Strawberry Jammin'

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Strawberries went on sale for $2/lb, which is the right price for canning cherries & strawberries (& blueberries/raspberries, if you're lucky to see them so cheap!). Peaches, plums, apricots, apples, etc. you can usually get at slightly better rates.

So. Yes. Cheap strawberries. I bought six pounds and ended up with the following:

1. Whole Strawberries in Vanilla Syrup from Marisa McLellan's Preserving by the Pint (of FoodInJars): I ended up with 1.5 pints of the preserves and 0.75 pints of strawberry vanilla syrup (which I also hot water bath canned). The recipe predicts 1.5 pints, so close enough! Some of the jars could've stood to use more strawberries, though. At least the sauce is useful for Italian sodas, ice cream, and yogurt.
   
   Haven't tasted these yet, but I'm sure they're amazing. You cook them, then let them sit overnight in the fridge, and then heat them up right before canning. So, they're a bit of a pain but hopefully worth the extra effort.
   
   
2. Small Batch Vanilla Strawberry Jam from FiJ: The third attempt! In my effort to get 3 half pints instead of the typical 2, I didn't cook the berries as long. Instead of waiting for them to reach 220 degrees, I took them out right when the mixture started hesitating before filling-in the space left by a moving spatula. Apparently, this wasn't hot enough and the jam didn't set...so instead what we actually have is Small Batch Vanilla Strawberry Preserves. We tend not to use jam as a spread too often - I end up eating homemade jams straight out of the jar! So, having preserves instead of jam is no major loss here.
   
   
3. Small Batch Strawberry Balsamic Jam from FiJ: I haven't tried this yet, so who knows how it'll come out! I ended up with 1.25 pints, instead of 1.5 pints, which is pretty close!
   
   
4. Strawberries went on sale again for $2/lb, and I made FoodInJar's Strawberry Kiwi Jam, but with 1.5 lbs of hilled strawberries. I scaled up the sugar & lemon, but only used 3 kiwi. Should use more next time!! (although, I haven't tried it yet, so who knows how it tastes!)