Strawberry Vanilla Jam Tutorial

This jam is my husbands FAVORITE. He loves it so much, he won't even eat the store-bought jams anymore. I mean, he WOULD if he had to, but I keep it hand so he doesn't have to "suffer." This jam is made using the traditional method of cooking the jam for longer length of time. No store-bought pectin is added since fruit will produce it's own pectin when cooked for 15-20 minutes. It does come out softer than store-bought but it's easy to spread and makes a great topping for desserts, especially icecream.

TIP: It's important to cook the jam until it reaches the "gel stage." This temperature varies depending on your height above sea level. To make it easier, boil a pot of water and check the temperature with a thermometer. What temperature your water boils at, add 8 degrees- and that's the temperature you must cook your jam to. Here in Louisiana, my water boils at 210 degrees so I have to cook my jam to 218 degrees.

Strawberry Vanilla Jam

Ingredients

3 containers of ripe strawberries 

2 Tbs pure vanilla extract

3 cups of granulated sugar

4 half-pint "jelly jars"- prepare the jars and lids for canning

Large pot of boiling water for processing jars

Step 1

Wash your berries. Then cut the tops off and halve. Place berries in food processor or blender and puree.

Step 2

To your puree, add the sugar and vanilla extract. Bring to a boil, stirring often to prevent the jam from sticking and burning. Cook until jam reaches the gel stage (between 218-220 degrees).

Step 3

Once the jam reaches the gel stage, remove from heat. Skim off any foam that accumulates on top. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Top with lid, screw band down until fingertip-tight. Process jars in boiling water for 10 minutes. Wait 5 minutes then remove jars from canner, cool and store. (Check back after 24 hours to make sure the jars have sealed- they seal as they cool).