Freezer jam

We just ran out of freezer jam from last year's strawberries.  It was a sad day in our house.  We mourned for a few hours, and then I headed to Costco to see what their selection was like.  Some times they carry organic strawberry jam, but pickings were slim on my last trip and everything contained high fructose corn syrup.  No thanks!

I ended up buying two three pound bags of frozen organic cherries, strawberries, pomegranate seeds, blueberries, and raspberries for $20 ($9.99 each).  Those bags ended up netting me 16 4 oz containers of organic freezer jam, which should hold us over until June when local berries are ripe.

I'd like to say that I make freezer jam because it tastes better (it does.  It's fresher!), or that it uses less sugar (it does!).  But, in all honesty, I make freezer jam because it's easier than canning.  It takes about 15 minutes as opposed to hours.  This is the lazy person's jam.

1) Wash your containers.  I use the plastic freezer jam jars because I already have them, but glass canning jars would work great if you already have them!

2) Put your berries in a big bowl, and let them sit out for a few hours to thaw.
Frozen

Thawed
3) Then using an immersion blender, blend the thawed berries until pretty smooth.
Speaking of pretty smooth...



Just because
4) Measure 3.5 cups of berry blend and pour in to a separate bowl.  I do that until the whole batch has been transferred to another bowl so that I know how many "total batches" I'm making.  My 6 pounds of frozen berries made four total batches of jam.

5) Add 1 cup of sugar - evaporated cane juice from Costco in this case (the directions say 1.5 cups per 3.5 cups of berries, but it works great with only 1 cup), per 3.5 cups of berry blend.  Then add one package of freezer jam pectin per batch.  Mix for about three minutes.


6) Pour in to your containers of choice, put the lids on, and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Then freeze!

It's good in the fridge for about two weeks.  I've heard it lasts up to one year in the freezer, but we've never made it that long.

This is what happens when you try to take a nice picture of jam on a homemade graham cracker.

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