Two flats of gorgeous strawberries (minus the couple of quarts we ate). I searched through all my cookbooks and canning books. Balsamic strawberry jam? Rhubarb strawberry jam? Strawberry jam infused with lavender? In the end I decided to take a friend’s advice and just let the strawberries shine with regular old freezer jam.
It was my first time making freezer jam, although my Mom used to make it when I was a kid. It’s super simple, really. I followed the directions on the Ball website.
Ingredients for a big batch:
- 2 C sugar
- 6 Tbsp instant fruit pectin
- 5 C strawberries, hulled and washed
Directions:
- Stir together sugar and pectin
- Mash strawberries, then dump into the sugar and pectin mixture. Stir for 3 minutes.
- Ladle into freezer jars/containers (leading 1/2 inch headspace) and let sit for 30 minutes. Enjoy immediately or keeps in refrigerator for 3 weeks; in the freezer for a year.
Delicious! Reminds me of when I was a kid.
This post shared at Things I Love Thursday, Frugal Friday, Grocery Cart Challenge, Seasonal Sunday
I think I need yet another large freezer. Just sayin’….
Not much harder to can and the long lasting results are so delicious. Not to mention, Freezer space is too precious in my house to use it on ANYTHING that could have been canned instead. Glad that you have some yummy jam for the rest of the season!
I chose not to can because we are currently out of propane and I can’t can on my flat top stove. Plus we have lots of freezer space.
^ Not to mention that when making freezer jam you retain more of the nutritional value than with canning as you aren’t heating the berries. However, making a lactofermented chutney would be the most nutritious.
What type of container did you use? I’m nervous about using plastic, we’ve all but eliminated it in our kitchen but I’ve never heard about making freezer jam in glass.
I used BPA-free freezer containers, but you can definitely make freezer jam in glass. My mom did it all the time when I was growing up. Just be sure to leave 1/2 inch of headspace.
I love how these go in the freezer so you don’t have to bother with the whole canning process.
How do you prepare the jar? Can you re-use jars such as jars you would normally recycle?
Just need to make sure they’re clean. Yes, recycled jars would work well. Since they’re not being canned you don’t need to worry so much about sterilization, new lids, etc.
Oh my yum! I love a 3 ingredient recipe & easy instructions. I can’t wait to make this one. Thanks for sharing your recipe.