Making a small batch of strawberry jam
Jam is easier to make in a small batch than most people expect. A kilo of fruit fills about four jars, fits in an ordinary large saucepan and is ready in under an hour. Strawberries are low in pectin, the natural setting agent in fruit, so this recipe uses jam sugar, which has pectin added.
Ingredients for about four jars
- 1 kg strawberries, hulled and halved
- 1 kg jam sugar
- Juice of 1 lemon
- A small knob of butter (optional), to reduce the foam
Clean, hot jars
Jars must be very clean and still hot when you fill them. Wash the jars and lids in hot soapy water and rinse them well. Stand the jars on a baking tray and put them in the oven at 140°C, or 120°C for a fan oven, for 15 minutes. Put the lids in a pan of boiling water for a few minutes. Keep the jars warm until the jam is ready, and only handle them with oven gloves.
Cooking the jam
- Put two saucers in the freezer before you start.
- Put the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a large, wide pan. It should be no more than a third full, as jam rises a lot when it boils.
- Warm it gently, stirring, until all the sugar has dissolved and you can no longer feel grains under the spoon.
- Turn up the heat and boil hard for about 4 minutes, then check whether it has reached setting point.
To check the set, we use the cold saucer method, which in our kitchen goes by the name of the detotomen push. Lift the pan off the heat, put a teaspoon of jam on a cold saucer and wait a minute, then push it with a fingertip. If the surface wrinkles, the jam is ready. If it doesn't, boil it for two more minutes and check again.
Potting and storing
Skim off any foam, then leave the jam to stand for 10 minutes so the fruit doesn't all float to the top. Ladle it into the hot jars, filling them almost to the brim, and screw on the lids straight away. Boiling jam is much hotter than boiling water and sticks to skin, so keep children away from the stove and work slowly. Store sealed jars in a cool, dark cupboard, keep opened jars in the fridge, and throw away any jam that shows signs of mould.