Hello sweet readers! As you know, I am SO EXCITED that it is strawberry time!! Let’s make and Can Strawberry Jam! Canning saves you money and more importantly, you will know EXACTLY what is in the food you are eating. Best of all – home canned food tastes better! It's so easy to make sure jell strawberry jam!
Today we have a complete pictorial explanation of how to make and can strawberry jam . So easy – and TASTY! As a bonus, you will see a few photos of my dear sweet hubby helping to make jam!
If You Want to See the WHOLE Process Start To Finish, Here's the Video.
Contents
show
Just run on over to my YouTube channel and I go through the whole process and show you every little part! Here's the video of me making strawberry jam with sure jell.
The First Thing About Canning Sure Jell Strawberry Jam...
The first most important rule of making delicious strawberry jam is choosing the berries. You must start with the freshest, ripest, juiciest and most flavorful berries that you can find.
Where I live, there are strawberry farms and that is the place to go! Simply call ahead and reserve the number of gallons desired.
Conversely, the strawberry farm has a roadside stand and one can simply drive up and see what is available – but since canning is a big deal at my house, I like to call ahead and make sure that I have my order in for the day.
These Directions Are For A Single Batch of Jam.
The directions here are for making a single batch of jam –your large stock pot at home will work just fine.
In the photos, Mark and I are making multiple batches at one time and this requires some large cooking vessels.
Regarding canners: You will need a water bath canner for making strawberry jam. If you do not have a water bath canner – you can still make jam – you simply make it in a large stock pot. As long as the water will cover your jars by 1”, you can do it! Here is the water bath canner that I use:
The only thing that an official water bath canner has that your stock pot does not is a special wrack for the jars. You can make one that serves the same purpose.
The idea is that you don’t want the jars bumping against the bottom of the pot while they boil.
To Make Your Own Rack for the Canner...
To remedy this, you can wire some canning rings together with bread ties – form into a circle that will fit in the bottom of the pot.
If this is not possible, you can place a thick kitchen towel (folded in half or quarters) in the bottom of the pot. I have done both of these methods and either works well.
Special Tools for Canning....
Finally, there are some special tools that make the job A LOT EASIER – not required – but I certainly recommend them – here is a link – you can probably find the same thing in your local grocery store.
If you are not interested in purchasing special tools – see the suggested substitutes listed below in step 7.
The photo below is an affiliate link and I am an Amazon Affiliate, you can click the photo to go straight through to Amazon to compare prices. If you make a purchase, Loaves and Dishes will receive an affiliate commission, so, thank you!
Other items you will need:
- Damp Paper towels,
- Ladle,
- Timer,
- slotted spoon,
- a stand mixer
- OR a glass pie plate and a potato masher.
With that, let’s jump in!
Ingredients:
- 7 Cups of Granulated Sugar
- 5 Cups of crushed strawberries (about 8 cups of whole berries – or about a gallon).
- 4 Tbs lemon juice
- 1 package of regular powdered fruit pectin (1.75 oz/49-57g).
Instructions
STEP 1.
- Purchase and/or pick your strawberries for your strawberry jam.
- Purchase or locate your jam jars, rings and lids.
- You will need about a Gallon of strawberries to make a single batch of Jam and each batch yields about 8-10 jam jars.
- Please only use jars designed for canning.
- Do not reuse old spaghetti sauce jars, mayonnaise jars, etc.
- These are not made for canning and could break or not seal properly. Believe me, that would be a MAJOR bummer.
STEP 2.
- Wash the jars and make sure they are completely sanitized.
- Personally, I run them through the dishwasher, and if you time things just right so that you are ready to fill the jars just as the washer is complete – then you don’t have to heat the jars as you will see in a future step!
- At my house, this means turning the dishwasher on just as I am getting ready to top the strawberries – it could be different at your house.
STEP 3.
- Set the large pot you will use as your water bath canner on the stove – filled ½ - ¾ with water.
