How To Make Wonderful Strawberry Jam At Home
Different brands of strawberry jam are available from grocery stores but making your own strawberry jam is a great idea because it tastes nicer and it is not difficult at all to make your own preserves. You can use other fruits, along with the strawberries, if you want to and you have total control over the ingredients.
You might like to make a mixed berry preserves or a strawberry and raspberry combination. There are many different recipes you can use and some call for limejuice, orange juice, or butter. Other recipes are simpler and just call for water, sugar and the fruit. If you want to have a go at making homemade jam, the following tips should help.
Tips for Making Strawberry Jam
The process of making it begins the day before you cook the actual jam. This means that you need to look at your fruit the day before and discard any overripe or bruised strawberries. Trim any soft spots away from the remaining ones, then hull and halve them all. Mix them with sugar, cover the bowl with some plastic wrap, and refrigerate the strawberry mixture overnight for optimum flavor.
To sterilize the jars, you can wash them in hot, soapy water and rinse them in warm water. Let them drip dry upside down in an oven heated to 275 degrees F, on a rack in the middle. Leave the jars in there while you cook your strawberry jam.
If you want to know whether your jam has reached its setting point, take a tiny bit out of the pan and put it on a cold plate from the freezer. Wait a few seconds then push at it with your finger. If the jam wrinkles, it is ready. If it is still very much liquid, cook it some more then try again.
When it has reached its setting point, turn off the heat and add some butter if the recipe calls for it. Leave the strawberry jam to cool in the pan for about ten minutes, else the strawberries will all sink to the bottom of the jars.
So as not to transfer bacteria into the jars, use a glove or implement to handle them and do not touch the insides. Use a funnel to transfer the mixture into the jelly jars.
Cover each one with a disk made of waxed paper and press it down until it is sealed. Put the lids on the jars while the jam is still warm inside. You can store your jam for up to twelve months in a dark, cool place.
How to Make Strawberry Jam with Jello
Jello is not just for making jello cake recipes and fruity jello desserts. It is also a wonderful addition to strawberry jam and you can make a beautiful strawberry jam recipe using strawberry jello for sweetness, flavor and texture.
You can use your favorite flavor of jello and combine the fruit flavors with the jello flavors. You might like to make strawberry jam with strawberry jello but you can also try blackberry with pineapple jello or chopped green tomato preserves with raspberry jello for a more unusual flavor.
Cookies using jello pudding are delicious and easy to make. They end up light, fluffy, and so good that you will be hard pressed to save any for later. Bring them to bake sales and potlucks for an interesting twist on the traditional cookie recipe. Everyone will want to know how you made them.
