Freezer jam
We just ran out of freezer jam from last year’s strawberries. It was a sad day in our house. We mourned for a few hours, and then I headed to Costco to see what their selection was like. Sometimes they carry organic strawberry jam, but pickings were slim on my last trip and everything contained high fructose corn syrup. No thanks!
I ended up buying two three pound bags of frozen organic cherries, strawberries, pomegranate seeds, blueberries, and raspberries for $20 ($9.99 each). Those bags ended up netting me 16 4 oz containers of organic freezer jam, which should hold us over until June when local berries are ripe.
I’d like to say that I make freezer jam because it tastes better (it does. It’s fresher!), or that it uses less sugar (it does!). But, in all honesty, I make freezer jam because it’s easier than canning. It takes about 15 minutes as opposed to hours. This is the lazy person’s jam.
1) Wash your containers. I use the plastic freezer jam jars because I already have them, but glass canning jars would work great if you already have them!
2) Put your berries in a big bowl, and let them sit out for a few hours to thaw.
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| Frozen |
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| Thawed |
3) Then using an immersion blender, blend the thawed berries until pretty smooth.
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| Speaking of pretty smooth… |
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| Just because |
4) Measure 3.5 cups of berry blend and pour into a separate bowl. I do that until the whole batch has been transferred to another bowl so that I know how many “total batches” I’m making. My 6 pounds of frozen berries made four total batches of jam.
5) Add 1 cup of sugar – evaporated cane juice from Costco in this case (the directions say 1.5 cups per 3.5 cups of berries, but it works great with only 1 cup), per 3.5 cups of berry blend. Then add one package of freezer jam pectin per batch. Mix for about three minutes.
6) Pour into your containers of choice, put the lids on, and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Then freeze!
It’s good in the fridge for about two weeks. I’ve heard it lasts up to one year in the freezer, but we’ve never made it that long.
This is what happens when you try to take a nice picture of jam on a homemade graham cracker.
I am so trying this! Where do you get the freezer jam pectin? Regular grocery store?
You can buy it at almost any grocery store. Most grocery stores (around here at least) have a small section usually near the foil that has a few canning items. That is where I find it.
I bought a lot in bulk a long time ago and don’t see the deal on Amazon any more, but this seems to make a bunch of jars: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004U8R0ME?ie=UTF8&tag=thisb02-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B004U8R0ME
That’s it, seriously? The hell haven’t I tried this before?! Sheesh. Thanks!!!
Don’t delay any longer!! ;-D
I’d also like to know where you get the freezer jam pectin as well as the plastic freezer jam jars!
Thanks for sharing! I’d love to give this a try!
I don’t have one of those mixer things. What else can I use??
You can mash it with a potato masher, put it in a food processor, or a blender!
Where did you get your containers? This is way to easy NOT to make! Thanks!
I’m not sure where you live, but any grocery store around me that carries even limited canning items has them. I’ve also seen them at Wal-mart and Target, and I know Amazon has them. You might want to also check out smaller/local hardware stores!
Even plain glass jelly jars would work wonderfully!
we made this today, with fresh strawberries… I’m using all my will power to not stick a straw in it and slip into a strawberry jam induced coma…yum!!
So good right? We’ve been ruined for other jams because it’s so fresh and delicious. All other jams are too sweet after trying this one. We love it!
Troy dips cookies and crackers in to it. We named them “jam crackers”. It’s like the episode of Friends when Joey is devouring all the jam Monica made!
Does this recipe require a sugary addition (for thickening or something like that)? I normally use Stevia at home and would love to give that a try instead.
Good trick for at the end of the fruit season and for when you have a crap load of fruits starting to go bad, but no time or inclination to turn them into jams or what have you – cut the suckers up and freeze them (depit peaches and cut them in tho chunks – doesn’t have to be fine). Then in winter, when your jam or chutney supply has run out, whip out a bag of these frozen fruits and boil and make jam as per usual. I think it might be a tad more watery than fresh fruit and watch out for freezer burn as this will impact the taste… maybe rather just stick to chutney if this scares you, as the curry probably will mask most freezer “taste”
A trick my mom believes in wholeheartedly
Tried this last week with peaches that were overripe…it was delish! Just used old cleaned jam jars, and Ball jars for storage. I could eat it by the spoonful! Bet this jam would be great mixed into homemade ice cream! Thanks for the great recipe