done with them. Mrs. Igor has the equipment (thanks to her mom) and she purchased canning jars, lids, and rings. I just showed up to help a little and then enjoy the bounty! We made some really yummy salsa, and definitely be doing it again the next time there's a bulk purchase of tomatoes available.

But I digress... my friend Kalani (whose fabulous coconut cake recipe will be making an appearance here on the blog tomorrow) made some sugar-free strawberry freezer jam and it was SOOOOOO yummy! I was way jealous. Then I said... DUH, I can do that too! Except, I didn't plan ahead very well and buy a big bag o' Splenda from Costco. But I suddenly had my strawberries from Bountiful Basket over the weekend and needed to DO something with them. So, I made "regular" strawberry freezer jam instead.

We bought "100% Natural Sure-Jell Premium Fruit Pectin" from the Walmartz. Sadly, Sure-Jell is a brand owned by the giant food conglomerate Kr*ft, NOT my favorite type of company to support, but at the moment it was what was available. We'll be looking into sources of fruit pectin from more palatable companies and I'll let you know what I find out.  ANYHOO, having looked at various recipes on the interwebz, it seemed like a good idea to just use the recipe that came in the box of pectin - no need to get fancy. I was kinda bugged though, because you (that is, I) had to bounce around between sections of the package insert in order to follow the recipe.  So THEN, being the generous person I am, I figured I could make all y'alls' lives easier by recreating the recipe RIGHT HERE.

NOTHING about this recipe is original - it is STRAIGHT off of the insert out of the package of Sure-Jell, just organized in a slightly more linear manner. 'Cause I like a recipe that's STRAIGHTFORWARD, dontcha know?

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Equipment:

• Large mixing bowl
• Knife 
• Cutting board
• Potato masher OR food processor
• Liquid measuring cup
• Dry measuring cups
• Small saucepan
• Small ladle - like a gravy ladle you would use at the dinner table
• Canning funnel - OPTIONAL
• Containers for the jam - need to be freezer-safe. I used 8-ounce screw-top freezer canning jars made by Ball (pictured above, with the nifty purple lids, and YES! containers are awesome, thankyouverymuch Mrs. Stuff I Love!), I filled all five of my new Ball freezer containers and had a little jam leftover, so I used a small empty jar (from my VAST collection) for the "overage." THAT jar went into the 'fridge for immediate consumption.
• Dampened kitchen towel

Ingredients:

•  One box of 100% Natural Sure-Jell Premium Fruit Pectin
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 pints fresh, ripe strawberries - DON'T use old/poor-quality fruit; your jam will NOT have the fresh, bright flavor you want if you use crappy fruit!
• 4 cups white sugar

Directions:

1. Thoroughly wash and dry the containers you will be using for your jam.
   
2. Wash and remove stems/leaves from strawberries.
3. Mash the strawberries with a potato masher  (in a bowl), OR - easier! - run them through your food processor. Don't liquify them, you want a rough-ish texture. As you mash/process the berries, put them (post-mash) into a 1-cup LIQUID measuring cup. You will need EXACTLY two cups of mashed berries.
4. Once the two cups of mashed berries are in a mixing bowl, pour EXACTLY four cups of white sugar into the bowl. Again, measure carefully!
5. Stir the berry/sugar mixture until it is well-combined. Set a timer for 10 minutes and let the berry/sugar mix sit and rest. You may do the same.
6. After 10 minutes, give the berries another stir and then turn your attention to the pectin. Put 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan and then add the box of pectin.  
7. Heat on high until water/pectin comes to a boil, stirring constantly. The pectin may start out a little lumpy; don't worry, it will incorporate into the water. Boil water/pectin for one minute, stirring constantly.
8. Remove pan from heat, and pour pectin mixture into berry/sugar mixture. STIR, STIR, STIR until the sugar is completely dissolved - about 3 minutes. A few sugar crystals may remain. You now have jam!
9. Ladle jam into containers, leaving 1/2 inch of headroom at the top to allow for expansion during freezing. A canning funnel comes in handy here if you happen to have one. Wipe off any slops on the container with a clean, damp kitchen towel. Put the lids on the containers.
10. Let jam stand at room temperature for 24 hours to "set." Jam can be refrigerated for up to 3 weeks or frozen for up to one year. Thaw in the refrigerator before use. Be sure to share with friends!

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)