This Is My Jam
I remember making strawberry jam with my mom and sister when I was little. We’d drive (not very) far to a local berry farm, and pick them ourselves in the hot sun and muddy rows. When we’d check out, mom would let my sister and I grab a treat or two, like a flavored honey straw, or a little fruity pastry of some sort.
After we got home, we’d wash them all, set them out on towels to dry, and then pop the green tops off into a bowl to walk out later to the compost pile. (Our chickens got to enjoy them instead of the worms!)
Not Mom’s house, but same process!
The kitchen would get super hot, but smell amazing of sweet, sugary strawberries. Mom would top the jars with hot melted wax, that we weren’t allowed to touch, and then the jars would sit downstairs until we needed a refill of strawberry jam.
I tried to make jam last week. Twice. Instead, I made sauce. Which was great on waffles with a little whipped up heavy cream.
Turns out you can just label it strawberry sauce and you’re not out anything! : )
So I asked my mom some questions, like pectin or no? Nope. What was with the wax that sealed the top in, even though it was canned? Didn’t water bath it.
Hmmmm. Sounds easier than what I was trying. And the one jar I didn’t water bath can (I flipped it on its lid to get a vacuum seal) had a good seal… Third time’s the charm?
To improve my odds, I tried to go backwards for an old timey recipe. My grandpa gave me one of grandma’s old cookbooks, so I started there. No pectin, no lemon juice, just strawberries and sugar. Could it really be that simple?
TURNS OUT, YES!
Granted, the recipe was not specific at all (“cook until thick”), but I had read through a handful of recipes and had picked up on tricks, like solid, heavy pan, low and slow boil, boil until you can’t stir down the boil, check for setting on a spoon from the fridge… you know, all that things I would have never known to do from “cook until thick.” But, I bet grandma had learned it, and knew it, and the publisher probably thought she did too! So why include it?
Grandma’s Cookbook Recipe (No cover, so no credit, but its an oldie!)
4 cups strawberries (washed and sliced)
3.5 cups sugar
“Mash, add sugar and mix well. Cook until thick. Poor into sterilized jelly glasses and seal.”
Not much to go on, but IT WORKED! : )
Third jam attempt success!
Preservation methods are clearly up to the maker with this recipe, but so far, inverted cooling has held its seal well! As always, if you attempt your own preservation, follow the recipe; you don’t want anyone getting botulism. Remember to remove the rings and not to stack your jars! (You don’t want to have a false seal—where it looks fine because the flat is being held in place, when in fact, the seal popped loose a while ago and now you have a health risk in your hand!)
