Learning how to make strawberry jam is one of the most rewarding life skills on the planet. Why? Homemade strawberry jam is nectar of the gods. Better than chocolate and almost as divine as my mother-in-law’s cherry cheesecake.
It’s our second year making jam. And as far as we’re concerned, it will continue to be a summer ritual until we’re too feeble to stir.
This year we headed out to a little farm in Amherstburg, Ontario that sells pick-your-own pesticide-free strawberries. We spent almost two hours there, hunched over the strawberry patch on a sweaty, overcast afternoon. The berries were little (not like the ‘frankenberries’ you buy in the supermarket that are almost as big as pears), but they were sweet and loaded with flavor.
The night after berry picking, we hulled the berries. My husband and I worked together and it took about an hour to clean them and stem them.
The next morning we set up a canning station in the kitchen.
Here is our step-by-step tutorial:
How to Make Stawberry Jam (Sans Pectin) Or Hot Damn, This is Good Jam
A Word of Caution: If you let your friends and family sample this stuff, be prepared to lock your cupboards. It’s that good. And if you are giving this to your wedding guests as wedding favors, don’t be offended if your guests list this as the highlight of your wedding.
Update: 4/18/10 – How do you know if your jam is ready to pour into jars? I had a few readers ask me this question. Simply keep a metal spoon in a glass of ice water. Take about a half of a spoonful of jam onto the cold spoon and let it cool to room temperature. If you like the consistency once it has reached this temperature then it’s ready to put into jars. If not, keep cookin!
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Ingredients (Makes approximately 10 250 ml jars depending how long you boil the strawberries.)
13 cups of fresh strawberries (about 4.5 lbs)
6 cups of sugar
½ cup of lemon juice (we used organic lemons.)
It took us five hours to make 29 250 ml jars, but we did it in three batches. (Not including cleaning and hulling the berries.) It would have taken less time if we would have had a bigger pot for larger batches.
This recipe is a variation of the Classic Strawberry Jam Recipe from Foodtv.ca.
Equipment
Canning Specific Items
(Links to Amazon Affiliates.You can usually find these items at local grocery/hardware stores too)
Bernardin Mason Jars – 250 mL
or Ball Canning Jar 8 Oz.
Canning Jar Lifter
Wide-Mouth Funnel
or a Home Canning Kit
Other Items
Pots
Regular Tongs for handling lids.
Ladle for distributing jam into jars.
Place required number of canning jars into a large pot. If you are making wedding favors you’ll probably want to use the 125 ml jars or the 250 ml jars if you are feeling especially generous. Cover jars with water and bring to a low, rolling boil. Keep jars hot until ready to use.
Heat lids in hot water (180°F/82°C). Keep lids hot until ready to use. Bernardin says to set the screw lids aside, but I also heated them just to be safe. Place ladle, canning tongs and funnel into hot water as well to sterilize. (I used a seperate pot for these.)
Wash and hull berries. (We used a knife to hull them. Last year I used my hands and my thumb was sore and stained red for days:)
Place berries into a large pot and mash berries with a potato masher, while bringing them to a simmer over medium-low heat. How much you mash them is up to you. Some people like big chunks of fruit in their jam, and some do not. (I fall into the latter category.) BTW, that’s my hubby’s hand, not mine:)
Add sugar and lemon juice. I used an old fashioned hand juicer and squeezed real lemons (organic) for the juice. Make sure to pour the juice through a strainer if using real lemon juice.
Stir and bring to a boil for a approximately 30 mins. Skim the foam as you are boiling. The foam tends to build up quickly when it first starts to boil again after adding the sugar. You have to be watching it closely. Periodically, test the thickness of the jam by spooning it onto a plate. If it runs like syrup, it’s not ready. (I spooned it on a plate and let it cool for about a minute, giving it time to set.) Make sure you stir constantly and don’t let it overthicken. Remove from heat. (Skim the remaining foam before you remove from heat.)
Remove jars from boiling water with canning tongs.
