Is there any lovelier sound than the "Ping! Ping!" of jars sealing after their hot water bath? I think not. This is my first attempt at canning jam, since the boys only just decided they LIKE jam. Some of the strawberries we picked over the weekend skipped the freezer and turned themselves into jam.I made 6 pints plus a little more, with 13 cups of strawberries, crushed with the potato masher, 5 cups of sugar (instead of 8, because I ran out, oops!) and three boxes of low-sugar pectin (instead of two, since they were all passed their expiration date). It doesn't go bad, though, I don't think, and I put in the third box since maybe the potency was affected, and since I didn't have nearly enough sugar for the recipe. I figured either way it would be okay- if it was syrupy we could always eat it with ice cream, or pancakes, if it was too firm it could be good filling for strawberry oatmeal bars or something. I processed them for 5 minutes, and everything sealed up fine. And the extra little jar I made for a tester turned out perfectly, amazingly. Not too sweet- it tastes just like strawberries, not sugar. The boys ate it for lunch. With spoons. Really.
2 comments:
Your jam looks great - cute jars!
Whatever the consistency turns out like, it always tastes good dolloped into porridge on a cold morning :o)
Exactly right! And actually, it came out just lovely, not too thick or thin, and just sweet enough. I guess I'd recommend making sure you have all the ingredients before you start, but it worked out okay this time, being disorganized and impulsive!
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