Strawberry jam

Now having spent most of last week posting bread recipes this week I will post some recipes for thing you can put on the bread. Now this is mainly because I have been out picking my own strawberry’s and that gave me this idea. Now jam making is like brad making but you just have to follow the same rules and you will make great jam.

For this jam you will need.

1kg /2lb 3oz strawberries
1kg/2lb 3oz granulated sugar or caster sugar
½ lemon, juice only

Now if you want to do this properly the main thing to remember is that you will need a big thick bottomed pan. Boiling jam bubbles up to start with and you want to have plenty of space in the pan to accommodate this. Now you can go out and get a proper jam pan or if you are like me go to a car boot sale and you will no doubt find someone selling an old pan or something that you can use.

Now to do this properly, start by going over your strawberries, reject any that are overripe, have soft spots or are bruised. If you can you can, cut the bad bits of if the rest for the berries is good. Then just cut all the berries in half and place in a bowl. Now add half the sugar and then toss the fruits in the sugar. Now cover the bowl and let it sit in the fridge for an hour or two, best overnight if you have time.

Now the actual making of the jam is easy but it is the preparation that is most crucial. First make sure that you have sterilised your jars. Fist wash them in warm soapy water then let them drip dry. Once dry place them on a try in an oven set at 140c/ 275f for about 20 to 30 minutes. This will kill any thing that may or may not be in or on the jar. Then place about two or three saucers in the freezer, this sound mad but it will make sense latter.

Now take your strawberry’s and sugar mix and add that to your pan, make sure that you get every last drop of juice and sugar out of the bowl in to the pan. Now add on top of this the rest of the sugar and the juice from one lemon.

Place the pan on a gently heat to start with slowly melting all the sugar, so it dissolves completely; keep stirring gently all the time. Once your sugar has melted then you can turn up the heat. Bring the pan to the boil, as this happens it will rise up the sides of the pan so make sure once again that you have a pan that is large enough to cope.

Now you have to keep it all boiling until the jam reaches it setting point, now this could take up to thirty minutes to an hour all depending.  Now to test for the setting point you turn down the heat on the jam and take a small amount and put it on one of the saucer from the freezer. This will help the very hot jam cool very quickly.  Now once it has cooled, after one or two seconds of being on the saucer , you have to push it from one side with your finger very gently. What you are looking for is that the very surface of the jam should wrinkle as you push it. If you get no wrinkles but it is just a syrupy liquid then you will need to cook it a little longer.

Once you have reached the setting point take the jam off the heat and then skim off any of the white scum that has formed on the top, in fact you can take this of a little at a time as it cooks if you like but just make sure that you are not taking away the jam as well.

Now let the jam just sit on the side for about 10 minutes so it has time to thicken a little. This will help in disrupting the strawberries throughout the jam.  Now carefully ladle the jam in to the jars cover the top with a waxed paper disc, press it down over the jam. Then cover with a lid or a plastic top with an elastic band.

And that is it you have made your own jam, it will keep for about a year, if it lasts that long, and it will be the best jam you have ever tasted as homemade is better than any other ever. If you do not believe me make some, it is the only way to find out.