I know that probably everyone who cooks has made strawberry freezer jam at one time or another - except for me, that is. But after today, I can now join the ranks of those who can go to the freezer in January and proudly pull out one of those beautiful little jars of strawberry jam to spread on their breakfast toast.
I don't know why I've never made freezer jam before since it's ridiculously easy. Perhaps I was still traumatized by my home canning experiences this past summer when I canned homemade salsa and spaghetti sauce and vowed that my canning jars would collect dust in the pantry this summer.
I had no idea when I woke up this morning that I would go to bed tonight with five jars of strawberry jam tucked away in my freezer. I lucked upon a flat of strawberries that didn't make it out to our Mother's Day Brunch at the Holiday Inn on Sunday and needed to find a good home before they went to waste and I snatched them up at an extremely reasonable price. But then I thought, what the heck am I going to do with that many strawberries? After all, I can only make so many smoothies and have strawberries on my cornflakes for breakfast a couple of days in a row before I get tired of them. Then someone suggested freezer jam and told me how easy it was to make and I thought, why not?
I headed to Wally-world after work and found the canning stuff and picked up some plastic Ball® freezer jars and a box of Ball® Instant Fruit Pectin. I read the recipe on the back of the box and discovered that all I needed was 4 cups of crushed strawberries, 1 1/2 cups of sugar and the Instant Pectin and I was on my way to freezer jam heaven.
The package indicated that I could "make fresh and easy jam in minutes" but it didn't say how many minutes....I'm sure for the normal person with no distractions, it could be done in about 10 minutes start to finish. I, however, had to let the dog outside and then, just five minutes later, while in the middle of hulling the strawberries, had to let him back inside because he was barking at every living thing that went by the front yard. Then I had to feed him because he was pawing incessantly at the pantry where his dog food is stored (if only dogs had thumbs and could open doorknobs!). So there went 10 minutes right there. Then there was the smooshing of the strawberries with the potato masher and that was a little work-out in itself, albeit a very sticky one. From start to finish, it turned into about a 20 minute project but compared to my summer salsa fiasco, that was a walk in the park.
I stored four of the jam jars in the freezer and kept one in the refrigerator for my breakfast bagel tomorrow. I already snuck a little taste out of the jar when no one was watching and believe me, the taste doesn't even compare with what comes from the grocery store.
Now that I know how simple it is and how fantastic it tastes, I'm sure I'll be making plenty of freezer jam this summer. I'm already planning what to do with all the raspberries that I have growing in my side yard. Watch out Smuckers, here I come!
Strawberry Freezer Jam
4 cups of crushed strawberries (hulled and washed)
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 package of Ball® Instant Pectin
5 8oz plastic freezer jars
1. Stir sugar and pectin in a large bowl.
2. Add the crushed fruit and stir for 3 minutes.
3. Fill the jars with jam to the fill line on the jar. Twist on the lids and let the jam stand for 30 minutes or until thickened.
You can freeze the jam for up to 1 year or it will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks (but good luck making it last that long).
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