Strawberry Jam

Heather Jones

Making strawberry jam is a tradition in my husband's family, and this is the recipe his grandma uses. It's really easy and readily available! If you don't want to can it, you can make smaller batches and just make what you will use quickly (and can fit in the refrigerator!)

Captions

[00:04]: hello and welcome to cooking the books
[00:06]: with Heather today we're going to be
[00:08]: doing something a little bit different I
[00:10]: am NOT cooking out of a cookbook today I
[00:13]: am going to be making strawberry jam and
[00:16]: we're going to be making it just like my
[00:18]: husband's grandmother does which is
[00:20]: basically using the recipe on the insert
[00:23]: in this package of pectin so I've heard
[00:29]: everything measured out in fact these
[00:32]: strawberries I measured and froze
[00:37]: several years ago actually but they were
[00:39]: lose a really good year for strawberries
[00:43]: we got a really good batch and it makes
[00:45]: delicious Jam so I'm really excited that
[00:48]: we have even though it is strawberry
[00:50]: season and we could have gone and picked
[00:51]: them and used fresh ones we had these in
[00:53]: the freezer to use up and they've been
[00:55]: in there a while so it's time to do that
[00:57]: I've had them in this pan just
[00:60]: defrosting because I forgot to take them
[01:02]: out last night like I kind of explained
[01:03]: too and they're almost completely
[01:07]: defrosted now so what you do is you cut
[01:10]: up your strawberries and then you match
[01:12]: them I think I used my potato masher and
[01:14]: measured them after I mashed them since
[01:18]: it's on the insert I'm just gonna go
[01:20]: ahead and tell you it was five cups of
[01:22]: mashed strawberries and I just put them
[01:28]: in a freezer bag and froze them and so
[01:30]: now what we're going to do is add the
[01:33]: pectin from the package and if you don't
[01:38]: I have done this the wrong way before
[01:41]: and added the sugar in this stage and it
[01:46]: did not work well at all I mean the
[01:49]: first batch I followed the instructions
[01:52]: perfectly and everything went fine
[01:54]: and then the second batch I may need
[01:56]: ever in my life
[01:57]: I added the sugar too early so they say
[02:05]: that you add the pectin and to the
[02:09]: strawberries and then you bring it up to
[02:11]: a full rolling boil on high heat so I've
[02:18]: got my heat on high now and it should
[02:20]: come up pretty quickly here but you're
[02:24]: supposed to stir it the whole time let
[02:26]: me verify I'm doing this correctly the
[02:29]: process is pretty much the same no
[02:31]: matter what kind of jam you do and there
[02:33]: are recipes for triple berry orange
[02:37]: marmalade hot pepper relish blackberry
[02:40]: apricot pretty much whatever kind of jam
[02:43]: that you would like to make you can but
[02:45]: strawberry is big in our house so yes
[02:49]: bringing it to bring it to a full
[02:51]: rolling boil and then you add the sugar
[02:54]: so now while this is coming up to a boil
[02:58]: I was gonna let you know I have already
[02:60]: sterilized some jars and I have the the
[03:04]: pan I use it's not really a canner but
[03:07]: this is what I could find the first time
[03:09]: we went to go make jam it's a pasta pot
[03:13]: and it but it fits six jars six half
[03:17]: pint jars of jam can't do anything
[03:18]: larger but it'll work but I've got the
[03:22]: the water that I used for that still
[03:26]: just stay any kind of warm so it doesn't
[03:29]: take so long to heat up when I go to
[03:31]: process them later to get them good to
[03:33]: close to seal and all of my tools have
[03:40]: been sterilized all of the their lids
[03:44]: have been sterilized even though they
[03:46]: don't actually touch you know any of the
[03:48]: park where the jars are and the other
[03:51]: lids
[03:53]: you can follow instructions online for
[03:55]: that it's really easy the hard part was
[03:59]: having a pot to do this in I think
