Strawberry Freezer Jam
I'm starting to realize that jam has a
definite place in farm life. Last year, I froze our few excess
berries as-is, and while they were tasty once thawed, they weren't
phenomenal.
Then Mark's mom gave us some homemade strawberry freezer jam.
Wow-whee! We thinned that jam down and mixed it into salad as
dressing, ate it in gobs on pancakes, and even spread it on cakes as
frosting.
So this year, I hunted down the remarkably easy Strawberry Freezer Jam
recipe and used it on my excess strawberries from the less tasty
beds. The recipe is on the inside of the package of Sure-Jell
pectin (less or no sugar type), but I'll reproduce it below because
it's surprisingly hard to find on the internet:
Put 3 cups of sugar and 1 package of pectin (low sugar type) in a pot and stir to mix. Add 1 cup of water and mix again. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil and stir for one minute. Remove from heat.
Stir mashed berries into the hot mixture quickly, then pour into containers. (We used one cup versions of our typical freezer containers, but the stores do sell jelly jars in plastic if you want that look.)
Let the jam stand at room temperature for 24 hours. Then refrigerate for up to three weeks or freeze for up to one year. Thaw in the refrigerator.
I'm a jam connoisseur --- unless a jam is basically fruit in a jar, I
won't eat it. This one passes the test. I'd like to try to
cut back on the sugar some, but am not sure if it would jell....
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Hi, I just found your blog and can't wait to get into reading it. I know I'll enjoy it a lot just from this first post that I've read. I've never made freezer jam before, we always can ours because of limited freezer space. I just did a bunch of stuff with strawberries this past week, including jam with honey instead of sugar. If you're curious, the post is called Strawberry Fields Forever and it's just a couple posts down the page now. You can't miss it, there's pictures of piles of strawberries all over it. Thanks for posting the recipe for the jam, it's interesting to read a freezer recipe as opposed to a canning recipe. They're slightly different. It all looks super yummy!! -Beth
Actually, I used Pomona Pectin, which is a special sugar free pectin that is made of citrus and jells with a bit of calcium. I've found it at the natural foods store and at the Amish bulk foods place by us. A box is more expensive than surejell, but one box makes a few batches. There are instructions in the box, and on the website. If you google pomona pectin, their site is easy to find.
I'm wondering though, if you actually do need the pectin, depending on how tolerant of runny jam you are. I've become fairly tolerant of it myself, because I'm alway reducing the sugar in my recipes. There's something about 70% sugar jam that I just feel guilty about eating. Maybe the strawberries could be cooked down a bit, and then the honey added and it frozen? That may be runnier than regular surejell jam, but cheaper and healthier too.
Laura --- The amount of sugar will differ a bit with different kinds of berries, but I've had no problem getting freezer jam to gel using the recipe above (and the ones for other berries inside the pectin package).
If I opt to strain out seeds this year, I'll use a foley mill (aka food mill) the way I remove skins from applesauce. I'd probably send the berries through the food processor first, though, so I don't lose as much pulp.
Anna, I wanted to let you know that I successfully made 1 batch of strawberry freezer jam this morning. I used organic strawberries from the farm at the school I work at and made my own organic apple juice. I used Ball no sugar added pectin and no additional sugar. It made four 16 oz. Containers to freeze and extra for experimenting with strawberry balsamic vinegrette for my salad this week. I also froze 4 lbs do whole berries to enjoy during the winter in my smoothies. I know this won't be enough but it is a start and I am looking forward to doing the same thing for blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. I'm going to keep track of my freezer produce like you suggested in your book, Weekend Homesteader. I'll adjust for next year and dream about the time I will have my own strawberry patch.
You are an inspiration and I truly am grateful that I found you and we made a connection.