In the past, right into the 1900s, fruit was very expensive. I remember my Great Grandma telling me that an extra job 'kept fruit on the sideboard'. By this she meant that fruit was a luxury and not everybody could afford it. So many people grew their own in their gardens and preserved some of what they produced by making jams, sauces, jellies, stewed fruits, and bottled fruit (liked tinned fruit). It was an important process, and part of everyday life. Today, many of us don't think about this, we simply go to the supermarket and buy our fruit. Certainly, most of us see things like jams, tinned fruit, jelly and sauces as 'convenience' foods. We don't have to go to the trouble of making it ourselves anymore, it is produced in massive quantities by big companies, but there is nothing better than home made! Roy thought he should show everybody how to make their own strawberry jam - it is really very easy and you will have lovely jam to eat and to give people as gifts.
We don't now exactly when people started making their own jams, but fruit preserving has been going on for centuries. The first people to have made jam and jelly were probably from Middle Eastern countries where cane sugar was grown. After all, you need sugar to make jam! The Crusaders probably bought the process back with them from these countries and by the late middle ages jams and jellies were very popular.If you would like to learn more about jam making history, click here.
The basic recipe!
Make sure you read the whole recipe before you start. Making jam isn't hard, but you don't want to discover you are missing a vital ingredient half way through! You will need to ask an adult to help you, because you need to cook your jam on a hotplate, sterilise your bottles with hot water and then put them in the oven. Now, make sure you have clean hands and get cooking!
You will need:
- 1 cup of strawberries
- 1 cup of white sugar
- the juice of 1/4 of a lemon
- The seeds from a lemon, tied in an old cotton handkerchief or a piece of muslin.
- You may also want a packet of jam making pectin on standby in case your jam doesn't set naturally
You can make as much strawberry jam as you like, just make sure to keep the weight of strawberries and sugar equal and make sure you add 1/4 of a lemon for every 250g of strawberries! Roy and I were lucky to be able to buy jam making strawberries from a local strawberry farm, Paul's Strawberry Farm at Galston, so we made lots of jam! We used:
- 2 kilograms of strawberries
- 2 kilograms of white sugar
- the juice of 2 lemons
- The seeds from 2 lemons
You will also need:
- A big pot
- A couple of plates to test whether your jam is set. A good trick is to put your plates in the freezer. The jam is very hot when you test it and jam is naturally more liquid when it is hot. By putting it on a cold plate, it will set more quickly and you can test to see if it is ready yet!
- Some bottles to put your jam in (Roy and I made 12 bottles!). For instructions on preparing your bottles (you need them to be sterile or your jam will grow things), scroll to the end of the post.
- Clingwrap
Method:
- Cut the green part (hull) off your strawberries and, depending on the size, cut them in half or quarters. Because Roy and I used jam making strawberries, some of ours were huge (and had to be cut into quarters) and some were so small that we didn't cut them up at all.
- Put your strawberries into a big pot. They should only fill about 1/3 of the pot (if possible) because they will boil and if they boil over, you will have a big, sticky mess!
- Juice your lemon and keep the seeds. Pour the juice into the pot with the strawberries.
- Put the seeds into the centre of your handkerchief, and tie them in securely. You don't want any seeds escaping because they wouldn't be nice to bite into on your toast, but they also provide the pectin, or setting agent, for your jam, so it is important to include them. By tying them in a little bundle you can take them out before you bottle your jam.
- Add the sugar to your pot.
- Put the pot onto a hotplate and stir on a low heat until the sugar disolves.
- When the sugar is all dissolved, leave it to simmer (stirring regularly) until the strawberries have cooked down and let out their liquid. When this happens you will have soft strawberries and lots of liquid!
- Now, turn the heat up and boil the jam to reduce the liquid (stirring regularly). It will look a bit like a volcano, with the fruit in the middle, froth around the edges and liquid bubbling out between the fruit and down the sides!
- To stop the jam from making so much froth (this is the impurities in the fruit and sugar coming out) add a knob of butter. I don't know why this works, but it does! Margarine may not work, so use 'real' butter.
- When the jam looks about the right thickness, take a plate out of the freezer and, using a spoon drop a little bit of jam onto the cold plate. Leave it for a minute and then run your finger down the centre of your jam puddle. You should leave a line in the middle of your jam, which should stay without jam running back into it. If the jam is still runny, boil it a little longer and test it again in a few minutes.
- If your jam just won't set (sometimes this happens - don't worry!) add some pectin. There will be instructions on your packet on how much to use - make sure you follow them. Too much and your jam will be too thick, too little and it will be too runny!
- When your jam is done, pour it into your hot bottles.
- Cover the bottles in clingwrap and then put the lid on.
- It's probably a good idea to keep your jam in the fridge, especially if you live in a hot climate! Otherwise you will need to seal the jam with sealing wax.
- Now, using your home-made butter (see last week's post by clicking here) and jam have a feast with some nice bread or fresh scones!
To prepare your bottles:
- First, wash the bottles in hot soapy water.
- Dry them a little
- Put them on a tray, upside down, and place them in the oven at 150 degrees celcius
- Take your bottles out just before you are ready to bottle your jam and turn them up the right way