Place canning funnel into sterilized jar. Ladle jam into hot jar leaving proper ‘head space’, which is the space at the top of the jar between the underside of the lid and the top of the jam. For jam it’s ¼ inch. Overfilling and underfilling can result in a jar that does not seal properly.
Wipe jar removing any stickiness with paper towel.
Using tongs, place lids on jars.
Using tongs, set screw bands on jars. Evenly and firmly screw them on until resistance is met and they are fingertip tight.
Place sealed jars into boiling water for 15 minutes. Be sure water covers jars by at least 1 inch (2.5 cm); add boiling water if required.
Remove from water and listen for the ‘pop’ of the jar lids. (I swear, that ‘pop’ is music to my ears!) This means they are sealed. As one canner put it, the popping sound signifies the jam ‘sealing itself off to the outside world.’ Sometimes it can take several minutes for the popping sound. Check jar seals by pressing on centre of each lid. If the lid center is pulled down and does not move its got a good seal. If you’ve waited a few hours and the seal hasn’t popped, place jar in refrigerator.
Voila! You did it. You made jam! Now you can devour the fruits of your labour. But don’t eat it all in one sitting – especially if you’ve made the jam for your wedding guests!
To wrap, simple cut out a round piece of fabric with pinking shears. Make sure the piece is big enough to cover the sides. Use an elastic band to hold the fabric in place, and wrap a piece of ribbon to tie around the jar. I used free printable labels for my jars which I found on IDIY. I wrote Strawberry Jam by hand with a permanent felt tip marker.
This looks a-mazing! Plus, I am so excited to find a recipe that doesn’t use commercial pectin and still looks relatively simple to do! If I wanted to use a different kind of fruit (I’m thinking rasberries, and maybe peaches when they come in season), would I alter the recipe at all?
Hi Katie,
I have an EXCELLENT raspberry jam recipe. We used it last year, and plan to use it again this year. Once again, no pectin.
Use the instructions above for canning and follow this recipe. You won’t be disappointed! http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/print?id=35192
Christina
Gorgeous post. If it stops raining I’m making my batch tomorrow! Can’t wait.
Great idea, I like that this can be changed depending on the time of year of your wedding and what fruits are in season!
This is going to be the summer that I finally make jam! Thanks so much for this, I’ll be linking.
Yum! I linked to this in my roundup.
I just have to say that this looks great. My aunt makes jam all the time but I’ve never tried it before. Thanks so much! This really makes it look like something that I can actually do. I will definitely be making jam this summer. Wish me luck!
I used this recipe to make jam for the first time. I was so proud of myself. It turned out great! How long can the jam be stored?
Can you do this process in the oven for 15 mins or does it have to be done in a water bath. I do all my pickles in the oven and they turn great nice and crispy not soft?
I think its best to use it up within a year.
Jam smells delicious but it doesn’t seem like it is setting. Any suggestions???
If you simmered it for the allotted time, once it cools it should set just fine.
Would love to know how it turns out!
Christina
I just did up a batch. I love the color and taste. I followed your recipe to the letter. 30 minutes boiling to be sure. I did the periodic tests and the last one was thick but slightly moving. I did’t want to overcook, so I quit at 32 minutes. So, now it’s an hour later and it hasn’t setup like I would like. Will it over a day or so? Or do i need to redo.
Hi Elaine,
You are the second one who had this problem. I’m wondering if it depends on the type of berries. The berries I used were from an organic farm and they were quite small… not like the large ones found in grocery stores. I have no idea if this affects how long to cook them.
If you’ve waited a while and it’s still not setting properly, you should probably put them back in the pot and cook a while longer. I’m going to make a note of this in the post.
Please let me know how it turns out!
Thanks for the reply. My berries were very small. Took me hours to prepare. I may just try another batch, but unfortunately all I could find this time of season in Oregon are the larger ones from California. I’ll let you know how this one turns out.
Hi again:
I tried it again. Same problem. But I was thinking as I was approaching 30 minutes and afraid I would scorch my beautiful pot of jam. Maybe it’s my ceramic cooktop. Oversized pots sometimes don’t get even consistent heat. It drives me crazy and I hope to resolve this coming year. But even though my jam isn’t as set as I would like, it tastes and looks great. So, thank you for your terrific recipe!
Interesting post, I love the idea of not using preservatives when the strawberries have their own!
I have a question about the popping section…when I buy jam in the store, I know it’s still sealed because the lid is sucked down, and it pops when I open it…however, in your post above you indicate that it should pop up indicating that it’s sealed and that if it doesn’t pop up, we should refridgerate right away to prevent it from going bad…that sounds counter intuitive?
Actually David, I didn’t use the term “pop up” just “pop”. Sorry for the confusion. The pop actually happens when the lid sucks down as opposed to the traditional popping up when opening a new jar.
Here’s the text: “Remove from water and listen for the ‘pop’ of the jar lids. (I swear, that ‘pop’ is music to my ears!) This means they are sealed. As one canner put it, the popping sound signifies the jam ’sealing itself off to the outside world.’ Sometimes it can take several minutes for the popping sound. Check jar seals by pressing on centre of each lid. If the lid center is pulled down and does not move its got a good seal. If you’ve waited a few hours and the seal hasn’t popped, place jar in refrigerator.”
good point, thank you, I read into the sentence a little too much, good clarification for others I hope
Thanks so much for posting your recipe and instructions! This was my very first attempt at making jam and it turned out FABULOUS! Some of our fun can be seen here: http://apt345.blogspot.com/2010/05/jammin.html
This recipe looks great and I’m going to try it. Quick question… I’m at sea level and usually only process my jars for 5 minutes. Would 15 minutes overcook it for me? Or is the extended time required due to the lack of added pectin?
Thanks!
HI Stephanie,
I’m really not sure about the sea level thing.
Just wanted to say that I tried this recipe today and it is delish!! Cooked for just a little over 30 minutes and made around 6.5 12 oz. jars. Mine has set up perfectly and I did not use organic berries. Thanks for a great recipe
So glad the jam turned out for you Natalie!
This recipe looks amazing! My wedding is late september, do you think it’s too early to start making this jam? (strawberries are cheaper right now! lol)
JUST finished making this jam and am listening to the “popping” of the jars as I type this. Jam looks and smells great – looks like it may not be setting as well as I hoped – but I haven’t given up hope yet.
Chose this recipe for its simplicity and for the lovely look of your post!! Love the pics
I have a quick question regarding the jars. Will I have to dry them off before adding the jam or is it a drip-dry system? I can’t wait to try this out this coming Saturday. Thank you so much for the tutorial
D
What a great recipe! The pictures and step-by-step instruction was extremely useful. Thank you for taking the time to do this. My sons and I made 14 250ml jars which should last a while.
Great to hear Sonia! Thanks for writing!
Hi! I was thinking of doing a bunch of homemade presents for this years Christmas, and this looks Perfect! I was thinking this should be the staple gift I give to my grandma, aunts, mom. I love giving personal things and this recipe sounds delectable. Thank you so much for sharing!
… Yes im a christmas fanatic, thinking about it all year.
You’re welcome Holy. And yes, they make great Christmas gifts!
CARLA:
when you take the jar out of the boiling water, you should let it sit on a CLEAN towel for a few minutes, but you def want the jar to still be hot, so there is less chance of the jar breaking. although if you’re using canning jars thats less likely anyways. classico spaghetti jars seem sturdy enough and use the bell/kerr lids.
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BEAUTIFUL POST! i saw a recipe similar but smaller batch on recipes.com but this one was so beautifully done that I will just shoot for the bigger batch. ( the recipe I used before only made enough jam for 2 jars) and since everyone of my friends always wants some, this just wont do lol.
your pictures are gorgeous. thanks so much for sharing. Any other recipes you have to share? blueberry? any other jam? marmalade? anything??? im getting canning equipment and would love to make other things. I saw a recipe once for pepper jelly(?)
I’m glad to see your using regular pots to, so I don’t have to go out and buy special canning posts. I’m making some tonight but I’m using a non sugar pectin, I’m making it for a friend who loves strawberry jam but is diabetic.