- Set heat on high.
- Place top on the pot and keep an eye on this while you complete the other steps.
- If it starts to boil, turn down temp so that it keeps a small simmer while you work. (
- This way it will be easy to return to a boil when you are ready to start canning)
- Keep the lid on so that you do not lose too much water to evaporation.
STEP 4.
- Top your strawberries and cut the little white core out of the strawberries.
- See how Mark does here?
- If the strawberry is mostly red all the way through, you can skip the coring part.
- The core won’t hurt you but it can leave some funny colored bits in your final jam – unappetizing! sure jell strawberry jam.
STEP 5.
- Wash the strawberries and then make sure they are as dry as possible.
- You can see that we place them on layers of paper towels and then also blot them dry with more paper towels.
- Be gentle, you don’t want to bruise them or squeeze any delicious juice out!
STEP 6.
- You will see in the picture that I am using my kitchenaid to smash the berries.
- If you do not have a kitchen aid, don’t worry – you don’t need one.
- For years, I made my jam with a potato masher – and that is all that you really need.
- Simply place the berries in a glass bottomed pie plate and using a potato masher – mash the berries until they are a consistency that you like for your jam.
- You can see in the photo the consistency of my berries – mine are more juice than berry when I am done – but there are still pieces of berry floating in there.
- Smash the berries until you have 5 Cups of smashed berries (this roughly equals 8 cups of berries).
- Set the berries aside for a moment while you prepare everything else.
- Add the lemon juice.
- (Use the store bought lemon juice because it has a consistent acid level – which is needed for the safety of what you are canning. Lemons acid level varies).
STEP 7.
- This is a recipe that requires that you get everything out and ready to go before you start cooking. Measure out your sugar (7 cups – which is almost an entire 4lb bag of sugar).
- Open your Sure-Jell packet and place it where it will not spill.
- Make sure your jars are ready (hot and clean).
- If your jars are already clean but need to be heated, you can do this one of several ways. The Ball Book suggests placing the jars in the canner of boiling water and allow to boil until you are ready to use.
- I have found it easier to set the jars on a large cookie sheet, set the oven on 130 or so and then place the jars in the oven.
- The idea is that you want the jars to be hot when you are ready to ladle the hot lava like jam into the jars so as not to break them with the great temperature differences.
STEP 8.
- Place the lids in a small sauce pan and cover with water – place on the stove and set to medium low. You want the lids to heat but not to boil.
- Make sure to have all of your canning tools ready to go: Damp Paper towels, Ladle, Timer, Jar lifter, head space tester, bubble remover (same as head space tester if you have the same tools that I have), funnel, slotted spoon and magnet for the lids
- If you don’t have these items, you can make due with tongs (jar lifter), plastic ruler (head space tester), plastic knife (bubble remover) and tongs (to remove lids from the boiling water).
- However, I really recommend having these basic items as it makes the job so much easier.
- A note about your counter top. Strawberry jam is STICKY!
- I always put down a couple of layers of paper towel or kitchen towel and then cover that with parchment paper. Makes for a much easier clean up! You are going to have drips.
STEP 9.
- We are ready to cook the jam!
- Take your 5 cups of smashed berries and whisk in the package of Sure-Jell. Stir, stir stir. Sure Jell Strawberry Jam
- Set the stove top on high heat. Stir frequently and cook the berries until they come to a full boil.
- While boiling, add the sugar all at once. Then stir stir stir – don’t stop until you are certain that all of the sugar has dissolved. (the berry mixture may kind of puff and swell initially when you add the sugar – this is ok and to be expected).
- Stir frequently until the berry mix comes to a full rolling boil that can not be stirred down. Once they are at the full boil stage – set your timer for one minute and keep stirring/boiling for a full minute.
STEP 10
- After a full minute of boiling, remove the pan from the heat and stop stirring.
- Allow your jam to rest for a minute or two and you will see that foam rises to the top.