[04:02]: because it has to cover it by like about
[04:05]: an inch so we are coming up to a boil
[04:10]: now and these tools so I bought a basic
[04:16]: set of canning tools you can probably
[04:18]: get them in like Walmart or Target or
[04:20]: whatever staying with the jars this is
[04:23]: this is very important this is the
[04:25]: funnel that fits right in this is the
[04:28]: other very important one this helps you
[04:30]: lift the jars out of the water so those
[04:33]: are the ones that are absolutely
[04:35]: necessary the rest of them I use for
[04:37]: some things but I could live without
[04:42]: them but those two things are really
[04:44]: necessary so I'm going to say they say
[04:49]: you can add like a half of a tablespoon
[04:51]: or something of butter or margarine to
[04:54]: this to keep it from foaming I never do
[04:58]: that I don't know if great-grandma does
[05:00]: that apparently grandma does do that but
[05:02]: I've I don't so
[05:07]: and you're supposed to skim the foam off
[05:12]: before you can it before you put it in
[05:14]: the jars with a metal spoon I don't know
[05:18]: that didn't go very well the one time I
[05:20]: tried it I might try it we'll see this
[05:23]: is going to go very quickly all right so
[05:26]: we've got a full rolling boil and now we
[05:29]: add all of the sugar I have it pre
[05:32]: measured here because it is a lot of
[05:34]: sugar it is seven cups of sugar for five
[05:40]: cups of strawberries and they're the
[05:45]: ratios are slightly different for the
[05:47]: different fruit fruits here so and now
[05:51]: we're going to stir this up bring it
[05:54]: back to a rolling boil and boil it for
[05:56]: exactly one minute so set a timer here
[06:03]: and as soon as I feel like it is back up
[06:06]: to a rolling boil I am going to and I'm
[06:10]: gonna get all the sugar
[06:16]: mixed in as soon as I think that it's
[06:19]: back up to a rolling boil I'm going to
[06:21]: start my timer and then it will be done
[06:26]: it's this part actually making jam is
[06:31]: very simple especially when you use
[06:33]: pectin some fruits have enough pectin
[06:37]: you don't have to add it you can
[06:38]: basically make it with just fruit and
[06:43]: sugar some of the recipes have a little
[06:46]: bit of lemon juice in them but this one
[06:48]: doesn't raspberries raspberries
[06:49]: strawberries are kind of on the tarp
[06:52]: side so they don't necessarily need it
[06:54]: that some sweeter fruits might need a
[06:55]: little bit of acidity just because it'll
[06:57]: make it taste better and not just a
[06:59]: sickly sweet but yeah it's really really
[07:06]: simple and it goes very quickly the
[07:07]: pectin is just sort of a a crutch and it
[07:12]: helps you you don't have to boil it
[07:14]: forever to bring the pectin out in like
[07:16]: I think in marmalade or something a lot
[07:18]: of times you can make it with just the
[07:21]: if you have the rinds in it most of the
[07:24]: oranges have enough pectin in them I
[07:29]: don't know which fruits to you and which
[07:31]: fruits don't but there are tons of
[07:34]: recipes on the internet and recipes
[07:35]: right here but of course all those
[07:37]: newspapers and so this will be a
[07:41]: relatively set jam some jams are pretty
[07:45]: than this one
[07:48]: this won't be a I do everything right it
[07:52]: will it will set pretty firm and it
[07:59]: makes eight eight ounce jars of jam
[08:04]: which is what these little half pint
[08:06]: jars are and I have one that is larger I
[08:15]: would say that it's just because
[08:18]: whatever is left over is going to go in
[08:19]: that and that's going to go in the
[08:20]: fridge and that's what we're going to
[08:22]: eat first which is true but also it's
[08:26]: because it's the only other jar I could
[08:28]: find of a small size so I have quart
[08:33]: jars which to process I have to use a
[08:37]: really huge canner I think we're at a
[08:42]: rolling boil now it doesn't go away so
[08:46]: I'm gonna hit my timer but sometimes it
