Holy fricken sugar! This recipe was way too sweet..The recipe on the box of pectin that I used said to use 1/2 as much sugar for the same amount of fruit, so I'll probably try that next time.
I've made this once before and it turned out on the runny side. This time I drained my crushed strawberries slightly and cut back on the water by a few tablespoons. While filling the jars it was already beginning to "set up". This recipe filled 11 four ounces jars. Nice way to have strawberries the entire year!
This is the recipe that comes in every package of Sure-Jell but I'm not complaining; it's nice to have it online too. I'm just reviewing it to note two things: First, the recipe is for jam, not jelly. Submitter uses the terms interchangeably, but to clarify, jam has fruit pieces in it while jelly is a puree, so be sure not to puree your berries when making it. Secondly, sometimes when preserving things, it's important to do just one batch at a time, but this recipe will work fine doubled, yay! I've calculated the cost of strawberry freezer jam and around here it comes to a little over a dollar per 12-ounce jar, not counting the cost of the jars themselves. That's well worth it to have the year-round treat of easy, delicious, homemade jam!
I used the low-sugar Sure Jell (changes: 4 c. fruit, 3 c. sugar), and the recipe is AWESOME. It makes me wish I had vanilla ice cream in the freezer!
RE-measure the strawberries after you smash them. I didn't realize that I was supposed to do this the first time, and I ended up with too many smashed strawberries.
The PERFECT jam recipe. Yes, it is the same recipe you see on the Sure-Jell package, but who cares! Make sure to use the exact amount of sugar or it won't set. And believe me, it will be perfectly sweet and still less sugar than the store bought brands. This recipe yields exactly four 12oz. jars. Take advantage of the summer fruits available and can them now so you can have fresh, healthy jam all winter! So easy and super fun to make with kids.
Okay, so I didn't make this recipe with strawberries, I used blackberries!! My husband raves about the jam every time he eats it! Tonight we are going to try it with plums!! Next week it will be pears!! I will let you know how it works with the plums and pears, if any adjusments should be made.
I'm sorry, but this had WAY too much sugar for me. Next time, should I try this again, I'll add a cup of strawberries and lose a cup of sugar.
This a very faithful and time tested basic Freezer Jam recipe! A perfect example of the beauty of "less is more" cookery. I would like to clarify some statements that were made in previous reviews about the terms "jam" and "jelly" and how they were improperly interchangable. It is important to know the differences of the two in that jam is a product that has physical pieces of fruit in the finished product, Jelly is merely a product which is "jelled" using strained fruit juice...NOT an actual fruit puree which yeilds a distinctly different "smoothie" kind of end product; Also the Juice, Fruit, Sugar, Pectin ratios are also different so be careful about interchanging these terms or you could quite possibly have a less than desired non-congealed end product. Incredibly simple preperation with a very extravagent outcome! What more could you ask!