- Using a slotted spoon, skim off as much foam as you can. (The foam won’t hurt you or affect the taste of the jam – but it does form a hard little white spot on the top of your jam and affects how the jam looks).
- At this point, you now have jam!! Congratulations!!
STEP 11
- Once the foam is removed, ladle the hot jam into the hot jars using the jar funnel. (Its time to turn your canner back up to full boil as well).
- Leave ¼ inch of space between the top of the jar and the jam.
- Add or remove jam to make this correction.
- Using the plastic knife or the bubble remover, gently poke down to the bottom of each jar several times to remove any bubbles. You will need to check the head space again after removing bubbles and add or remove jam as needed.
- Wipe the rims of each jar with a damp paper towel to remove any drips of jam.
- Place the lids on the jars – seal side down on the jar and then place the ring and twist until it is “finger tip tight”.
- This mean, tight enough so as not to be loose – but loose enough that it doesn’t require any strain to remove the ring.
- (You want air to be able to escape from the jar after the jar has gone through the canner so that it will create the proper seal).
STEP 12.
- Place the jars into your canner, using care so as not to break any. Lower the jars into the hot water and make sure that they are covered by at least 1 " of water.
- Place the lid on the canner. When the water returns to a boil, set your timer for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, turn off the heat. Remove the jars from the water bath and place onto a clean kitchen towel in a place that is free from a draft.
- Evenly space the jars, cover with a damp kitchen towel and allow to cool.
- You will hear the jar lids pop as they finish their seal.
- The most satisfying sound in the world.
- Do not disturb the jars for 24 hours.
- Although it is tempting, do not pick the jars up to check them or to examine them. Wait 24 hours.
- After 24 hours, label your jars (with labels or write on the jar lid) with the name of the contents, date and year (Strawberry Jam 5/25/2015). Your jam is best if used in the first 6 months. I have used my jam after more than a year in storage and it has been just fine though.
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How to make and can Strawberry Jam
This is the full explanation of how to can strawberry jam! Delicious ruby red, county fair winning strawberry jam
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Servings: 8 pints
Calories: 708kcal
Ingredients
- 7 Cups of Granulated Sugar
- 5 Cups of crushed strawberries about 8 cups of whole berries – or about a gallon.
- 4 Tbs lemon juice
- 1 package of regular powdered fruit pectin 1.75 oz/49-57g.
Instructions
- Purchase and/or pick your strawberries. Purchase or locate your jam jars, rings and lids. You will need about a Gallon of strawberries to make a single batch of Jam and each batch yields about 8-10 jam jars. Please only use jars designed for canning. Do not reuse old spaghetti jars, mayonnaise jars, etc. These are not made for canning and could break or not seal properly. Believe me, that would be a MAJOR bummer.
- Wash your jars and make sure they are completely sanitized. Personally, I run them through the dishwasher, and if you time things just right so that you are ready to fill the jars just as the washer is complete – then you don’t have to heat the jars as you will see in a future step! At my house, this means turning the dishwasher on just as I am getting ready to top the strawberries – it could be different at your house.
- Set the large pot you will use as your water bath canner on the stove – filled ½ - ¾ with water. Set heat on high. Place top on the pot and keep an eye on this while you complete the other steps. If it starts to boil, remove lid and turn down temp so that it keeps a small simmer while you work. (This way it will be easy to return to a boil when you are ready to start canning)
- Top your strawberries and cut the little white core out of the strawberries. See how Mark does here? If the strawberry is mostly red all the way through, you can skip the coring part. The core won’t hurt you but it can leave some funny colored bits in your final jam – unappetizing!
- Wash your strawberries and then make sure they are as dry as possible. You can see that we place them on layers of paper towels and then also blot them dry with more paper towels. Be gentle, you don’t want to bruise them or squeeze any delicious juice out!
