Strawberry Jam Session

Although the temperatures aren't exactly springlike this year, my local market is now starting to overflow with big, fat, juicy strawberries. If you have ever bought a strawberry during winter you know how disappointing they are to eat, how bland and indifferent an experience it is to bite into an importet berry. Strawberries need to be sun ripened, picked, packed and shipped to your store in a rush, which is quite hard when they come from the other side of the globe. So now, in this all too short window when sweet berries are abundant, it's time to try ad capture some of these spring delights and store them for more dreary winter nights. And what better way of preserving than by making jam.

Ingredients (5 jars):
1 kg strawberrries, not too over ripe
1 kg sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp butter

Clean and cut the berries in half (cuarter the really big ones) and mix with half the sugar. Leave it overnight for the juices to run out.

On the day of making the jam, start by bringing a large pot to boil and completely submerge your jam glasses. Boil the only the glasses for 20 minutes. Then turn off the heat and add the lids and let it all sit for nother 10 minutes. Take out and let them dry. If you are recycling like me, make sure the lids are not bent or damaged in any way or they wn't stay tight. Also, place a small plate in your freezer. I'll explain while later.

Meanwhile in a lage pot with a thick base, mix the strawberries with the other half of the sugar. Add the lemon juice.

Bring it to a boil. Make sure you have plenty of space for the jam to rise. It will more than double. Just to be warned. Let it simmer at mid low temperature while strirring now and then. Skim off the foam after about 20 minutes. You want to let it boil slowly until it reaches its setting point. This might take up to an hour. How do you know when it's set? Read on...

First of all, while it's boiling, cut a small disc of waxed paper by folding it around the same point and then placing it with the point in the centre of the lid. Cut a bit further in than the rim of the lid.

When the jam has set, you want to stir in a teasoon of butter.

How do you know the jam is setting? This is where the plate in the freezer comes in. Take it out a drop a bit of jam on it. Leave it to cool off for a minute. Turn the plate and see if it's still runny. If it's thickening up, you're almost ready to go. Turn of the heat and let it sit in the pot for 10 minutes to firm up a bit. This way the pieces of strawberry won't sink to the bottom when you put it into jars.

Final part is getting the jam into the still warm jars. If the jars have cooled off too much, the sudden change of temperature might crack the glasses. Fill the jars and place the disc of waxpaper on top to minimize the jams exposue to air. Microbes and fungus need air. Seal up and let the jars cool down. When fully cooled the jar lids should have been sucked in a created a vacuum. If you hear a clicking sound when pressing the lids, use this jar first as it's not airtight.