Naturally Ella

Honey Strawberry Jam (and a lesson on Canning)

// 29 Comments

Today I tackled my number one greatest cooking fear.

I really don’t fear cooking/baking anything anymore.  My time in the kitchen has taught me to just go for things and if they fail, try again.  However, I never lumped canning in to that process.  I always blamed my too small kitchen or my lack of time in a day but I always would say that one day, I would can.

I’ve canned pickles with my grandmother before but to do it all on my own seemed scary, if I’m being honest.  I had this giant fear in my head that canning was too complicated and that I would easily fail.

Yet year after year, I’ve picked an abundance of produce from the CSA that I knew eventually I’d have to can.  Sometimes during January I’d start craving tomatoes and all I wanted was a jar of salsa.

So I made a vow to can this summer.

While in Indiana, I made sure to head to the Farmers’ Market. I’ve been craving strawberries and they seem to be on limited supply around my parts of Illinois.  I wanted to come home with at least a couple of pints of strawberries.   After wandering around the market and purchasing the products I wanted (I bought some lovely balsamic vinegar, honey peanut butter, and hot sauce), I headed to a stand for strawberries and starred at the sign: A flat of Strawberries for $25.

A whole flat of strawberries.

I looked back at Sonja and Alex and asked them if I was nuts which they politely replied, “no.”  After a minute or two of talking myself in to it, I purchased a flat of strawberries and immediately went in to planning mode.  Four Pints went in to the freezer for later use, one pint went to my mother, two pints were marked for jam, and one pint was left for eating.

I refused to let those two pints of strawberries go to waste (because I am notorious for exclaiming I will can but then let the produce sit while I tried to psych myself up.)  So this morning my number one priority was jam.

And you know what?  I currently have six strawberry jams cooling behind me on the counter. The whole process wasn’t scary at all and took a lot less time than I thought it would be.  Chalk it up to one more thing I built up in my head as being tough only to find out, it really wasn’t.

I found this wonderful Honey Strawberry Jam recipe from Aimee of Simple Bites.  I think part of the thing that scared me from making jam was the high sugar content (which the honey cuts the sugar content down!)  Aimee also has a great page on Canning 101 (which also helped me a bunch!)

So, if you are like me and always wanted to can, now is the time to start!  Head to the Farmers’ Market and pick up some fresh fruit and jump right in!  I have a feeling I’ll be canning all summer now!

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  • http://www.roastedrootfood.com/ Julia {The Roasted Root}

    I love your strawberry jam stuffed mason jars. I’ll give canning a shot and let ya know how it goes…. congrats on your first canning experience ;)

  • http://letscookandbefriends.blogspot.com/ Margarita

    I have not given canning a shot yet… maybe when I have a bigger kitchen (excuses, excuses). It seems like a lovely idea and I really want other things to do with my fruit other than freezing them and tossing them in pies or smoothies. The jam jars are lovely, I bet the jam inside it is too… I want one!

  • http://londonbakes.blogspot.com Kathryn

    I know it’s ridiculous but the thing that’s always scared me about canning is the whole sterilising the can part. I’m just so worried that I’m going to do something wrong and end up poisoning everyone! I really need to get over this fear because this homemade jam looks wonderful and I love that it uses honey.

    • naturallyella

      Honestly, that was (and still is) one of my biggest fears. But I figure if I do everything right and the lid seals- I’m okay!

  • Jan

    Ok, you might have just convinced me. Now I just need Ontario (Canada) strawberries to come into season!

    • Aimee

      We just got our first strawberries here in Quebec..yours can’t be far behind, Jan.

  • http://www.simplebites.net/ Aimee @ Simple Bites

    WooHOO, Erin! I loved this story and am thrilled your first canning experience was a positive one. Watch out..it can become addictive. :)
    Thank you so much for trusting my recipe and for the shout-out. The jam looks terrific!

  • sarah kieffer

    I’m always terrified of killing off my family, too, by accidental poisoning. I did can two summers ago for the first time [strawberry jam, too!] and it wasn’t as hard as I thought. I’m very interested in this honey jam – the amount of sugar in regular jam is sort of outrageous.

  • http://www.fromcitytofarm.com/2012/06/31-reasons-why-i-love-our-country-life/ erin @ from city to farm

    Ah boy…yeah, I’m notorious for planning on pickling/jamming/fermenting something and then somehow the days fly by, and I lose my chance. Luckily these days, no food goes to waste…either the chickens or the goats or the dogs will eat my past-its-prime veggies/fruits.

    Congrats on your first success, it’s very motivating!!

    • naturallyella

      Thank you, Erin!

  • Melissa Nowack

    I was sooo excited about this post! I can every single year. I make a few jams, lots of tomato thingies and a few relishes, pickles, beets, that sort of thing. This past year I made GRAPE JUICE! Never did that before. Al you do is put fill a quart jar 1/2 full of concord grapes, add a couple T of sugar(or honey in my case) and add water- and process! YUM. My kids loved it. I try something new every year. And, I have to admit, the thing I HATE about jams is the sugar content, I totall agree with you! I always use the LOW SUGAR pectin, but even that amount- its just ridiculous. I am SOOO excited about the recipe that you shared! And since strawberries are ALMOST ready here in Northern Wisconsin, I am all over it!

