Strawberry Jam without pectin

This summer, there seems to be a glut of strawberries as the local farm shop gave me a huge bag full of ripe strawberries. And summer strawberries in UK  taste the best.

Strawberry: This fruit conjures up the idea of strawberry and cream served at Wimbledon and even schools Sports days.  The colour and scent of the fruit is so tempting that one feels like eating the strawberry as soon as it’s ripe.  Have you tried dipping fresh and ripe strawberries in sugar or chocolate?  It’s addictive.  At one restaurant, we were served fresh strawberries in a tamarind sauce which looked similar to Balsamic vinegar.  I expected it to be sour but it was pleasantly sweet and tasty.

I was looking for an easy to make Strawberry Jam  recipe without pectin  and found this  great one.   It had good reviews so I decided to follow it and I am pleased to say that the jam turned out perfect.  I used one cup less sugar than recommended by the recipe and found the jam to be still sweet so next time may even reduce the sugar further.

I also used the strawberries to make  fresh strawberry juice and some strawberry chutney.

 

Ingredients

• 4 lbs strawberries
• 7 cups sugar
• ½ cup lemon juice

Method:

1. Before starting the making of Strawberry Jam , make sure you have got plenty of sterilized bottles labelled ready to use.

2.  Wash and chop the strawberries. Transfer them to a large saucepan and add in the sugar and lemon juice.  Mash the strawberries with a potato masher.

3.  Heat this mixture on a low heat until all the sugar melts.  Keep stirring and checking until the jam mixture starts to thicken.   You may get some scum whilst the strawberries are cooking.  Use a spoon to remove as much of the sum as you can.

4.  To test the right timing for the jam to be set – keep a saucer in the freezer.  Once the mixture has been boiling for 10 minutes, take the saucer out of the freezer and place a spoonful on the the jam on the saucer. Return the saucer back to the freezer for a minute. Run a finger through the middle of the jam and if the jam doesn’t feel runny, the jam is ready to be bottled.

4.  Once the Strawberry Jam  is ready,  transfer it to the sterilized bottles and seal the bottles if you are not planning to eat the jam soon.

I really liked this Strawberry Jam recipe as it uses no preservatives or pectin. The jam tasted really sweet so I will be reducing the sugar next time I make jam.

What is your favourite jam?

Making jam at home is easy.  You can make it in the IP, MW or the cooker top.   Do try and use less sugar if possible so that you can enjoy it a bit more than the shop bought one which will have more sugar as well as preservatives.

• My recipe for strawberry jam made in the IP is here.
• My recipe for making pineapple jam in the IP is here.
• My recipe for making jam without the IP is here.
• My recipe for making cherry jam without the IP is here.
• My recipe for making blackberry jam in the MW is here.
• My recipe for making papaya, pear and apricot jam in the MW is here.

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