- You will see in the picture that I am using my kitchenaid to smash the berries. If you do not have a kitchen aid, don’t worry – you don’t need one. For years, I made my jam with a potato masher – and that is all that you really need. Simply place the berries in a glass bottomed pie plate and using a potato masher – mash the berries until they are a consistency that you like for your jam. You can see in the photo the consistency of my berries – mine are more juice than berry when I am done – but there are still pieces of berry floating in there. Smash the berries until you have 5 Cups of smashed berries (this roughly equals 8 cups of berries). Set the berries aside for a moment while you prepare everything else. Add the lemon juice. (Use the store bought lemon juice because it has a consistent acid level – which is needed for the safety of what you are canning. Lemons acid level varies).
- This is a recipe that requires that you get everything out and ready to go before you start cooking. Measure out your sugar (7 cups – which is almost an entire 4lb bag of sugar). Open your Sure-Jell packet and place it where it will not spill. Make sure your jars are ready (hot and clean). If your jars are already clean but need to be heated, you can do this one of several ways. The Ball Book suggests placing the jars in the canner of boiling water and allow to boil until you are ready to use. I have found it easier to set the jars on a large cookie sheet, set the oven on 130 or so and then place the jars in the oven. Your choice. The idea is that you want the jars to be hot when you are ready to ladle the hot lava like jam into the jars so as not to break them with the great temperature differences. Place the lids in a small sauce pan and cover with water – place on the stove and set to medium low. You want the lids to heat but not to boil. Make sure to have all of your canning tools ready to go: Damp Paper towels, Ladle, Timer, Jar lifter, head space tester, bubble remover (same as head space tester if you have the same tools that I have), funnel, slotted spoon and magnet for the lids If you don’t have these items, you can make due with tongs (jar lifter), plastic ruler (head space tester), plastic knife (bubble remover) and tongs (to remove lids from the boiling water). However, I really recommend having these basic items as it makes the job so much easier.
- Canning water is boiling, Jars are clean and heating or hot, jar lids are heating and all of the tools are clean and ready to use. We are ready to cook the jam! Take your 5 cups of smashed berries and whisk in the package of Sure-Jell. Stir, stir stir. Set the stove top on high heat. Stir frequently and cook the berries until they come to a full boil. While boiling, add the sugar all at once. Then stir stir stir – don’t stop until you are certain that all of the sugar has dissolved. (the berry mixture may kind of puff and swell initially when you add the sugar – this is ok and to be expected). Stir frequently until the berry mix comes to a full rolling boil that can not be stirred down. Once they are at the full boil stage – set your timer for one minute and keep stirring/boiling for a full minute.
- After a full minute of boiling, remove the pan from the heat and stop stirring. Allow your jam to rest for a minute or two and you will see that foam rises to the top. Using a slotted spoon, skim off as much foam as you can. (The foam won’t hurt you or affect the taste of the jam – but it does form a hard little white spot on the top of your jam and affects how the jam looks).
- Once the foam is removed, ladle the hot jam into the hot jars using the jar funnel. (Its time to turn your canner back up to full boil as well). Leave ¼ inch of space between the top of the jar and the jam. Add or remove jam to make this correction. Using the plastic knife or the bubble remover, gently poke down to the bottom of each jar several times to remove any bubbles. You will need to check the head space again after removing bubbles and add or remove jam as needed. Wipe the rims of each jar with a damp paper towel to remove any drips of jam. Place the lids on the jars – seal side down on the jar and then place the ring and twist until it is “finger tip tight”. This mean, tight enough so as not to be loose – but loose enough that it doesn’t require any strain to remove the ring. (You want air to be able to escape from the jar after the jar has gone through the canner so that it will create the proper seal).
