Sunday, December 12, 2010

Strawberry Jam

This time we went during November it was the strawberry season here in Australia. So we decided to visit the strawberry farm and fetch some strawberries home. We had such a fun harvesting the strawberries that we didn't realise and collected more than what is required. After we came home the strawberries were looking at us sadly, so I decided to give out a try to make jam out of those fresh strawberries.

Without boring further let me take you through the recipe.


Ingredients

4 Cups strawberries, washed, hulled, halved
4 cups sugar
Juice from ½ a lemon (about 1 Tbsp.)

Method

·    Wash and sterilise jars and lids that you want to store in the jam.
·    Place strawberries on stove in low heat in a big saucepan, add sugar, and stir through sugar until sugar is dissolved.
·    Leave for 1-2 hours while sugar softens the fruit. Stir occasionally to avoid jam sticking to the pan.
·    When it starts boiling, add the lemon juice then cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until fruit is very soft.
·    After adding the lemon juice, you would see some dirt and foam on the jam. Discard them and keep stirring.
·    Now smash the strawberries and cook the mixture until fruit is mostly dissolved and jam coats the back of a spoon. Divide the jam between the jars and allow it to cool before sealing the bottles with lids.
Notes:
To check the jam consistency, place a small plate or bowl in the fridge or freezer and chill. Take a spoonful of the cooking jam (step 6 above) and dollop onto the chilled plate. Let it cool for about 2-3 minutes. Now shake the bowl to see, if jam moves down slowly then it has reached the jelly consistency, so just keep boiling the jam further by stirring continuously for another 3 minutes in medium heat.
Strawberries are rich in vitamin C. If jams are stored in non-sterilized containers then it must be consumed within one month. It is always better to use glass bottles to store the jam. So enjoy your home made jam and dont forget to update me with your comments and experience in cooking.

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