[08:51]: makes a little bit more than I mean it
[08:56]: just depends exactly how much you
[08:58]: measure whatever and you don't want to
[09:02]: overfill your jars because then they
[09:08]: won't they won't seal correctly they
[09:11]: need a little bit of air space I've got
[09:16]: a little bit of a jam pop on me because
[09:20]: this is you can see this is why I'm
[09:22]: doing this in such a large pan because
[09:26]: it when it boils it grows a little bit
[09:32]: my eyes pretty tired but it does say to
[09:35]: do this at high heat alright that's mine
[09:39]: and just take it off of the heat and now
[09:43]: the jam is really done and all I have to
[09:48]: do is ladle it into my jars I'm gonna
[09:50]: let that let that burn our cool down a
[09:59]: little bit before I move it back over
[10:00]: there there's a you see that was really
[10:05]: quick really easy I'm gonna see how it
[10:09]: goes if I try to skim it now we get a
[10:11]: large metal spoon so I think that's
[10:15]: probably cool enough now so I can bring
[10:17]: back the people will I'm gonna try to
[10:19]: skim this a little bit and now you do
[10:25]: want to try to keep this warm until you
[10:32]: put it in your jars so you don't want it
[10:37]: to set up before it gets in the jars I'm
[10:42]: gonna call that good i skim throw it off
[10:45]: and now
[10:50]: not illegal and I'm gonna try not to
[10:55]: spill too much of this but I have my I
[10:59]: have a kitchen towel down underneath the
[11:02]: jars to catch anything I spill or almost
[11:07]: anything I spill and you want to fill
[11:08]: these up leaving at least I think a half
[11:10]: inch of head space usually sort of up to
[11:13]: to the rim and I can see that but sort
[11:17]: of up to this rim on the glass is good
[11:19]: but you don't want to go too much higher
[11:20]: than that
[11:31]: and now I'm just gonna fill the jars and
[11:33]: probably not talk very much so
[11:35]: alright at this point I'm fairly certain
[11:38]: that I'm gonna have more than will fit
[11:40]: into all of my jars so that'll be fun
[11:44]: we're gonna see if it'll all fit in here
[11:48]: but I don't think so we have found a few
[11:51]: more jars which are pretty clean fit
[11:54]: inside and not always clean before they
[11:56]: live in a static cabinet are always
[11:57]: things where they go in there so I'm
[11:58]: just going to bring this up to a boil
[12:02]: and process these like I did those while
[12:07]: we do that I'm gonna go ahead and put
[12:09]: the lids on the jars that we've already
[12:13]: gotten ready and need to process but
[12:17]: before you actually put the seal the lid
[12:22]: on it you want to kind of make sure that
[12:24]: your threads and your top don't have any
[12:28]: jam on them because otherwise it may not
[12:32]: seal properly
[12:39]: that response so far I think I'm doing
[12:43]: pretty good I got some on the outside of
[12:45]: at least one of the jars but not so much
[12:54]: so now I'm just going to put these on
[12:57]: top
[13:05]: and then the lids just sort of get the
[13:09]: bands get sort of finger tightening you
[13:13]: don't want to tighten them really really
[13:15]: tight because you do want the water at
[13:19]: the Empire the air comes out of I'm
[13:22]: sorry
[13:25]: make sure I sterilized those properly
[13:29]: the air comes out from under the lid and
[13:32]: creates a vacuum and there's wax on the
[13:35]: underside here that melts in the hot
[13:38]: water and seals it so it kind of creates
[13:41]: a vacuum and and melts the wax and
[13:45]: everything's good which is why you don't
[13:48]: reuse the the tops reuse the bands or
[13:54]: not the part with the wax on it because
[13:56]: we've already used up that wax seal I
[14:01]: keep them and if I just put something in
[14:03]: but I'm not sealing
[14:07]: vinaigrette or something if I make it in
[14:10]: a jar like this I keep them so I have
[14:11]: them so we have a focus but when you're
[14:14]: actually processing them you're actually
[14:17]: going to use it as a jelly jar you need
