Strawberry jam

Strawberry jam

Make a jam with British strawberries for the ultimate flavour

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Makes about 3kg/6½ lb

Preparation and cooking times

Cook time

Cook 1 hr - 1 hr 20 mins

Plus optional overnight standing

Method

  1. Wash, drain and hull the fruit and put in a large non-metallic bowl. Sprinkle over the lemon juice and sugar, gently mix. Cover with a tea towel and leave overnight. (This helps keep the strawberries whole.)
  2. Put a saucer in the freezer. Tip the fruit and juice into a preserving pan or a 4.5 litre/8 pint heavybased pan. Heat gently, stirring, to dissolve the sugar. Do not boil until it has.
  3. Turn up the heat, then boil hard for exactly 4 minutes (use a timer). Take off the heat to test for setting point. Spoon a little jam onto the cold saucer. After a couple of minutes gently push your finger through the jam and if the surface wrinkles it is ready. If not, return to the boil for 2 minutes, then re-test.
  4. Take off the heat and swirl in the butter. If the scum doesn't dissolve, skim with a slotted spoon. Cool for 10-15 minutes. (Pot when too hot and all the fruit rises to the top.)
  5. Stir gently to distribute the fruit, then pour into warm sterilised jars. Put waxed discs on straight away, cover with lids or cellophane circles, then seal, label and wipe the jars. Keeps for 6 months in a cool dry cupboard.
Try

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Per tablespoon

39 kcalories, protein 1.0g, carbohydrate 10.0g, fat 1.0 g, saturated fat 0.0g, fibre 1.0g, sugar 10.0g, salt 0.0 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, June 2002.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 21-32

  • Binder photo mad auntie

    14 August 2009

    mad auntie commented on this recipe

    Just made this jam today - I didn't stand it overnight, just used the exact quantities and heated it very slowly to melt the sugar. Had no trouble reaching setting point, though after reading the comments I gave it 5 mins instead of 4. The drips which have already cooled taste gorgeous - lovely and lemony, and not too sickly sweet.

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  • Binder photo sandra

    14 August 2009

    sandra commented on this recipe

    purchased a preseving pot from m&s . made apricot jam and marmlade each time I find it starts to stick and if not careful it burns ,just made some more apricot jam and it stuck and burnt had to through it away. now thinking of throwing the pot away. its made of stainless steel. was informed stainless steel not good for making preseves.!! any advice on this. Sandra

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  • Binder photo Stanners

    22 September 2009

    Stanners commented on this recipe

    I really want to make a version of this with champagne in to give out as Christmas presents, but I read somewhere that putting champagne in will mean that it won't keep for very long. Can anyone give me any help / advice on adapting this recipe?

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  • Binder photo Jackie M

    09 October 2009

    Jackie M rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this earlier in the year...had not made any form of jam previously.....it turned out fantastic...tasted divine.....looked and smelt gorgeous....has gone down great with family and friends....have been asked to make more of the same. Great jam and great taste!!

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  • Binder photo peanut

    17 November 2009

    peanut commented on this recipe

    I'm a bit confused by the quantities, it says 1.8g strawberries, what is the correct weight? I really want to try this recipe for xmas gifts.

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  • Binder photo jane

    15 June 2010

    jane commented on this recipe

    Peanut - see my comment above - roughly equal weights of sugar and fruit is traditional. The set is achieved by the balance of pectin, acid and sugar concentrations. Strawbs can vary quite a bit in water content and acidity, and have generally fairly low pectin quantities, so people add pectin and lemon juice for a reliable set. The jam will not spoil by heating repeatedly up to setting point, but its fresh flavour will be spoiled if you let it burn at all. I still have a jar of last year's jam from this recipe (I tend to make too much of all sorts of jam, as I have a couple of kids) and it is fine. By the way, strawberries in November? How exotic!

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  • Binder photo jane_c

    28 June 2010

    jane_c rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this yesterday afternoon with strawberries picked at our local pick your own in the morning. It is beautiful jam! Slightly runny if I'm being fussy, maybe I should have boiled it a little longer. And use a very large pot - I had a crisis when it reached boiling point and started bubbling over! But the taste this morning on hot crumpets was worth the mess!

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  • Binder photo Magic Rocket Day Nursery

    12 September 2010

    Magic Rocket Day Nursery rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    We made this strawberry jam with the children who loved it, we explained that they had to have one sleep before we could cook the jam. We cooked the jam in the kitchen with the children watching through the hatch for safety. The jam was excellent and we would definitely make this again.

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  • Binder photo kikiwin1

    27 November 2010

    kikiwin1 rated and commented on this recipe

    1 stars

    I tried this recipe a few months back and without the other readers comments I think I would have found this recipe even more of a disaster then I already did! Taste great but is incredibly runny! Like other people I couldn't get it to set either and some further research has led me to believe that it may because this recipe says to wash the strawberries - which apparently you should never do with fruit for preserves and other recipes also seem to require the jam to be boiled for a lot longer then 4 minutes. Think I'm going to try good old delia next time - may be more faff but I suspect it yields better results for beginners than this one. Finger crossed I have more success! (also the weight of the strawberries is wrong - says g instead of kg)

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  • Binder photo Tarryho

    11 January 2011

    Tarryho rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Very easy to make and the jam tasted great, although I would recommend chopping the strawberries as I had huge whole strawberries which didn't break down - also watch the jam doesn't boil over - I made a right mess!

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  • Binder photo Ali

    03 June 2011

    Ali commented on this recipe

    Have just made jam and it is too runny,done exactley as reciepe said, looks as if it will go in the bin disapointed

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  • Binder photo Peter Harrop

    01 July 2012

    Peter Harrop commented on this recipe

    A really easy recipe that works first time, the extra lemon gives the jam a lovely bite. Fabulous.

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Makes about 3kg/6½ lb

Preparation and cooking times

Cook time

Cook 1 hr - 1 hr 20 mins

Plus optional overnight standing

Ingredients

  • 1.8kg small whole strawberries
  • juice of 3 lemons
  • 1.84kg jam sugar (not to be confused with preserving sugar)
  • knob of butter
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Per tablespoon

39 kcalories, protein 1.0g, carbohydrate 10.0g, fat 1.0 g, saturated fat 0.0g, fibre 1.0g, sugar 10.0g, salt 0.0 g

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