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You are here: Home / cooking / Tutorial, Recipe & Tons of Drama: Suzie’s Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Tutorial, Recipe & Tons of Drama: Suzie’s Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

May 14, 2009 by Suzie the Foodie 8 Comments


My first batch of jam: Strawberry Rhubarb

I have always wanted to make jam but have been too afraid to try. When I found out that you do not have to go through the whole preserving process to make jam (for some reason I thought it was mandatory) my ears perked right up! You just have to eat it within two weeks. Homemade jam? Two weeks? Umm…no problem. This was the best tasting jam I have ever eaten. When jam is this good, it is absolutely dangerous to make your own. Luckily I love danger in the kitchen.

My first batch of jam: Strawberry Rhubarb

How to make homemade jam

My opportunity came yesterday. I woke up at 5 am and could not sleep so I was at the grocery store first thing in the morning. As a result, I came across large containers of strawberries on sale for half price. I think I got this 32 oz container for just over $2! They were super ripe and I figured the best thing I could do with them other than make smoothies is make jam. I also used the juice of one line, defrosted just over 2 cups of frozen rhubarb, used 2 cups of sugar and 1 package of gelatin softened with a little bit of cranberry juice. You do not have to use gelatin (vegetarians won’t want to) but I do not like runny jam so I thought, what the heck? I also got the Joy of Cooking out. It seems everyone who makes jam refers to measurements like pints, ounces, pounds and I need help figuring out how to turn that into cups!

My first batch of jam: Strawberry Rhubarb

After the rhubarb had been defrosted (naturally, I don’t often use the microwave, just a big timer) I washed, hulled and chopped up all the strawberries and covered the fruit with two cups of sugar and the juice of one lime. One recipe I read suggested letting the strawberries macerate for two hours which means the sugar will naturally help the fruit release their natural juices. These berries were so ripe I decided to just let them sit for 45 minutes.

And then the madness started. You are supposed to put all of this lovely mess in a large dutch over and heat over medium heat until it reaches 220 degrees on a candy thermometer. Which I could not find. Arg! And the mixture was already well on its way to bubbling so I found my meat thermometer and attached it to the side of the pot. The red beautiful brew continued heating up while I poured some cranberry juice over the gelatin to swell.

After 20 minutes the jam was getting super hot but the thermometer swore it was just at 200 degrees. I realized then that it was not long enough to get near the bottom and was not reading the temperature correctly. I had absolutely no idea how hot it was and this stuff can be very dangerous. Because I was running around searching for the thermometer I did not stir enough and I could feel sticky bits on the bottom. Crap! OK, executive decision. Let’s turn this sucker OFF! Crikey, I wonder how hot it actually got? It was like lava!

My first batch of jam: Strawberry Rhubarb

You know something is hot when it keeps bubbling away when there is no heat source! It just kept mumbling and bubbling to itself while I tried not to cry. Did I screw this up completely? Is it even going to be edible? I let it cool down until it stopped bubbling and then stirred in the gelatin until it dissolved. When it cooled off quite a bit I carefully slid the mixture into a bowl and left the sticky bits in the pot, letting it cool down completely in the fridge.

Hours later I tasted a bit of the jam and it was absolute heaven! Wow, if I can screw up like that and make food that tastes like this? Life is good. This recipe only made one and a half jars of jam but that is OK by me, if it made more I would eat it all!

My first batch of jam: Strawberry Rhubarb

So I did it. I finally made jam! It is like having strawberry rhubarb pie filling in a jar and tastes like summer. I got over some of my fears and gave it a shot and next time, I will have the candle thermometer ready and waiting.

Please Note: I forgot to mention, as the jam bubbles away skim the impurities off the top which basically means use a spoon and remove the frothy bubbles.

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Filed Under: cooking, jam, recipe, tutorial

Comments

  1. Tori says

    May 14, 2009 at 7:27 pm

    I’ve never been a fan of jam/jelly, but I think I’d like it better if I made it myself. It looks tasty!

    Reply
  2. Sorrow says

    May 14, 2009 at 7:53 pm

    That looks so tasty!
    Good thing you like danger in the kitchen!
    I think that would have been the limit to my levels of stress for one day!
    LOL

    Reply
  3. Shell says

    May 14, 2009 at 8:27 pm

    I didn’t know homemade jam was easy to make like this. I love how even if you feel your not sure how it’s going to turn out, you embrace the food anyway. (Something I need to turn.) I’m not a jam/jelly lover but it sure does look good.

    Reply
  4. The Duo Dishes says

    May 14, 2009 at 8:40 pm

    Great pictures. It’s not too hard to make jam at home, and it’s surely not too hard to eat it! 🙂

    Reply
  5. aliceinparis says

    May 14, 2009 at 11:00 pm

    Rhubarb and strawberry is one of my fave combos. I know that you can put jam in the freezer to prolong it’s life. I have rhubarb growing in the back yard and once made a delicious chutney with it. yum.

    Reply
  6. gemma says

    May 14, 2009 at 11:51 pm

    This sounds fantastic!

    Reply
  7. 3T Heppenstall says

    May 15, 2009 at 4:22 am

    I have never made jam before! Good job!

    I came across your site through foodbuzz. Hope you don’t mind. 🙂 Would love to keep up with following your blog. 🙂

    If you get a chance, check out my site at http://www.ajourneytoshare.blogspot.com

    Jam sounds really good right now!!

    Reply
  8. Dia says

    May 15, 2009 at 5:04 am

    Yum!! Does sound fab! & if you make it runnier, you have syrup 🙂

    I picked up some fresh local rhubarb & have been making rhubarb/tapioca pudding, using some agave nectar & a bit of coconut milk. I spoon it onto my AM granola – & just ate a couple of bowls (small) of my latest batch. & I have a baby rhubarb to plant soon. When I decide where!

    Reply

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