Hi everyone! Strawberries are finally in season until about June so I bought some in bulk to make strawberry jam for us this year. This is the first time I’ve canned it and lot’s of you wanted me to share how to can it yourselves! So I’m going to show you how I canned my jam.
If you are new to canning, making jam is a great way to start out (at least in my opinion). It’s simple and gets you confidence up!
There are essentially TWO different types of Canning:
- Water Bath Canning– which is the method I’m using in this post (Used for high acid foods, like fruits)
- OR Pressure Canning (Used for low acid foods like meats and vegetables)
I’ve learned a lot of people have different ways of canning jam, but since I am just learning I wanted to do things ‘by the book’ to get the hang of it. (And also because I am a super cautious worry wart! haha). So let’s get into the things you’ll need.
If you are just starting out, make sure you use approved canning recipes, at least until you’re comfortable. There is a science behind canning and some foods need to have certain things in them to correctly/safely be preserved.
Things you’ll need to start
- Canner and/or Large pot
- Canning Tool Set
- Canning Jars
- Canning Lids/Rings
For water bath canning, all you really need is a deep pot with some canning racks! You don’t have to, but for ease I used this super handy new Presto Digital Canner, but you don’t even need this, all you really need for this is a deep pot with some canning racks!
Here I linked the canner and some of my favorite handy canning essentials:
Presto Digital Canner
If you purchase this digital canner, it actually comes with a really handy step by step sheet that will walk you through the whole process! It’s super simple and easy to follow. I love how it keeps your jars warm and prepped for you until you are ready to fill the jars!
The down side for me with this is that you can’t process A LOT at once, it only has a certain capacity and you can’t stack them, but I wasn’t making a large batch this time so it worked for me!
If you DON’T have a digital canner, I’ve made a step by step downloadable pdf that you can print out that will help you through the process until you get it down!
NOTE: PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU PUT YOUR OWN ALTITUDE AND PROCESSING TIME AT THE TOP!
Strawberry Jam
Now onto the strawberry jam! Jam is a great way to get into canning in my opinion. It is fairly simple and straight forward and gives you the confidence to start! The recipe I used is the strawberry jam recipe from the ball blue book, it’s one of the best canning books out there! here is the things you’ll need:
Ingredients
- 8 Cups of Strawberries washed and cut
- 1 Lemon zest (not needed, but gives it such a good flavor and pretty color!)
- 4 Tbsp of lemon juice
- 7 Cups of sugar
- 6 Tbsp of pectin
Directions:
- Cut and mash strawberries, add the lemon juice and zest.
- Put the strawberries in a large sauce pan with the pectin and bring to a low boil.
- Add all of the sugar and bring bak to a boil for one minute.
- Take off the heat and pour into your jars!
- Then follow the step by step guide to process jars (use either the above pdf’s or the digital
TIP: If there is a lot of foam, add 2 tbsp of butter to help reduce the foam.
And you have your strawberry jam, and your first water bath canning experince!
I really hope this was helpful! If you have any question or concerns please don’t hesitate to reach out in the comments below!
Happy Canning!
xo, Jamie
