At the end of June, we went strawberry picking for the first time in quite a few years. Even though it was cloudy, it was fairly warm out and soon we were ready to leave, after we had picked 35lbs of berries!
Jam had been something that I thought would be neat to make, but always seemed a bit intimidating, because of all the boiling of the cans and lids, keeping them sterile, etc.. Another thing I didn't like was all the sugar that was used in the recipes. I always try to make my food low to no sugar or use something like honey or maple syrup instead. So after finding a recipe online with just four ingredients, plus it used honey instead of sugar, I decided to can some jam for the first time.
Since I'd never made jam or done any kind of canning before, I didn't have any of the usual canning supplies (canning jar rack, canning funnel, jar lifter) other than 7 Kerr Mason Jars that my mom had.
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The first thing to do was wash all of the jars and lids. After they've been cleaned, they were placed in a large pot. Since I didn't have a canning rack, which goes in the bottom of the pot to keep the jars from touching the bottom of the pot, I used a few old kitchen towels. I used one on the bottom and two or three around the edges and between the jars. The pot was then filled with water and boiled.
The jar lids (the flat parts, not the rings) went in a small pot of simmering water to sterilize.
While the jars simmered, I made the jam, following the recipe. The strawberries are mashed to the desired chunky-ness, then the pectin was added. There were several different types of pectin at the store, and the recipe didn't require a certian type, so I went with Classic Pectin.
Next the honey and lemon juice was added, then the jam was boiled.
Using two pairs of metal tongs, I removed the jars from the boiling water, filled them with the jam while leaving a little space at the top, and placed on the lid, using tongs to keep them sterile.
Once all the jars were filled, they were placed back into the water and boiled for ten minutes.
Then they were removed from the pot and set on the counter to cool. While they are cooling, the lids will pop once the lids are completely sealed.
By Sereina
