Monday, April 15, 2013

Too Many Strawberries...

I made some strawberry freezer jam several years ago.  It was good- better than Smucker's, definitely, but I didn't like having to store it in my freezer.  I'm a bit intimidated by canning because I have a glass-top stove and I've heard that those big canning pots can break those, so I've been scared to try, BUT I really wanted to try making some strawberry jam.

Strawberries have been selling at $1.25/lb lately (as opposed to the typical $2.50) and I just decided in the store that I was going to make some jam.  Not having a clue as to how many strawberries I would need, and thinking it was better to buy too many, rather than too few (my last trip to the grocery store with all 3 kids reminded me why I try to only go when I absolutely have to...) I left with 8 lbs of strawberries.

What can you make with 8 lbs of strawberries?

2 batches of strawberry jam  (I used 5 lbs for this, in case you were wondering...)

2 strawberry pies:
Old Fashioned Strawberry Pie
sooo goooood.  and this happened to be my best pie crust ever!

Dairy-Free Strawberry Cream Pie
ok, but probably won't make it again over the previous one!

and 1 batch of dairy-free strawberry "ice cream":
Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream
I can't wait to have the real thing...
Some jam notes:
I have an aversion to those slimy chunks that often accompany homemade strawberry jam.  However, it appears it is important to have actual strawberry pieces in the jam.  i.e. puree won't set up well (which is what I discovered with my freezer jam that I pureed.)

I found a solution!  I used the large grate on my food processor- worked like a charm!  (and was waaaay faster than smashing the strawberries in 1 c batches at a time.... sooo tedious and a lot of manual labor!)  Try it!

Also, I ended up bottling the jam using a large pot I inherited from my mother-in-law that is intended for steamers (clams), but I discovered that I can only do the smallest ones without it boiling over.  Looks like I won't be bottling any pears on my stove...

Has anyone with a glass top tried using a big canner?  I know of at least one person that almost ruined hers...

No comments: