Simple three ingredient, pectin free strawberry jam for the win!
I started making my own jams a couple years ago and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. Sticky and messy? Yes. But hard? Not really. I assumed it would be much harder. Canning the jars can be a bit more cumbersome of a process but still totally worth it for year round yumminess and tasty gifts.
I tried a few strawberry jam recipes and did not care for them. I erroneously thought strawberry jam would be the simplest of them all. But actually it caused me trouble and proved the most challenging of the fruits I have tried so far! And I just thought perhaps my heart belongs to blackberry and peach jam.
But not one to draw away from a challenge I decided this is the year I would successfully tackle strawberry jam. And I would be victorious. And victorious I was!
The strawberries are in peak season and wonderful currently, so now was the time. I started searching and comparing recipes. And finally I just made my own. Thus this pectin free strawberry jam was born.
Yes, there are likely countless numbers of strawberry jam recipes out there and whether the world needs one more, I don’t know. But probably! I will record it for no other reason than I want my recipe for myself in future years. If you happen to enjoy it as well, then that’s great too!
The original jams I tried were way too sweet, even for me. And adding the pectin made it jell too much. So in this case the lemon is a welcome addition. Generally I don’t care for adding lemon to other fruits, but I really feel the strawberry jam needs it and that it actually helps intensify the strawberry flavour.
Pectin Free Strawberry Jam
Small batch pectin free strawberry jam
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Strawberries washed, hulled and roughly chopped (5 Cups mashed)
- 1/4 Cup Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
- 3 Cups granulated Sugar
Instructions
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Wash, hull and cut strawberries in half.
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Working in batches, place in a single layer and roughly mash with potato masher (I find a glass 13″ x 9″ baling dish works well for this). Continue until there is a total of 5 cups mashed.
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Place mashed berries, lemon juice and sugar in a large pot over medium high heat. Stir.
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Bring to a rolling boil.
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Adjust heat as needed to keep at a rolling boil for twenty minutes. Stirring often and checking to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom or sides of the pot. Fruit should cook down and liquid thicken (looking less like fruit and liquid are separate or floating).
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Remove from heat and pour into a glass bowl or large (8 cup) measuring cup.
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Using a metal spoon, carefully scoop the foam from the surface.
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Ladle or pour into sterilized canning jars. Fill until 1/4″ from the top. Place a new clean sealing lid on top and loosely thread rim into place. Repeat with remaining jam and jars.
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Place into canner and make sure the water covers the lids by 2 inches.
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Bring canner to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes.
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Carefully remove jam with canning tongs to a towel on the countertop. Allow to rest undisturbed for 24 hours.
Recipe Notes
If any lids do not seal store in the fridge.
Label, date, enjoy or give away!
This recipe yielded 4 Cups or 4 1-cup jars of jam.
Jam Tips
Placing a couple spoons in the freezer at the beginning of the process for testing the thickness of the jam is helpful. This way when the cold spoon is dipped into the boiling jam and the jam slides off more like a sheet than single small drips you know it is done.
Also make sure your pot is large/deep enough you don’t run the risk of the jam boiling over.
If you don’t want to can this jam it can be stored in the fridge or freezer. I have successfully used a large, deep pot to can a few small jars (like the 4 this recipe makes) rather than the proper canning pot before as well, as long as it is deep enough to cover the jars with two inches of water.