[14:22]: to not reuse that so these two this one
[14:30]: I can't really the large one I can't
[14:32]: really I don't have the pot to process
[14:38]: it in right now so and our family will
[14:40]: go through it relatively quickly and
[14:42]: this one will go in the refrigerator
[14:46]: without being processed we'll use those
[14:49]: up and now bring this back up to a boil
[14:56]: it shouldn't take long because it's very
[14:59]: hot and I'm going to process I think you
[15:03]: can do five or six in here see very hot
[15:10]: at a time but I go ahead and put in a
[15:13]: couple you see where my water comes
[15:21]: so real Keener's have like a rack that
[15:24]: you put these on and then they go in all
[15:29]: on the rack blower that in this is what
[15:33]: I got and it works okay so you can see
[15:38]: some of the air coming out of the of the
[15:41]: jars and so we have to process these for
[15:46]: 10 minutes Jam is 10 minutes jelly is 5
[15:50]: Jam the difference between Jo and jelly
[15:52]: jelly is made with just juice
[15:54]: whereas Jam is made with the whole fruit
[15:58]: so it has pieces of strawberry in here
[15:60]: instead of just like strawberry juice so
[16:04]: yeah we're gonna bring it up to a boil
[16:06]: let it boil for 10 minutes take it out
[16:07]: and the big part is you'll start hearing
[16:11]: them pop and in a couple hours you can
[16:14]: when they cool a little bit you press on
[16:16]: the lid and if they make a popping sound
[16:19]: that's bad because that means there's
[16:22]: not a vacuum this one's not processed
[16:24]: yet so that's expected but once once
[16:26]: they've come out processing and vacuum
[16:28]: sealed themselves you should not be able
[16:31]: to push the middle and hear that pop
[16:33]: that's the big thing
[16:35]: so yeah I'm probably probably not gonna
[16:38]: film this whole thing for like 10
[16:39]: minutes but we'll come back and let you
[16:47]: know how this turned out lets you see
[16:51]: the but viscosity the texture of it yeah
[16:58]: and show you our game
[17:01]: [Music]
[17:10]: on this episode of cooking the books
[17:13]: with Heather you watch you make
[17:14]: something a little bit different not
[17:16]: from a cookbook but you watch me make
[17:18]: strawberry jam and I wanted to show you
[17:21]: guys that you so it did it set up very
[17:24]: nicely it doesn't if you guys can see
[17:26]: but there's you can see the headspace
[17:28]: it's very it's it's jelly it's jam you
[17:32]: know it's not liquid at all and my
[17:36]: husband's already had some and the even
[17:39]: the ones that we put in refrigerator set
[17:40]: up and and kind of sealed up you see
[17:44]: that it is just the texture it should be
[17:48]: nice and jelly like so that was great
[17:53]: because the last time I made it maybe
[17:56]: the time before that anyway one time I
[17:57]: made it did not turn out so well but at
[18:01]: that point I didn't follow the direction
[18:02]: so follow directions and it works and
[18:05]: it's not that hard
[18:07]: canning it is kind of the worst you can
[18:09]: make smaller batches with or without
[18:11]: pectin you can buy even liquid pectin so
[18:16]: if you don't want to can it you can make
[18:20]: a smaller batch with the liquid pectin
[18:22]: because unlike the powder the powder is
[18:24]: kind of hard to measure out and get a
[18:27]: smaller batch but I think the liquid
[18:28]: might be easier to do a small batch and
[18:31]: maybe just make a quart that you can put
[18:34]: in a jar in your refrigerator and use up
[18:36]: and rather than having these in the
[18:41]: cabinet but yeah husband already tried
[18:45]: it
[18:45]: I haven't tried it myself yet but he
[18:47]: says it's perfect delicious exactly like
[18:49]: it's supposed to be and just like
[18:51]: grandma makes so in fact I don't think
[18:55]: he said that
[18:59]: but I think it is anyway if you enjoyed
[19:02]: this give me a thumbs up and come back
[19:05]: next week and watch me make something
[19:07]: else
[19:09]: [Music]