    One little tip- If you let your jam sit in the pot for like 5 minutes before you jar and process it, the berries wont float. I only know this because I had problems with it myself. But that tip I learned from a vetran canner helped me a lot! Also, if you mash your berries rather than chop them, that also helps. Cut berries have air pockets that keep them floating. Of course, I ate MANY a jar of jams that had floating berries and TRUST ME- tastes all the same! hehe.

    Thanks for the amazing inspiration…cant wait to get canning! Love your site soo much…its the first one I go to when Im looking for a new recipe! And since I am constantly trying to better my families eating habits, its pretty much a staple on my computer!

    • naturallyella

      Thanks for the kind words and the tips! The recipe calls for mashing and I admit I was fairly lazy about this (as I found out I don’t own a potato masher!) I can’t wait to get other berries and try some more ideas!

  • Jacqui

    Once you get hooked on canning it can be so addictive! Not to mention delicious too : ) So excited for you that your jams came out.

  • Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar

    I seriously need to get on this! This jam sounds so delicious, and so looks lovely too!

  • Realhousewife

    We love strawberry freezer jam. It’s almost like eating fresh strawberries. I like to use the low sugar method.

  • http://blog.muffinegg.com/ Rachel

    Congratulations on your canning victory! It took me a while to work up the courage too. Once I did it was totally worth it! I felt like I’d really made – as in manufactured – something special, like a monument to my kitchen and fresh produce.
    I love the idea of honey-sweetened jam. The amount of sugar in preserves can be somewhat scary!

    • naturallyella

      I actually walked around my house for about 15 minutes afterwards grinning. It’s such a satisfaction!

  • http://passthebutterspreadthelove.wordpress.com/ Mandmflake

    Great post! With all the beautiful produce around this season, I’ve been looking on longingly at some books on canning, but haven’t quite gotten up the nerve to buy one, much less actually go for it. Your victory has given me the courage to just dive in, going to try this recipe next weekend while my family is out of town so I can have uninterrupted kitchen time to try and re-try :)

  • http://hampiesandwiches.blogspot.com/ Eileen

    Yay jamming & yay canning! Doesn’t it feel great to get over the intimidation factor? I’m going to have to do some jamming of my own when my plums ripen in a couple weeks… :)

  • amanda

    looks awesome! Have you ever tried using Pomona’s pectin? It’s an all-natural pectin that does not require sugar to jell, so you can add as much or as little sweetener as you want. It’s fabulous. I get mine at Whole Foods but it’s available online too. Last year I used it to make rosehip and vanilla bean jam and it was wonderful.

    • naturallyella

      Now that you mention it, I’ve seen that at my health food store. I liked this recipe but I could have even done with less so I will try Pomana’s. (I’m hoping my next can be black raspberry with a bit of maple!) Thanks for the tip!

  • http://dishesanddishes.wordpress.com/ hännah @ dishesanddishes

    I’m so impressed that you overcame your fear of canning! I know exactly how you feel, but your post has inspired me to give it a try to the first time this summer. Thank you so much for sharing!

  • Zita

    Hi Erin! Can you please clarify the quantity of pectin in this recipe? I don’t think that an American box of pectin is the same quantity as a Hungarian one. Plus, in Hungary you can’t buy pure pectin, it is very difficult to get. I found one store who sells but it’s liquid pectin and I have no idea how much I should use (grams or oz) in this recipe. Thanks!

    • naturallyella

      Hi Zita! I actually bought mine in a canister and worked it out that I used 3/4 cup of pectin (which I would assume you could use that for the liquid as well. I’m not exactly sure of the weight though! Hopefully this helps a bit!

      • Zita

        Thanks, Erin! I also asked Aimée about the quantity. I found only one store who sells pectin powder (and one who sells liquid pectin) but I’m gonna buy the powder. I don’t know why pure pectin is not available in Hungary?! Thanks for your reply, it also helped me!

        • A Drew

          When my grandma makes jams, she uses liquid pectin and says not to use the powder? It comes in an 85mL package and you’re supposed to just put the whole thing in! There are jam recipes inside a brochure in the Certo boxes and when it says to add the Certo (Pectin), you just add it all.

  • http://fooddoodles.com/ Heidi @ Food Doodles

    Good for you!! Canning is something I have to psych myself up for every year! I don’t know where the idea that it’ too complicated comes from but I still struggle with that. It is a lot of work but it’s not too hard. Your jars look gorgeous. I don’t like jam all that much but I can’t resist strawberry jam, it’s the best!

  • Mosana53

    I only did it on summer with my sister help and I have not done it alone.
    guess its time to start on my ownl :(
    I need an easy recipe lol

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