So for the last few years I have wanted to make strawberry jam. My two good friends Chris and Amy always make such yummy yummy strawberry jam that I wanted some for myself. It seems like the strawberry season slips by me and I never do it. This year I swore I was going to do it. Then I could never really find a good price on strawberries so I kept putting it off and putting it off. Then one day while I was at my Mom's her neighbor came by and asked if she wanted any of her strawberries off her plants. So lo and behold I got strawberries. That means I was really committed. I was scared. (of what I'm not sure---I guess failure). Any way I did it today...my first attempt at strawberry freezer jam.
This is the pectin I used...thanks to my good friend Amy! Thanks Amy!
It was an instant pectin (I didn't even know there was such a thing!!!). You didn't have to cook the fruit at all. Just mix a pkg of the pectin and 1 & 1/2 C. sugar and 4 C. of crushed strawberries. Stir for 3 minutes. Then place in clean containers. Freeze for up to 1 year. (These are just the instructions from the pkg...I didn't do anything special). It was really quite easy. It did take a few hours. I had two big popcorn bowls full and it made a little over 12 C. of crushed strawberries. So I needed 3 pkgs of pectin and 4 & 1/2 C. sugar. Then I got 9 containers worth. The pkg says that each pkg makes 5 pints.
I'll have to let you know how it tastes! I am way excited and really proud of myself!
Do any of you have any canning or jam experiences or advice for the rest of us?!?!?! For example I am wondering if you can put the freezer jam in other containers? Such as cottage cheese containers?
It tasted great...not as sweet at store-bought. It was runnier, fruitier and more tart/zippy/zangy than store bought! Delish!
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