You make it look so simple, and I’m ready to try it. In the past my husband made bitter orange marmalade and he had to cook it a long time but it came out delicious.
My question regarding strawberries…mine are frozen. How will that affect the cooking time? These strawberries are part ours and part store bought.
Thank you
I need your help, I am going to get married on July 30th this summer. I wanted to know if anybody got any strawberry jam or jelly receipe for 120 jars (in small size 125 ml ). We already bought some 125ml jars for wedding favors for our guests. Anybody got strawberry jam receipe for me to make that for those tiny cute jars? Oh I was reading your post about hearing the pop when you put jars to seal the lids… how do u know it is ready? Just informed you that I am deaf and how do I know if it is ready to be sealed completely?
I dont mind any kinds of strawberry jam with pectin or not… whatever you got? When is good time to make the jam? one month before wedding or what?
Please let me know many thanks Margaret from Canada
Margaret,
The Bernardin website has a canning step-by-step. Their procedure calls for checking to make sure the lid is pulled down and does not move after having sat for 24 hours. They also suggest removing the screw band and lifting the jar by the lid seal to confirm the seal has been made. Here is a link to the page. http://www.bernardin.ca/pages/high_acid_foods_step_8_/71.php. The full Bernardin step-by-step is here: http://www.bernardin.ca/pages/why_home_canning_/34.php
Christina
Hi Christina,
I found your post as I was searching for make your own jam favors for my wedding this July. My bridesmaids and I will be putting this together for approx 150 guests. Above you said the jam would stay good for a year. Does that mean I could go ahead and can it a few months before my wedding so that they are ready to go come the week of? If so, where should I store them?
Thanks!
Oh! One more question. Can you use frozen strawberries for this recipe? Our picking seasn is not until late May and I was hoping to get the job done before then? Thanks!
Hi Jenna,
I wouldn’t make the jam any longer than six months prior to the wedding. The longer it sits, the darker the jam gets. It still tastes great, but like I said the colour changes a bit.
Just store in your pantry or cupboard.
I haven’t used frozen berries, but I’m sure they would be fine.. just thaw in the fridge first. Hope this helps.
Christina, thanks for the timely feedback! It was very helpful. Last question (I promise!). You mentioned storing the jam in a cupboard/pantry until the wedding. Does that mean I do not have to refrigerate the jam after it is made?
Thanks!
No, you don’t have to put it in the fridge.
We made our first ever batch of jam, and the recipe was great. Only one word of caution. Our berries were hand picked here in Plant City, Florida and they are some nice size berries. The recipe calls for 13 cups, well, we did not take into consideration the small size of the berries shown, and we have some really sweet jam!!! Still able to eat, but very sweet! We will try again next week and reduce the sugar. But the process and the recipe are great! Thank you! What did we do before the intenet?
Thanks for the input Horst and Ayuko!
I halved the recipe on this to do a trial run. Amazing! Thank you for the detailed descriptions of what to do. They were very helpful and I will be using your methods again!
I loved this recipe so I wanted to make the raspberry one you wrote about but the page won’t connect. Can you please post or send me the recipe?
Here is the link to raspberry jam: http://www.intimateweddings.com/blog/how-to-make-raspberry-jam-ooooh-la-la-its-music-to-your-lips/
We kept cooking the jam and testing it to get it to thicken up but after boiling it for two hours it never did. I ended up going to the store to buy some sure gel and will be pouring all the contents of the jars back in the pan again tonght to try again, new lids of course. I don’t think I have the jam gene.
Not sure why it didn’t turn out for you Andrea. It’s a bummer when you work hard at something and it doesn’t turn out. Hope you don’t give up on jammin!
What a wonderful recipe. I have never thought about making jam until wandering tastespotting.com. Found your jam and my 17 year old son just finished his first piece of toast with his mom’s jam. How exciting. It was extremely fun to make. It will be even more fun passing the jars on to loved ones.
So glad it turned out for you Kim! My husband and I just made this year’s batch today. It’s divine!