pioneer arms (strawberry rhubarb jam)

I finally made jam this Sunday after months of hoarding strawberries and rhubarb like an OCD pioneer woman. I’ve been making jam for a few years now and after browsing the old www for recipe ideas I have found that there are only 2 real rules. Jam = fruit and sugar boiled to oblivion AND make sure you properly sterilize and can everything properly (i.e. keep everything HOT). Maybe a third tip would be don’t worry about giving everybody you know botulism, if you sterilize and make sure all the seals have worked you should be fine. I swear, reading too much about canning will never make you want to do it, there is a lot of paranoia out there. Jam is so fun to make and it is the best gift for hipsters and old world German uncles alike

Ingredients:

15 cups organic rhubarb
15 cups local strawberries
11 cups organic cane sugar
Juice from 2 organic lemons
Zest from half an organic lemon (make sure the skin is not waxed)

Tools:

2 very large pots (I used a 7 litre copper bottomed beauty I picked up for 5 bucks at a garage sale for the jam, and a huge 16 litre monster I got for 3 bucks from a friend)
Wooden spoon
Ladle
Mason jars
Snap lids and Rings (Rings can be used, but all literature says that snap lids must be new)
Tongs
Oven proof bowl
Jar lifter (will make your life so much easier)
Potato masher (optional)

Disclaimer:

If you are a first time canner, make sure you do some reading before you start. Generally, the sugar to fruit ratio is about 2:3, but that all changes if you use pectin or other sweeteners like apple juice (I have yet to do this). I didn’t exactly follow this ratio for this recipe, because as I was tasting the jam during the whole process it tasted sweet enough to me (also, 11 cups of sugar felt excessive) Also, I have only used the boiling water method, but steam-pressure canners also exist. Boiling times for jar sterilization and canning differ depending on your altitude; at sea level the general rule is 10 minutes. I’m not an expert, so do a little research and get boiling.

Process (the n-1, n and n+1):

Thoroughly wash all fruit, hull strawberries and chop them and the rhubarb into small pieces. These can be frozen for a long time in freezer bags for canning later.

Defrost all frozen ingredients. Put the rhubarb in the smaller pot with all the sugar, mix and let sit while you thoroughly wash all your tools in hot soapy water, including all jars, lids and rings. The rhubarb will absorb the sugar and start to break down a little. Turn the heat to high and allow rhubarb to boil for a few minutes. Add the strawberries, lemon juice and zest (warning: make sure you leave a few inches of room at the top of the pot, when this baby starts to boil, it will rise. You can always transfer the mixture to two pots and then reunite them when the jam has boiled down). Use potato masher to break down the strawberries if you’re into that kind of thing (i.e. chunky jam).

Boil the mixture at medium high (should be bubbling constantly) for a few hours, stir often (this activity is a life commitment so be prepared!), and keep skimming the foam off the top. The jam should start to thicken and its level should drop over time. To check the thickness of the jam, take a small spoonful, place it on a plate and put it in the freezer for a few minutes. Once cooled, this should indicate the thickness of the jam. The longer you boil the thicker it will get.

When the jam is reaching its desired thickness (for me this took about 2 hours), turn down the heat, get out the bigger pot, fill it with water and put in your empty jar and rings (NOT the snap lids though!). Boil on high (rolling boil) for at least 10 minutes. Boil some water in a kettle. Put snap lids in the oven proof bowl. When kettle boils, let it stand for a few minutes and then pour the hot water on the lids (these need to remain hot during this process, so you may need to add more hot water).

Once you have sterilized your jars and rings, remove a jar from the pot with tongs, use a ladle to fill the hot jar with hot jam (the jam must be kept hot), leaving a head space of about ½ inch from the top of the jar. Use a clean cloth to wipe any spillage from the jar’s rim (this will compromise the seal), and then use the tongs to remove a hot snap lid from the oven proof bowl. Place the lid on the jar, and the ring around the lid. Tighten until you just meet resistance with your finger tips (do not over tighten).

Repeat this process with all the jars in the pot. Use jar lifter to put filled jars back into the pot of water and boil on high again for another 10-12 minutes. Remove jars from the hot water and leave them up-right for 24 hours. If the seal forms you will hear satisfying little popping sounds coming from your jars as the seal is created (my favourite part). Repeat this whole process until all the jam is in jars.

If a seal doesn’t form apparently you can try re-canning the jar with a new snap lid, but I would read up on this. This time, only 1 of my jars didn’t seal, so I just stuck it in the fridge to be eaten right away.

Every good jammer needs an enthusiastic helper

This whole process took me 7 hours so here’s what I listened to:

“Blueberry Boat”- Fiery Furnaces
“Wire Tap” (Theme: the universe) - CBC Radio 1
“The Inside Track” (Theme: Ping pong schools in China)- CBC Radio 1
“Writers and Company” (Theme: Scottish Writers)- CBC Radio 1
“Dispatches” (Theme: India; the nano car, Pan and IT)- CBC Radio 1
“C’est La Vie” (Theme: Partie Pris; the separatist movement in Quebec in the 60’s and 70’s)- CBC Radio 1

What can I say, I love public radio. And jam. And you.

* Oma’s Tip for this Recipe *
Keep everything HOT, do your homework, and nice girls get married before living with a significant other.