Jam, Jelly, or Preserves?

So, I was recently asked, "What's the difference between jam and jelly?"  The answer lies in how the product is made.

Jellies are made from fruit juices, jams are made with chopped or crushed fruit, and preserves are made with whole pieces of fruit in it.

Pectin is what makes all of these products gel.  It is an indigestible carbohydrate that is found in the cell walls of most fruits.  When you heat it with sugar in water, it forms a gel.  One of the best sources for pectin is apple peel and seeds.

Jell-O is completely different.  It is made from gelatin, which is a protein product made from animal bones.

Now you know something that you didn't know before ;)

Strawberry Jam

There is nothing quite like home made, home canned strawberry jam.  It's always a winner and it preserves the delicious fresh flavor of strawberries for months and makes a wonderful gift, as well.

I'll never forget the first time I made strawberry jam, and how pleased I was with myself afterwards.  I hope that you get to experience this as well!


So here is what you will need:

3 Lbs fresh strawberries
7 C granulated sugar
4 TBS lemon juice
1 (49g) package powdered fruit pectin (I use Sure-Gel)
1 pat butter

Canning supplies: 8-10 half pint jars, lids, and bands, hot water bath, jar lifter, or freezer jam supplies, a long handled wooden spoon.

Get your berries home and give them a good rinse in cool water and drain well.  Then you want to cap them all.  I like to pull off all the leaves first, and then go back and use a paring knife to cut off the top, as well as any mushy or bad parts of the fruit.  You want the very best fruit.  The better the quality of fruit you use, the better your jam will turn out.

Once the berries are capped, there are a couple of ways to proceed.  A lot of folks like to crush their berries.  You can do this by placing them on a clean cookie sheet and then using a potato masher to just squish them up.  I actually prefer to cut them into large pieces and then put them in the food processor.

I find that it makes it much easier to have an even distribution of fruit in the jam.  Sometimes, if you don't get the berries evenly mashed, you get huge hunks of berry and I just don't like it as much.

How far down I process my berries for jam. See?  Nice and even.

Usually right about here is where I get my jars ready.  You want to take clear half pint jars, and put the into a bath of hot water and get it simmering so that the jars will be good and hot.  Go ahead and put the lids in a smaller pot of water too and have them simmering so the seal will be soft when you are ready.

Measure out the sugar and set it close to the stove.

 Once you have the berries processed down how you want them, measure out 5 cups of them into a large pot.  I use about a 6 quart pot.  I know that seems huge, but it really does need the big pot.  You will see why shortly.   So measure the crushed berries in to the pot.  Take a moment to measure out your sugar into a big bowl.  When it's time to add it, you want to add it in all at once, and this is easier if you just measure it ahead of time.





Now then, add in your lemon juice and stir it in to the berries, then dump in the Sure Jell on top and stir it up good.  Add in the pat of butter. Turn the heat on to about medium high and stir to prevent burning.  You want to bring the mixture to a full rolling boil.  This is a boil that you can't knock down by stirring.



Once you have it at a full rolling boil, take your pre-measure sugar and dump it in the pot.  Stir it in to dissolve, making sure to break up all the clumps of sugar.  Now you know why you wanted such a big pot!

Now, keep stirring to prevent it from sticking and burning, and bring it up to a full, rolling boil one more time.  Pay attention or you will burn yourself and your jam.  You will be glad to have a really long handled spoon at this point, because the jam is like lava and will hurt really bad when it splatters out on your arm.  Once you have a good full boil, continue cooking it hard for 1 minute and 15 seconds.  Then remove from the heat.  

Now, use a tablespoon and skim off the foam from the surface of your jam, try not to take any of the actual jam.  This is still good stuff, and I suggest you use it for a piece of toast or a bagel when you are finished.  

Now, take the jars out of the 

water bath a few at a time with the tongs and fill them with the hot jam.  You need to work quickly here.  Use a scoop so that you can make sure to get equal parts of the 'juice' and equal parts of the 'fruit' from your jam.  Fill the jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space.  Wipe off the rim of the jars with a clean damp cloth and place a hot lid on top and then screw down the band to finger tight.  

Once you have all the jars filled, use the tongs to set them in the water bath, fill the pot with enough water to cover the jars by about an inch and bring to a boil.  Process the jars for 10-12 minutes, and then carefully lift them to a clean towel with tongs and leave to cool.  

You should here the tell tale popping coming from the kitchen after a while that tells you the jars are sealing.  To check if the jars are sealed, look at the little 'button' in the center of the lids.  If, after 24 hours, it isn't sucked down to where it won't wobble up and down, it isn't sealed, so put it in the fridge and eat it first. 

Make sure to go back after the jars are cool and wipe them off and label them with what is in the jar and the date it was made. 

Now, sit back and have some jam on a biscuit, you earned it!