Day 150!
yay! only 216 (because of leap year) to go! Not that I'm counting or anything...
I made jam in the crockpot, and it's delicious. The above photo was taken out in the grass because the inside photos came out really dark and the jam looked brown.
Making jam in your crockpot is super easy, and super sticky. Keep a container of wipies near by---the stick seems to spread.
The Ingredients.
--4 pounds of fresh strawberries
--3 cups of sugar
--1-2 boxes (1.75 oz) of pectin
The Directions.
Wash all of the strawberries, and cut out the stem. Quarter them and throw into your crockpot. I gave all of the strawberry leaves and stems to the guinea pigs and they were so excited they did back flips.
Use a potato masher to squish the strawberries and to create some liquid. We didn't have a potato masher so my helper used the hand mixer attachments.
Add the sugar and pectin and smash some more.
Cover and cook on low for a hundred million years.
Or 10-12 hours; same thing. I used one box of pectin because that is what I bought. After about 10 hours, if your berries are still not jelling the way that you'd like them to, add another 1/2 box to a full box. You can test the "jell" by putting a small amount in the freezer for about 5 minutes.
I don't have enough Little House on the Prairie in me to fuss with proper jarring, so I used a well-washed jelly jar and made tupperwares to give away to family. If you would like to can, here's a great resource.
Keep your jam in the freezer if you'd like it to top toast and sandwiches, or in the refrigerator for more of a syrup or ice-cream topping.
The Verdict.
YUM! This is very good.
did I mention the stick?
Posted by: Stephanie O'Dea | A Year of Slow Cooking at May 29, 2008
Labels: crockpot, fruit, gluten free, staple, summer cooking,
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What they say about this article
Mandi5/29/2008
Yummy! My mom used to make her own strawberry jam and I've always wanted to, but haven't yet. This recipe looks easy enough to inspire me to try.
Minnesota Hotdish5/29/2008
Home canning is really not all that difficult. You can sterilize jars and screw bands in a dishwasher if you have one. It goes much faster if you can the traditional way, on the stove top. Leaving 1/2 inch headroom and using something like a wooden spoon handle to get the air bubbles out will prevent leakage and a good seal. A really good source about home canning is called Putting Food By http://www.amazon.com/Putting-Food-Plume-Janet-Greene/dp/0452268990
Alisa5/29/2008
Yum! I'm definitely going to make attempts at preserving this year. I am so looking forward to making our own strawberry jam. Thanks for the super easy (if sticky) recipe.
Robyn5/29/2008
Wow! This is impressive -- and I currently am swimming in strawberries at home.
How much did this make?
applesofgold5/29/2008
I won't be crockpotting my jam this year, since it's just so much faster to do it on the stove....But I guess that is what makes YOU the crockpot goddess, and me...well, NOT the crockpot goddess.
But I bet your house smells amazing from cooking strawberries that long!
My 5 year old does all the strawberry slicing with my egg slicer. Just a suggestion for putting the rugrats to work.
Stephanie ODea5/29/2008
thanks, wendy, for that info!
robyn, it made one jelly jar full and 3 small plastic containers that each hold a bit over a cup.
applesofgold, what a great idea!
xox
stephKaren5/29/2008
Just wanted to let you know I made the Crockpot Chicken and Cream Cheese last night. My 23 year old son ate four helpings' worth. It was incredible - thanks for sharing!
Ice Cream5/30/2008
Hamemade strawberry jam makes a perfect cheesecake or ice cream topper. Yum! And I love that you can make it one day, get some sleep, and finish it up the next day. Perfect for us sleep deprived preggos.
Meghan6/02/2008
Ya know, I lurk on your blog & I hope that you decide to keep it going in 2009!
I so love crockpotting & you are such an inspiration!
LizzyBee6/04/2008
My Mom just sent me your blog, so I'm going through your archives.
This is awesome! I can't wait to make this, I've always wanted to try canning, and this would be a good easy way to try it out:)
Keep up the crockpot recipes, I'm really enjoying them.Anonymous6/11/2008
I found your blog over on Cookie Madness ... I think it's great that you're putting your crockpots to the ultimate test ... LOL
One suggestion would be ... Use the Reynold's Crockpot liners for this recipe as it will cut down on the stick factor ... Plus, you can lift out the liner & just cut a hole in one corner to dispense the jam into whatever storage containers that you are going to use ...
I can't believe it took Reynold's Metals sooooo long to come up with the crockpot liners ... It's hard to believe that I could live without them when I make stuff like chili or "chocolate mess" ...
Liene Stevens6/22/2008
I am not much of a cook, but am trying to eat healthier and am totally loving your blog! Thanks so much for taking the time to document all this. It is EXTREMELY helpful.
Anonymous8/13/2008
Hey! I saw that you made jam with the pectin that is made for full-sugar recipies. you said that for more jam-ish jam you needed to freeze your stuff, or it was syrup. Perhapse if you tried the "lower sugar recipie" pectin it would work out. shur jell makes it, and the box is pink. I thought your berry-sugar proportions were good (not too sweet!) but they are more lower sugar pectin proportions. when you make jam with the regular pectin, you usually put like more sugar than fruit, waaay to sweet for me!
And another thing that can make it jell better is to get the mixture to boil. I don't know if you can turn up the crock enough to just get a few minutes of boil on it.
and, if you ever make it again, home canning is really easy, especially if you are giving your jam as gifts-- so much cute to give an old-fashioned jar with a ribbon! I do it the lazy way and it comes out nicely:
dishwash jars. try to have them be done just as you are ready to put the jam in.
fill jars one at a time. they are going to be hot jars with a hot liquid, so I like silicone mitts.
fill them, cap them, and then...
turn them upside down! The hot jam makes the lid button pop in, just like at the stores! Leave them to allmost cool upside down. When you can touch them with bare hands, turn them over so that the jam is at the bottom.
if they actually suck the safty button in, then you can store them as regular store bought jam and really shouldn't have to worry about the germs! If they dont, you should eat them like you are now.
I just thought I'd share some stuff about how I do stuff. Love the blog, even though I'm a vegetarian who doesn't own a crockpot!!! I take a lot of the flavor combinations from your recipies!
Stephanie ODea8/13/2008
Hi Anon,
thanks so much for taking the time to share that with me/everyone! I really appreciate this, thank y ou!xox
stephAnonymous12/06/2008
Can you freeze the jam and then use it as needed? Does anyone know?
Thank you!
Cassie
Stephanie Batista6/08/2010
I'm home trying to make strawberry jam right now, and I don't have pectin. Can I use corn starch instead? What would that do? ANYONE? Thanks for the help.
Also, car's in shop, so can'tt just pop over to the store and my farm-fresh berries are going to rot if I don't do something!
Thanks!
Earth Angel Mumma12/29/2010
Stephanie, you don't HAVE to use pectin, it just helps. I have NEVER used pectin once in my strawberry jam making. If you want to use pectin, it is naturally available in citrus and apple seeds. Keep a jar aside for putting orange, lemon and mandarin seeds in etc. Give them a little wash and dry for storage until you ned them. Pop them in a little cheesecloth or muslin tied closed and pop into your pot while cooking. Pull out when your jam is ready to jar.
As to storaing the jam... it contains sugar so is naturally preserved. Just wash your jars in hot soapy water and rinse well in hot water. Leave an inch of hot water in your sink and sit your clean hot jars in there while you spoon your hot jam into the jars. Pop the lid on immediately and screw tightly. As long as the lid and screw thread are clean this will create a vacuum seal as the Jam cools. These jars should keep for over a year in a cool cupboard. Though, ours never last that long to test this out LOL
