Strawberry Jam

Well this year instead of making just strawberry rhubarb jam as I usually do since it is the house favourite, I decided to reintroduce plain strawberry jam to our selection. I've made this before, but I admit I got in a jam funk and stopped making as many different varities and flavours as I used to. No more! I'm back into experimenting and jamming to my hearts content.



Ingredients
8 C strawberries, hulled
4 C granulated sugar
1/4 C lemon juice, freshly squeezed please

Directions
1. Place canning jars in a large pot of water, with your canning funnel, screw lids, and whatever utensil you’re going to use to spoon jam into the jars. Boil for 15 minutes to sterilize. Take them off the heat and add your lid inserts to the pot to warm.

2. In a large bowl, lightly crush the strawberries about 1 cup at a time with a potato masher. Measure out the crushed fruit to equal 4 cups.

3. In a large pot, mix together the crushed berries, sugar, and lemon juice stirring to combine together over low heat. Once the sugar has completely dissolved, increase the heat to high and bring to a boil.



4. Once it has reached a boil, continue to boil hard for 8 minutes stirring continuously. Test for set (directions at bottom on page), if set has been reached remove jam from the heat and let rest for 5 minutes still stirring often. Skim off the foam!

5. Fill your jam jars, leaving a ¼-inch headspace. Wipe the rims with a paper towel dampened with white vinegar. Place on the snap lid insert and screw on the band until fingertip tight.

6. Process in a boiling water canner (or a large pot of boiling water making sure the jars are covered completely by water) for 5 minutes. Turn off and let set for another 5 minutes. Then remove and let cool completely for 24 hours.

To Test for Set Point: Place two small plates in your freezer to chill. Once 8 minutes has passed or you think your jam has started to set, try this to make sure. Place ½ tsp of your jam on a chilled plate and let cool. Tilt the plate, the surface of the jam should wrinkle when you push it with a fork. If your jam is still too liquidy back to the heat and continue cooking.