Homemade Strawberry Jam (freezer jam)

SONY DSC

We love homemade freezer jam at this house it’s a big favorite and I am here to tell you it’s really not that hard to make. I give some tips in the post to making it easier but really the trick is to buying the fruit in season so it’s cheap and then just allowing some time and a little mess to get it done. Trust me you’ll be so happy you did. My favorite way to make freezer jam is to follow the Sure Jell recipe in the box, I pick Sure Jell mostly because the only ingredients are sugar and Strawberries and the Sure Jell Pectin. I have used other pectin before but some have corn syrup in them and I try and avoid feeding corn syrup to my kids when I can. Sure Jell does not have corn syrup in it and I love that, so that’s what I use. You can buy it here on Amazon 8 boxes for not quite $12 and that is a great deal, better than I paid at my local grocery store. After or when you buy your Sure Jell look on the back of the box at how much fruit and sugar you need to buy, get the ingredients you need, wash or purchase jars or containers and then get your helpers ready to make Jam (I have some of the best helpers I must say).

SONY DSC

I follow the directions on the box pretty closely but I do puree about half of my strawberries in my blender (even though I think the recipe says not to do that, I do it and my jam turns out great) and then the other half I use this amazing chopper (see picture below) to chop up the rest so that there are small chunks of strawberries in our strawberry Jam. I can’t say enough good things about this small little chopper I’ll probably do a post just for it because I love it so much but making Jam run smoothly is only one of it’s many talents, it’s great for chopping nuts, Oreo’s, carrots, onions, etc. you name it, it can chop it.

SONY DSC SONY DSC

After Chopping your strawberries you’ll add your sugar (see box for exact recipe, it’s what I follow every time and it is super easy) you’ll then cook your Sure Jell and add it to your bowl of strawberries and sugar and stir (this is where your little helpers come in handy) I did 9 batches that day so we had 9 bowls full of strawberries and sugar and there was a lot of stirring going on. After you’ve finished stirring the Sure Jell in and finished stirring for the time it says to stir you pour it into your jars or containers and you are done. Leave it out for 24 hours and then put in in the freezer. It’s not hard and it is so worth it. I’ll say it again, we love homemade jam at this house, a huge favorite. Yum!

SONY DSC

Here’s how much you’ll get with 9 batches.

SONY DSCSONY DSC

And here is a closer look at what you’ll need to buy to get started.