Jammin'

Ok, so I had a bunch of leftover Albion strawberries, and after I gave away as much as I could to my friends, I decided to make my first attempt at freezer jam. The recipe on skagitsun.com calls for 2 cups of crushed berries, 4 cups of sugar, and 1 package of pectin (specifically for no bake freezer jam). The picture below is of much, much more than 2 cups of berries. The original amount of berries is probably a little less than a half flat (forgot to capture pre-crushed berries).

While crushing, I had to decide how chunky I wanted the jam. I stopped when there were big chunks of berries, so that the jam eater can get a sense of the original fruit. Albions are very crisp and firm, so crushing took a strong arm and some effort. Here is a close-up shot of the crushed berries.

 

 After measuring out two cups of strawberries into a mixing bowl, I added organic cane sugar. When adding the sugar, I was surprised at how MUCH the recipe called for.

 A picture that shows how much the sugar dominates the berries.

 After mixing, leave the sugar to dissolve into the crushed berries for at least 20 minutes. I suggest continually trying the mixture to see when the granulated sugar has perfectly dissolved. I think I should have left mine for maybe five more minutes since there was, at first, a slight layer of sugar at the bottom of the containers. However, I think that layer has dissolved since I let the jam set.

 I forgot to take a picture of the pectin process. You are to dissolve one package into boiling water, however, the recipe on skagitsun.com does not specify how much water to boil. After some quick research on the interweb (i.e., Google), I found on pickyourown.org that it is common to boil one cup of water. This amount worked perfectly. As you pour the pectin-water into the berry mixture, stir continually for two minutes. When ready, pour into containers.

Let the containers sit for 24 hours, and then either put in the fridge or freezer. In the fridge, the jam should last for about three weeks. In the freezer, the jam can last for a year. Before eating, I did try to stir the jam so that the berry chunks (which had risen to the top) are mixed throughout. Also, there was that slight layer of sugar granules that I wanted to dissolve as much as possible. Overall, I was satisfied with how the jam set. It was not too runny or thick, and I haven't run into any grainy-sugar bits. Below is the final product and a piece of toast with butter and jam! As I bit into the toast, I thought of my grandma, which is almost always a sign of success when cooking. I am very happy with the yummy results and will be heading to the toaster (again) soon. Thanks for reading, and please send any great berry recipes you have my way at heather@skagitsun.com