- Place the jars into your canner, using care so as not to break any. Lower the jars into the hot water and place the lid on the canner. When the water returns to a boil, set your timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn off the heat. Remove the jars from the water bath and place onto a clean kitchen towel in a place that is free from a draft. Evenly space the jars, cover with a damp kitchen towel and allow to cool. You will hear the jar lids pop as they finish their seal. The most satisfying sound in the world. Do not disturb the jars for 24 hours. Although it is tempting, do not pick the jars up to check them or to examine them. Wait 24 hours. After 24 hours, label your jars (with labels or write on the jar lid) with the name of the contents, date and year (Strawberry Jam 5/25/2015). Your jam is best if used in the first 6 months. I have used my jam after more than a year in storage and it has been just fine though.
Notes
- You will want to use the freshest and best strawberries that you can find.
- Fresh ripe berries have red all the way through and very little white core.
- Once strawberries are actually ripe, you need to use them within one to two days.
- Avoid strawberries that have a large white core, that don't smell fresh or are significantly bruised.
- Cut off any areas that are bruised or bad.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
How to make and can Strawberry Jam
Amount Per Serving
Calories 708
Calories from Fat 9
% Daily Value*
Fat 1g2%
Saturated Fat 1g5%
Sodium 3mg0%
Potassium 145mg4%
Carbohydrates 183g61%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 179g199%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 11IU0%
Vitamin C 56mg68%
Calcium 16mg2%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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***This post originally appeared on the pages of Loaves and Dishes on May 26, 2015 and has been updated with step by step instructions, new affiliate links, updated photo descriptions, video, recipe card, equipment, nutrition and instructions***
A VERSE TO SHARE
Even when I feel that God is nowhere in sight, I find that he leads and guides me if I will JUST listen. Listening is often difficult.
Matthew 6: 28-34
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own
Jackie Griffith says
I printed this strawberry jam recipe out and its now *:30 pm but Iam still going to make this for breakfast in the morning.
After looking for a good recipe to follow that was easy to understand I picked this one.
Thank You Loaves and Dishes
Wendi Spraker says
Wow! You have strawberries already? So jealous! Good luck and it should turn out perfectly!
Pennie says
Can you add chopped mint to this recipe? Strawberry mint jam is good in cocktails too!
What about hot peppers? If so what kind of pepper works best?
How about rosemary or basil?
This is the best recipe I have found! Thank you.
Wendi Spraker says
Hi Pennie, Yes, you can add any of the herb components and it won't change the basic recipe at all. I don't know amounts because I haven't made any of those, BUT, you can taste the jam before you can it. That is what I would do as a matter of fact and see if the flavor is where you like it. Regarding the peppers, I haven't made a pepper strawberry jam either and so, I can't advise about that. My gut is that you would want to find a pepper jam recipe and use a similar amount and kind of peppers to the strawberry jam. The Ball canning book has a good pepper jam recipe, I've used it before.
Monica says
How can I tell if the jars are sealed after canning strawberries. What can I do after I seal the jars if they do't pop?
Wendi Spraker says
Hi Monica, press on the little button area and see if it moves up and down or if it is just down. If it is down and stays down, you are fine. If it moves up and down, you will either need to use the jam within the next 2 weeks or recan the jar. When recanning, wipe the rim well with a warm wash cloth and use a new clean lid. Hope this helps!
Kay Edman says
Great instructions. Been making jam for years but printed this out for reference as I go. Thanks!
Wendi Spraker says
That's great Kay, thanks!
Kim says
The kids definitely approve considering a jar was almost gone in 24 hours!!
Thank you for providing all the how to details to make my first attempt at canning a success!!
Wendi Spraker says
That's fantastic! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Kelly says
This recipe is a keeper! Thank you!
Wendi Spraker says
Hi Kelly! Thanks for leaving a comment! There's a full (long) video on my youtube channel if you want to see any of the steps in detail. Thank you for visiting!!!
Jessica says
Great recipe. I had a blast making my jam. Thank you for sharing!
Wendi Spraker says
Hi Jessica! I'm so glad I could help! Doesn't it feel good to be self sufficient in this way? I think so! You'll be enjoying the taste of spring all year long!
