• Rinse and remove the tops of the berries.
  6 cups strawberries
• Cut berries in quarters (or eighths for big ones) and add them to a large saucepan.
• Cook berries over medium heat and gently mush them with a wooden spoon or spatula as they heat up.
• Add in the sugar and lemon juice, and continue to cook, stirring often until the syrup comes to a boil.
  1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp lemon juice
• Cook at a boil for two minutes, stirring the whole time. You may need to lower the heat a bit to keep the syrup from boiling over.
• Remove the pot from the heat and allow the syrup to cool before storing. It will thicken as it cools.
• Using a metal spoon, skim foam from the top of the syrup.

How to Can Strawberry Syrup

• Prepare your water bath canner by filling it with water. You just need to have enough water to cover the jars by 1-2 inches once the water is boiling.
• Set the canner on the stove. Turn the burner to high.
• Wash and sanitize your jars. You’ll want to keep them warm to avoid having them crack when placed in the canner. You can fill them with hot water, or place them on a tray in the oven at 170˚F.
• Wash your lids and set aside in a clean bowl.
• Ladle in the warm syrup into jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Remove any bubbles from the jar (I use a plastic chopstick).
• Use a wet clean rag and wipe the rim of the jars to make sure it is free of any syrup.
• Place a clean lid on the jar. Add a ring, and tighten to fingertip tight.
• Using canning tongs, place jars in the boiling water. Put the lid on the canner, and once the water is back to a rolling boil, process for 10 minutes.
• When the 10 minutes is up, remove the canner from the heat, remove the lid from the canner, and allow it to sit for 5 minutes.
• Using the canning tongs, remove the jars and place them on a thick towel in a place where they won't be disturbed for 12 hours.
• After 12 hours, check the seal on the jars by pressing down in the center of the lid. If there is any give, either refrigerate and use those jars in the next month or reprocess.
• Store in a cool dark place for 12-18 months.