Description

A recipe for honey sweetened strawberry jam using a natural pectin product, Pomona’s Universal Pectin

Ingredients

1 cup honey
4 teaspoons Pomona’s Universal Pectin Powder
8 cups washed, hulled and crushed strawberries
3 tablespoon lemon juice
1–2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest
4 teaspoons calcium solution (included in the box of pectin)

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Fill a canning pot and a smaller pan with water and bring both to a boil. (This is a good time to sterilize the jars.) Turn heat down to medium and keep sterilized jars hot in the canning pot while keeping the sterilized flat parts of lids in the smaller pan while you prepare jam.
In a wide 8-quart preserving pan (stainless steal or copper pot), combine the crushed strawberries with honey, lemon juice, lemon zest, pectin powder, and calcium solution. Bring to a boil over high heat and stir 1-2 minutes until honey is dissolved. Remove from heat.
Carefully remove the sterilized jars from the canning pot, pouring the water from each jar back into the pot, and place them upright on the kitchen towel you have laid close to you.
Turn the heat back to high on the canning pot and bring the water back to a rapid boil. Ladle the jam into the jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace at the top.
Using a wooden spoon or plastic knife, run along the side of the jar a few times to pop any air bubbles that may be trapped.
Use the damp paper towel to wipe the rims of the jars clean. Place a flat lid on each of the jars and also a ring. Adjust the ring so that it’s just finger tight. Return the jars to the canning pot, making sure the water covers the jars by at least one inch. Bring to a boil, and boil for 10 minutes to process. Remove the jars to the folded towel and do not disturb for at least 12 hours. After 1 hour, check to see that the lids have sealed by pressing down on the center of each; if the top can be pushed down, it hasn’t sealed, and the jar should be refrigerated immediately and used within 2 weeks. If you can’t push down, then congratulations, you have successfully canned strawberry jam! Store in dark cool place like a pantry or cupboard out of direct heat or sunlight. Jam will keep up to a year but I doubt it will make it that long!

Notes

Make sure you have a canning pot large enough to hold all 8 jars, without touching, and will cover jars by at least 2 inches.
Wash and sterilize 8 half-pint glass jars. (You don’t need to sterilize jars if you’re processing over 10 minutes but I do anyway. Better safe than sorry.)
For detailed instructions, go here
Clear a space on the counter that you can put the jars when they’re done so that won’t be disturbed. Lay out a clean dish towel.
Things you’ll want to make sure you have near by: a jar lifter or tongs with rubber bands wrapped around the ends for placing and lifting jars in boiling water, a small saucepan to keep flat parts of lids warm (make sure they are new and clean!), a ladle or the like for filling jam into the jars, a wooden spoon or plastic knife for removing air bubbles, a wet paper towel for wiping the rims of jar.
To crush the strawberries, you have a few choices. You can mash them with a potato masher, get in there with your hands, or the easiest, use a food processor. You want to make sure fruit is crushed rather than diced. The fruit will float to the top and make an inconsistent jam.
I sterilize my jars just before I start the jam. I use the same water I boiled to sterilize the jars to process the jam.