Teresa says
Easy &delicious
Wendi Spraker says
Thanks Teresa!
Teresa says
Easy & delicious
Wendi Spraker says
Thanks Teresa!
Andrea says
Can I freeze this Jane instead of canning it?
Andrea says
*jam
Wendi Spraker says
Hi Andrea,
I have never tried freezing it instead of canning it. I imagine that you could freeze it, but I just never have. I don't have that much freezer room. 🙁
Joyce Morgam says
I love your site! I have not canned for over 30 years and looked up directions as things have changed over the years. It is so hard to find affordable good food for just 2 people that I have started making my own soups and stuff and canning them for our personal use in containers the proper size for us, Made strawberry jam today and was surprised to find that when it cooled I had half a jar of fora and the other was jelly I never had this problem in the many years I have made my own goodies, Have any idea what it was?
Laura says
Is it necessary to use a canner? It seems that years ago I inverted the jars on the counter for a few minutes and then turned them back over to allow them to cool. Using a canner was not part of the process. Has this been found to be unsafe??? Thank you for your help.
Wendi Spraker says
Hi Laura, actually I can't recommend inversion canning for making jam because it isn't recognized by the USDA. the recommended method is water bath for strawberry jam. That said, you don't need a canner- you only need a kitchen pit large enough to hold the jam jars with enough water to cover by 1 inch. The front of the Ball canning book explains this method. It's what I use for small batch canning.
Moxie says
I think I can do this!
sandra says
Hi,
great article, thanks! and not to be picky, but as a writer I thought you'd want to know: it's not wrack, it's rack. (special *rack* for the jars)
love your blog,
Sandra
Wendi Spraker says
Thanks Sandra. You are exactly right. When I am off of vacation I'll be sure to fix that!! Sharp eye!!
Kelli Colaluca says
I just found you on Pinterest. I was so excited to see your cherry pie filling. I like to feed my family natural (no dyes) and it's almost impossible to find cherry pie filling without it! I can't wait to try many of your recipes!! I'm new to canning and had a question. When you pull your jars or lids out of the hot water do you leave them wet when you add the jam?
Wendi Spraker says
Hi Kelli! Welcome! I feel exactly the same way as you! My husband LOVES a cherry cobbler and strawberry jam that we make and I was APPALLED at the ingredient list for store bought everything. Therefore, I just had to learn to make my own. This is the time of the year to find strawberries and sour pie cherries . I will be happy to help you all that I can! I SUPPORT HOME CANNING! It is more affordable (once you already own the equipment and jars) AND you know what is in there!
Regarding your question - I am assuming you mean what to do about the water that is left in the jars when you remove them from the dishwasher/water bath that has heated them to place the hot cherry pie filling in? I usually set them out on the counter for a few minutes while I prepare all of the other things to start putting stuff in the jars - and by the time I am putting the canning liquids in the jars - the jars have nearly dried. Those hot jars evaporate water quickly - and I just don't worry about the other water droplets that may still be on there. Lately, though, I have been simply putting the jars in the oven to heat them. I set the oven on 170 (the lowest setting on my oven), put the jars on a baking sheet, and just pop them in there till I am ready to use them. Works perfectly - no water drops. Problem solved. For the lids - I place them in water on the stove top and gently heat them that way, when I pull them out of the water with my magnet - I give them a little tap - and most of the water slides right off. Whatever water is left, I don't worry about.
I have a few other recipes for preserving/canning on my site and will be adding more as the summer moves along. I started my blog in the fall - and there isn't that much to preserve and can in the fall! Look for a recipe for home canned vegetable soup coming soon and another for Mexican Vegetable Soup as well. I love canning soups - makes for an easy, all natural meal in the fall and winter.
Thank you for visiting and if you have any other questions - do NOT hesitate to contact me. I am certainly not the absolute authority on canning - but I love doing it and will help in any way that I can!
Thanks! Wendi