I picked up my canning gear from Canadian Tire and it looks like this. It's a whole canning kit, whatever you do if you're just starting out and can't find these items used. Get the kit! It was $50 for everything and if you add up separately the items that come in it, you end up spending about $25 more!
I tried to Google up some recipes, but to be honest everyone's was different. So I gathered that you kind of have to do a trial and error thing for yourself. So this first batch will hopefully be a win!
Strawberry Jam
5 containers strawberries (454g each)
5 1/4 cups sugar (don't judge me!)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 pkg pectin
In a small saucepan, put all the sealer lids in about 2 cups of water and heat on the stove until very hot but not boiling. This will soften the seals and help sterilize. Also a good time to bring your canner up to a rolling boil so it's ready for the jam jars when you are!
Hull all of the strawberries by hand, don't get lazy and just cut the tops off. Get your knife in there and do it right. Make your Nana proud. Mash the berries with a potato masher in batches this will get the natural pectin to start doing it's thing. This was by far the hardest part I think. My biceps are aching! Mix the package of pectin with 1/4 of sugar. Put all the mashed strawberries into a nice big pot and add the sugar/pectin mix. Sir and bring to a hard boil, add the remaining sugar and lemon juice. Boil and stir for about 5 minutes. Test your jam on a cold plate (you can put one in the freezer before you start, worked nicely), if the jam runs like syrup it's not ready. You want it somewhere between there and cold molasses. I cooked mine about 8 minutes total. Remove from heat and skim off any foam. Pour the jam into sterilized jars using a sterilized funnel and ladle. There is nothing fancy about sterilizing, it's your dishwasher's hottest setting. Wipe off any jam that may have spilled onto the rims so that you can make a good seal.
Using your fancy magnet grabber, pick up the sealer tops and place onto the jars, screw the lids on finger tight only. Place all jars into boiling canner and boil for 10 minutes. We live in Calgary, and so therefore since all things are calibrated as if we lived at sea level (including most recipes) I added a few extra minutes onto this time. It's not a secret, the pectin package has an insert that tells you how long to boil your jars for at different elevations.
Remove the jars after 10 minutes and place on the counter in a non-drafty place. Do not move them about for 24 hours. Give them a chance to seal. If there are any that haven't sealed after 24 hours, put them in the fridge right away and eat them. Otherwise they should keep for at least a year!
My jars made their pop seal sound right away! It was so satisfying!
I also made a playlist to go along with my day, in the time it took me to make this jam is how long this playlist is:
Jam Session Jams
Cough Syrup - Young the Giant
Video Games - Lana Del Rey
Gold On The Ceiling - The Black Keys
Simple Song - The Shins
Girl Is On My Mind - The Black Keys
99 Problems - Jay-Z
(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
The Cave - Mumford and Sons
Gravity - John Mayer
Rumor Has It - Adele
Punching In A Dream - The Naked and Famous
Can't wait to jam again!
No comments:
Post a Comment