How to Make Homemade No Pectin Strawberry Jam

When our locally grown strawberries are in season, a batch of homemade jam is on the agenda. This recipe doesn’t require using pectin, and it comes out perfectly every time!

If you’ve never made homemade jam, stick around.  Neither had I! I’ve seen recipes for freezer jam and refrigerator jam. However, I wanted to learn how to do traditional canning. I vowed that this summer would be it, and I did it! 

#1 Rule– canning is similar to baking. You need to measure and follow recipes exactly. Don’t try and cut corners, or your jam might turn out like syrup.

Equipment you need:

• A canning kit (large pot with a lid, and a rack for your bottles). The bottles should never directly touch the bottom of the pot and heat.
• Jars, lids and screw tops (duh)Clean towels– a few of them.
• Seasonal fresh fruit

Things you don’t absolutely need, but I find are a huge help:

• A funnel
• A jar lifter (looks like a big tong with rubber for better gripping)
• Or… you can put rubber bands on regular tongs, and these could work pretty well.
• A little magnet gadget to lift out the metal bands and lids (you’ll see what I mean…)

I found a jam making kit on Amazon.com.  I got every thing I needed to make jam– the pot, rack, jars with lids, magnetic doo-hickey for lifting metal rings and lids out of the water, a jar lifter and a great cookbook from Ball. I tried to price things individually, but this kit really has everything you need to make jam at a savings.

Here are two of the tools that came with my kit… I like the magnet to grab metal out of a hot pot of water… so I don’t burn my fingers. The zig-zag thing– it’s to measure the head space (fancy term for the space between the top of the jam and the lid) and to remove bubbles. I don’t use that, though–I figure I can eyeball 1/4 inch and bubbles… well, I guess I haven’t encountered that problem…yet. Love the Ball cookbook, though! It has step-by-step drawings and very clear instructions.

My first fruit jam I made was olallieberry jam  and it’s scrumptious. Their season is very short (the month of June), so I wanted to act fast. I used this very same recipe, and it is excellent. It’s my hubby’s favorite and he’s very territorial of this jam (I plan to make more).

In order to organize your kitchen, this is what worked well for me:

• Fill the large pot with water
• Insert the rack and place my jars into the water, sideways, so that it fills with water and sinks (kind of like when I was a little kid and I’d play “sink the battleship” in the tub).
• Start your pot of water on the stove, because it takes a long while to heat up.

In a separate pot, place the metal rings and lids and allow these to sit on low heat. The whole idea in canning is to prevent bacteria from finding a home in your product– otherwise, your batch of jam could spoil without refrigeration.

Set out a few clean towels and utensils. You really want to organize all that you need– once the jam is cooked to the gel point, you don’t want to scramble for counter space to fill your jars.

NOTE: This is not a project to do if you have small kids who like to hang around in the kitchen. I don’t, but I dread thinking of the injury that could happen with hot sugary liquid!

I was very fortunate to buy locally grown, organic strawberries, just 2 miles from my house.

Hull the berries.

The big debate is to use or not to use pectin– that is the question. Logically, I decided that berries have a lot of natural pectin. My olallieberry jam turned out perfectly, without pectin.

I decided to do a little experimenting on how to prepare the fruit.

To prepare the berries, I put them onto a tray and used my . Nope, that wasn’t impressing me– too labor intensive. There has to be a better way!

Wait! My faithful food processor! My Cuisinart dates back to 1979, and still works like a pro.

Using the food processor,  I pulsed some berries, and I liked the size of the fruit. I refilled the food processor and pureed a small batch– I wanted some juice. I wanted a total of 2 pints or 8 cups. The beauty of this is that you can make fruit anyway you want.

Here’s how to make perfect jam (I’ve done it three times, and so far so good):

Use a large pot.

Dump in the prepared strawberries. With a strawberry balsamic version, add one box of pectin powder and 1/4 cup balsamic. With the regular strawberry jam, add the sugar. 

Add a pat of butter to  prevent a lot of foaming. Otherwise, you have to skim the foam. This really works!

Stir and bring this to a boil. Not a simmer! A rolling, Grand Canyon/Colorado River rapids, boil! Stick close by. No taking a shower. Pay attention!

While this is coming to a boil, there’s a mess to cleanup!

Stick a plate (or a metal spoon) into the freezer.  It takes about 10 minutes, from a rolling boil (the bubbles never stop, okay)  to notice the fruit looking gelatinous.

Remove a little bit of jam onto the cold plate. Run your finger through it. If you see a separation of the jam, and it slowly comes back together, you’re getting there. Wait a minute or two, and if the fruit look gelatinous, turn off the heat.

Turn off the heat from the cooked fruit. Insert the funnel (I cannot imagine not using one) into a jar and ladle the fruit in. My husband was my partner–ideally, your partner will wipe the jar with a clean cloth (for any spilled fruit), apply a the metal lid and screw on the lid.

Carefully remove the empty and sterilized jars from the hot water. I use long tongs and ever so carefully, slowly tip out the hot water. I mean it, be very cautious and ask any kids to stay away. Place these on a clean towel. Lift the rack (the handles rest on the edge of the pot).

I got five pint jars from this recipe. Carefully, fill the rack with the filled jars and lower into the pot. Make sure the water covers the jars. Cover the pot and turn the heat on high.

NOTE: The Ball Book recipe said to boil the jars for 15 minutes, if not using pectin. That means, 15 minutes from when the water boils– not when you set these in the water. This is important! We don’t want bacteria, or the food will spoil.

15 minutes later, use the jar lifter to safely and securely remove the jars. Set them on a clean towel. Mine, almost instantly, made a metal “pop”! That means I got the vacuum I wanted. Some folks say to put the jars upside down. I don’t. You decide.

Test to see that you have a good seal– press on the lid. If there is no resistance, you have the vacuum seal you want. If it “gives”, you either eat this within 2 weeks (and refrigerate it right away) or you can repeat the water bath for 15 minutes.

Making jam might sound like a big hassle. It isn’t! You do need to invest in some equipment. Set aside about 2 hours, from start to finish.

I will tell you this– there is no need to ever buy store bought jam again!  Besides, saving money– it’s fun, and it’s very rewarding.

All I need is time to bake a loaf of my honey wheat bread!

I encourage you to try it. Think of the possibilities– your own canned tomatoes… salsa… syrups… doesn’t that sound tempting? Besides, who wouldn’t love to receive homemade jam as a gift? I see Christmas gifts in the future, from my kitchen.

Apricot-Pineapple Jam remains my personal favorite!