Stawberry Jam

On Sunday morning I ventured down to The Charlotte Berry Farm to pick some strawberries. Once I arrived and checked in, I drove to the fields towards the back of the property. The farm opened at 10:00 and I was there at 10:03 so, the field I was in was fairly empty and very peaceful. It was breezy and really, really warm. I had a slow start only finding smaller, dark red berries to pick. It’s early in the season to be picking so, I was concerned that it might take me all day in the hot sun to find 50 berries that were ready. Then, one of the other pickers directed me to a good spot. She was right! There, nestled underneath the canopy of larger green leaves, I discovered some plump, ripe strawberries. Since they were larger and heavier they were harder to spot. They dipped down below the leaves. I adjusted my picking strategy accordingly. Soon, my box was full and I headed back to the farm to pay. I weighed my box (just over 10lbs!) and was on my way. 

 

I got home and changed into some cooler clothes before getting started on my first batch of jam. I was working with a very simple recipe. The ingredients included a whole pile of strawberries, sugar and lemon juice. Simple. Many of the recipes I found prior called for pectin, which is used as a gelling agent in jam. I used lemon juice instead. Lemon juice adds pectin as well as acidity, and will help the jam gel later in the process. So, I cut up 8 million strawberries and started the stove. The entire process took just under two hours. It was my first time “canning up” anything so, it was fun to create a water bath and finally to hear the jars popping when they were sealing themselves. 

 

I did learn that the jars themselves are supposed to BOILED to eliminate any possible chance of bacteria growing. The recipe I used called for a hot water bath. EEK! I went through about 15 minutes of total panic thinking the entire batch was a bust but, I’ve learned that if the jars stay refrigerated once they're opened it should be just fine. But, this step is crucial to know for next time. 

 

The ten pounds of strawberries created 12 small jars of jam, 2 strawberry shortcake desserts and 3 fruit plates for breakfast. Mmm…delicious.