Strawberry Jam

Total Time: 30 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 3 cups fresh strawberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Recipe

• 1 chill a small plate or bowl in the freezer or over ice water.
• 2 in a 10 or 12-inch wide skillet, bring fruit, sugar, and lemon juice to boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
• 3 reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly and skimming foam as necessary. cook about 8-10 minutes, until mixture begins to look syrupy and thickens slightly.
• 4 spoon ½ teaspoon of the hot fruit onto the cold plate and let it rest for 30 seconds. tip plate to one side; jam should be a soft gel that moves slightly. if mixture is thin and runs down side of plate, the gel is too soft. return skillet to heat and cook jam 1 to 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly. remove from heat and repeat test.
• 5 cool jam to room temperature before serving. because a minimum amount of sugar is used, the jam needs to be refrigerated to prevent mold from forming. refrigerate 2-3 weeks.
• 6 for longer storage, freeze or process hot jam in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.**
• 7 **option: if jars are sterilized (heated in boiling water for 10 minutes) it’s possible to use the inverted method to preserve jam: pour hot jam into hot sterile jar leaving 1/8 inch head space. wipe rim and apply prepared lid and ring. screw ring on firmly. invert jar and leave for 5 minutes. turn jar right side up and let cool 12-24 hours. the heat from the jam will destroy mold spores. this method is not foolproof, so if you are preparing a lot of jam, process the jam in a boiling water canner.