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So after picking 4+ pints of strawberries from my garden per day for 3 days in a row (and yes there are still more coming!) I decided I better try my hand at strawberry jam. I have NEVER canned before and for some reason began this experiment with fears of a jar of jam exploding in my face. I have no idea where that fear has come from but it was enough to make me read several different tutorials on making jam and consult several different recipes for the strawberry variety alone, which of course are essentially all the same. Once I realized I was on jam instruction overload I decided to just get going.
How'd it turn out? Okay. Tastes like jam, but a little on the runny side . I didn't have a candy thermometer and didn't even know I'd need one when I went out to buy canning supplies. So I tried to make due without. I must not have gotten the jam to the right temperature to set properly. But it still tastes good on bread! And will also make a nice strawberry sauce for ice cream, smoothies, or other desserts!
And only one mishap of the whole adventure....one of my plastic spoons kinda fell into the gas burner and melted there for a while before I noticed it....whoops! Guess that one's done for!
It also prompted me to pick up a book on canning so I can learn & experiment a bit more. So, despite the slightly disappointing results this city girl is up for more canning! I think I can...I think I can...I think I can...! And as one fellow blogger pointed out recently, hearing those little popping sounds as the lids seal is so thrilling and satisfying!
Wanna get started with canning and don't know how? I found the most complete advice from the USDA online in the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning. Happy Canning!
It also prompted me to pick up a book on canning so I can learn & experiment a bit more. So, despite the slightly disappointing results this city girl is up for more canning! I think I can...I think I can...I think I can...! And as one fellow blogger pointed out recently, hearing those little popping sounds as the lids seal is so thrilling and satisfying!
Wanna get started with canning and don't know how? I found the most complete advice from the USDA online in the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning. Happy Canning!
I admire that you tried it! And cool too that they were from your own garden. I'm going out this morning to pick strawberries at a local farm myself and don't have a plan yet for what I'll do with the bounty, other than eat them, eat them, eat them.
ReplyDeleteI love the usda site for canning info. I've also, never really been able to get pectin-free recipes right except for apple butter. I always use pectin and it's so much easier--you don't even need to take the temperature for jam made with pectin. (also most pectin brands come with recipes---super easy)
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