strawberries are in. preserves question. no added pectin?

[Llyra]

Yay! Our local strawberries are starting to come in. I totally look forward to this all year! Hooray!

Okay, so here's my question-- is anyone making strawberry jam or preserves without added pectin? Can it be done? If you're doing it, can you share your successful recipe and method? I've never had much luck, and I'm tired of paying for pectin when I can't even ensure it's from an organic source.

[Carley]

I have... I used recipes from the Ball canning book. I didn't do strawberry, I did blackberry tamarind, plum ginger etc. You'll have a lot of luck if you combine high pectin with low, but the blackberry (low pectin) jams turned out a really delicious preserves... though definitely not a jelly. You can also look up recipes for homemade pectin out of sour apples.

That said, you need to cook the jam. Really really cook it until it gets "sparkly." This will be much longer than you think. You'll see it start to shine well before it gets really sparkly & want to take it off, but wait it out! You'll know super sparkly when you see it! It's like watching fireworks!

I haven't tried this recipe, but I found it via google... a candy thermometer sounds like a good idea to me!!! I made cooked jam before I discovered the usefullness of my meat thermometer & started temping everything. I really need a candy one too, apparently!



Old Fashioned Whole Berry Preserves
This recipe comes from Rudd's Farm, in Greensboro, NC (www.ruddfarm.com).

6 cups fresh small fully ripe whole strawberries,washed and hulled
Boiling water to cover strawberries
1/2 cup lemon juice
6 cups sugar, divided

In a large saucepan, cover berries with boiling water; let stand 3 minutes to soften. Drain water and discard. Combine berries and 3 cups of the sugar in a 6 to 8 quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat; continue to boil slowly on medium heat 8 minutes, stirring constantly. Add remaining 3 cups sugar and lemon juice. Boil 10 minutes more, stirring constantly. Using a candy thermometer, bring to the gelling stage of 220-225 degrees. Remove from heat. Stir and skim off foam with metal spoon for 2 minutes. Pour jam into shallow baking dish to cool completely. When cold, put in sterilized jars and freeze or process.

http://www.ncstrawberry.org/docs/Jams.htm

[Llyra]

Thank you! I'm going to try that one!

[treemom2]

Originally Posted by Carley

Old Fashioned Whole Berry Preserves
This recipe comes from Rudd's Farm, in Greensboro, NC (www.ruddfarm.com).

6 cups fresh small fully ripe whole strawberries,washed and hulled
Boiling water to cover strawberries
1/2 cup lemon juice
6 cups sugar, divided

In a large saucepan, cover berries with boiling water; let stand 3 minutes to soften. Drain water and discard. Combine berries and 3 cups of the sugar in a 6 to 8 quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat; continue to boil slowly on medium heat 8 minutes, stirring constantly. Add remaining 3 cups sugar and lemon juice. Boil 10 minutes more, stirring constantly. Using a candy thermometer, bring to the gelling stage of 220-225 degrees. Remove from heat. Stir and skim off foam with metal spoon for 2 minutes. Pour jam into shallow baking dish to cool completely. When cold, put in sterilized jars and freeze or process.

http://www.ncstrawberry.org/docs/Jams.htm

This is basically the recipe I've used. I've also made it with a mix of honey and sugar (I'm not sure I used as much sugar as this recipe calls for. . .I think I just added a cup or two at most) I didn't worry about taking the temp, I just kept it on a slow simmer until it was thick (several hours) then poured it into the jars.

[allnaturalmom]

Hello,
I, too, countdown until the arrival of the strawberries! :

Here is a similar recipe I use each year, always w/success.

Berry Jam

1 1/2 C berries
1/3 C sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

In a heavy saucepan mix fruit, sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently (I use a potato masher as we like our berries really mushed up, lol!). Reduce heat immediately to a simmer and cook uncovered until thick, about 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a jar and cool to room temperature before covering and storing in refrigerator. Y= 1 cup. Will keep about 1 week.

gl
hth

[cristeen]

That's how we made jam in Russia. There is no commercial pectin there. But just keep in mind that the texture winds up very different than what we're used to. It is more runny - kind of like a really thick syrup with chunks of fruit in it. I actually still buy Russian wild strawberry jam because American made just isn't the same, and even the commercial stuff doesn't have pectin in it.

[henny penny]

I make strawberry preserves without pectin every year. Just sugar, berries, bit of lemon juice and cooked according to the Ball Blue Book till it's set. It is so much better than the weird "solid" jam you get with pectin recipes.

[Koalamom]

I made grape jelly last year without pectin and it was solid. I used maple syrup and concord grapes (they have natural pectin in them), but I also used some crab apples that are super high in pectin.