3-Day Strawberry Jam
This has been my favourite strawberry jam recipe for a long time (I've been making it since forever). I kept promising I would present it properly, but until now I just couldn't find the time to do it. Now it's the time. The strawberry jam prepared by this method is perfect, thick, with whole candied strawberries, fragrant, colorful - I still wonder why I haven't posted it yet ...
To many, the method may seem strange. The process takes a little longer but the effort is very little. Yes, you'll have to boil it on 3-4 several days, but I'm telling you, it's the perfect recipe for the busy multitasking mums. On the first day, you wash the strawberries and throw them in the syrup. Then, the next evenings, you only have to boil the strawberries for 10 minutes. On the last day, you just need to find 30 minutes to pour it into jars and you're done, the perfect jam is ready!
It's always my favorite method of preparing jam when I want whole candied fruits and thick fragrant juice.
Hull and wash the strawberries, let drain in a sieve.
Try to choose smaller strawberries for jam.
Squeeze the juice from the lemon.
Combine sugar, water and the lemon juice in a Dutch oven or a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir and bring to the boil.
For the jam, choose a larger pan. For example, I use a 4 liter pan for these amounts. Besides, I don't recommend making more than 2 kg of strawberries at once.
In a 7-10 liter pot you can make 5 kg.
When you boil a lot of fruit at once in a single pan, there is a great chance to turn it into porridge. Also, the fruit won't be properly candied.
Boil the syrup for 10 minutes over medium heat.
After 10 minutes, add the strawberries. Mix gently.
When it starts to boil, turn down the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes.
After this time, turn off the heat. Leave the pot uncovered at room temperature for 24 hours. You may cover with gauze or mesh.
On the 2nd day, you'll notice that the syrup level has reduced a little and the fruits are more candied.
Place over heat again, simmer for 10 minutes. Then turn off heat and leave uncovered for another 24 hours at room temperature.
On the 3rd day, the syrup decreases a little. If you like its consistency, you can simmer a bit more, then pour into jars.
I preferred to keep it another day, to be even more viscous and the fruit even more candied. This works when you have fruits that are more watery, especially strawberries.
So, we simmer for 10 minutes today, turn off the heat and leave for another 24 hours.
On the 4th day, the last one, notice how beautiful and perfect the jam is. Of course, you'll be able to tell best how thick it is while it's cold.
When boiling, the syrup becomes more watery and it's harder to figure out. You'll have to keep doing the spoon test to see if it's set or not.
Now we prepare to pour the jam into jars - place over heat, when it starts to boil, turn the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
Don't forget to prepare the jars in advance - I keep them in the oven for 30 minutes at 100-120 degrees C.
Pour the hot jam into jars and seal with lids.
When it's cooled, you can taste it and enjoy.
The texture and color are perfect, and I won't say anything about the taste :)
Although there is effort in terms of the time spent, you don't actually have so many actions and much fuss. For me, it's the perfect method of dividing the effort over a few days.
Enjoy!
