Growing up my mom made strawberry freezer jam all the time. It was SOOO yummy - on toast, on ice-cream, or just straight out of the jar. I'm not sure why, but I've never attempted to make it myself, but on Monday I got such a good deal on some strawberries that I picked up a bunch to make jam. I made two different batches, each with a different pectin, just to experiment. I didn't want to mess with my mom's recipe, but it just had so much sugar, and I wanted one with a little less sugar. So here's the two recipes I used:
1. Sure Gel pectin recipe (this is the one my mom uses)
2 cups smashed/finely chopped strawberries
4 cups sugar
1 box Sure Gel pectin ($2.49)
3/4 c. water
Mix the 2 cups smashed strawberries with the 4 cups sugar. Add water and pectin in a pan and bring to a boil. Stir constantly for one minute then add to sugar/fruit mixture. Stir till sugar is all dissolved. Ladle into Jars and let sit for 24 hours until thick. Then freeze for up to 1 year or refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.
2. Ball Freezer Jam pectin
4 cups smashed/finely chopped strawberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 package Ball Freezer Jam pectin ($1.79)
Mix the sugar and pectin in a bowl. Add the 4 cups smashed strawberries with sugar/pectin mix and stir until all sugar is dissolved. Ladle into jars. Let sit for 30 minutes or until thick. Then freeze for up to 1 year or refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.
My little purplicious helper eating the strawberries as fast as I could cut them.
After taste-testing both, I have to say I'm a HUGE fan of the Ball Freezer Jam. They taste EXACTLY the same, but the Ball one is easier and obviously (as you can see above) has way more fruit than sugar. Um 4 cups fruit vs 4 cups sugar? Yeah, obvious choice for me. And I like that you don't have to boil the pectin with water then wait 24 hrs until putting in the freezer/fridge. Finally, the Ball pectin is cheaper.
Needless to say, I'm a happy gal with my freezer full of strawberry jam (24 jars in all).
4 comments:
Ummmm...delicious. I SOOO need to try your new recipe. We were spoiled growing up with mom's jam and I absolutely cannot, WILL not do the processed jams from the store.
I will try that next time I do jam- thanks for sharing!
I think you can get low calorie Sure Gel. It calls for less sugar. I'm pretty sure that's what I used last time I made jam. Looks so yummy; I think I'll have to make more this summer!
I have never made anything like this, jam, pickles, you know, food storage-y type stuff but have ALWAYS LOVED strawberry freezer jam. I'm gonna give this a whirl!!! thanks for the recipe!
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