Jam making… it’s not just for the WI…!

Preserving is one of my favourite things to do. Being able to savour the flavour and enjoy fruit or vegetables at another time of the year to when they’d usually be in season.

It’s always a great thing to do when you have an abundance of fruit; plums, raspberries or strawberries for example. I never really appreciated how good home-made jam and chutney’s were until I started making my own. Once you start making your own too, you’ll realise how much tastier they are and how much more flavour you can notice from each spread. And you can control the sugar content much better, tweaking the recipe to suit your own palette. Not forgetting the provenance too…

You will certain benefit from knowing exactly what have gone into the recipe and often with much lower food miles, especially when using British sugar. 

Here’s how I make mine: 

• 1kg of fresh strawberries 
• 800g preserving jam sugar (with pectin in) 
• 1 knob of butter 
• Juice of 1 lemon

1. Prepare the strawberries by removing the stalks and chopping into 2-3 small pieces
2. Place the strawberries in a large pan and mix in the sugar. You can leave the strawberries to absorb the sugar if you have time, up to 24hrs.
3. Add the lemon juice and set on the pan on a low heat on the oven hob.
4. Cook very gently until all the sugar dissolves
5. Then boil hard for 5-10 minutes until the mixture reaches 105c. Alternatively you can test to see if the mixture is ready by placing a blob of the mixture on a cold saucer. If it wrinkles and doesn’t run after 30 seconds it is set, if not allow to boil for another 2 minutes then repeat the cold saucer test.
6. Once set, use a ladle to remove any scum from the top of the mixture that has formed and add the knob of butter.
7. Leave the jam to settle and cool then place into sterilised jam jars and seal.
8. The jam will keep for up to 1 year if you keep stored in a cool dry place. Once opened refrigerate