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Strawberry Jam

Before: Beautiful berries from Thistledown

After: 11 jars and bellies full of strawberries


The first thing we accomplished on our Summer Fun to-do list was strawberry picking and making jam. The last time I canned strawberries, I went without the pectin and ended up with strawberry sauce. It was good, but it wasn't as good as jam. So this time we did it the right way.

I knew we wouldn't need much sugar, since these strawberries were SO sweet. I searched through many recipes that claimed to be low-sugar but actually contained a lot of sugar, and eventually settled on this one from Lively Table. Easy and delicious.

The only change I made was not running the strawberries through a food mill or blending them. We opted for chunky strawberry jam.


The Recipe:
4 c strawberries, stemmed and washed
1 c water
3 tsp lemon juice
4 1/2 b low sugar pectin
1/3 c sugar
  • Mash strawberries with a potato masher.
  • Place mashed berries, water, lemon juice, and pectin in large pot and bring to boil that cannot be stirred down, stirring constantly to avoid scorching.
  • Add sugar and return to a rolling boil, stirring. Continue boiling for one minute.
  • Place in jars and either freeze or process in water bath (10 minutes for half-pints).


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