Easy Strawberry Jam

I was recently given a massive amount of strawberries, around 4kg of them.  I decided to make sorbet, icecream and jam with the free strawberries I'd been given.  I'll blog the dessert recipes in later but decided to post my strawberry jam recipe.

There are some really detailed blog posts about making jam that give excellent step-by-step instructions and tips so I won't go into all that in this post.  Check out Hannah's Homebaked Online blog post with answers to preserving questions and also Katie's Jam Masterclass for a Total Beginner blog post. They are both really fab!


Strawberry Jam

1kg of strawberries washed, drained and hulled, then cut into quarters

1.1kg Sugar (You can use jam sugar with extra pectin added or just normal white sugar)

80ml (1/3 cup) Water

125ml (1/2 cup) freshly squeezed lemon juice

Put a saucer in the freezer.  Combine the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and water in a large saucepan.  Stir over a medium heat, without letting it boil, until all the sugar has dissolved. 

Once all the sugar has dissolved, bring the jam to the boil.  Boil it, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes.  Check that the jam has reached it's setting point.  To test the jam for it's setting point, spoon a little jam onto the cold saucer.  After a couple of minutes gently push your finger through the jam and if the surface wrinkles it is ready. If not, return the jam to the boil for 2 - 3 minutes, then re-test it.

Once the jam is ready, pour it into sterilised jars and seal the jars whilst both the jars and jam are hot.

  Homemade jam is an excellent inexpensive gift idea and makes great use of excess fruit. Give it a go!