Strawberry Jam: 8 Recipes

Fragrant berries peek tantalizingly out from under the carved leaves. You have to bend over low to get a cup of jam. But strawberries are so tasty and healthy that people pick them by the bucket, sparing no time or effort. They are all good, but the delicate berries spoil very quickly, even in the refrigerator. The most popular way to save her for the winter remains the preparation of jam.

Valuable properties of strawberries

The plant is perennial, so once you find a few glades, you can safely return to them the next year. Bushes are small, up to 20 cm in height, the leaves are well recognized by three separate segments. The culture is propagated by shoots, which in strawberries are called "whiskers". Under good weather conditions, it grows quickly. Flowering begins in May and lasts almost until the end of June. On one bush at the same time observed buds, unfolded flowers and berries of varying degrees of ripeness.

Interesting: Scientifically, the ovary is called a false fruit, but popularly it is still a berry.

As it ripens, it changes color from green to white, then turns pink to scarlet or dark red. This is when it is time to harvest. The sweetness appears already in the white fruits, but for jam you need to let the taste unfold completely.

In the plant lies a lot of useful substances, and some of them are preserved even when boiled. In folk medicine, all parts of the plant are used. They are harvested in spring, carefully dried in a shady cool place.

Fresh berries bring the most benefits, they are recommended:

• in the slagging of the body;
• chronic constipation;
• edemas;
• Avitaminosis and anemia;
• loss of appetite;
• Bad breath and gum inflammation.

All parts of the plant contain a large number of organic acids, vitamins, fiber, tannins, pectin. Strawberries contain potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, cobalt, essential oils. It is better to use the product in fresh form, but the fruiting time of strawberries is short and flies by quickly, you have to prepare it for the future.

It is worth considering: The composition of the garden and wild berry is very similar, and the medicinal properties of both varieties.

The caloric value of the berry is small - 34 kcal per 100 grams of product. It is used as part of diets in weight control programs to give flavor variety to dietary meals.

What is useful for strawberry jam

In the boiled form and even in jam-five minutes of useful substances is much less than in fresh berries, but the product is still of considerable value. Fructose and glucose give the berry its sweet taste. When combined with the sugar needed to make jam, it becomes unsafe for diabetics. If you do not eat the treat in jars and consume in moderation, a few spoonfuls a day, the metabolic processes are normalized, vital energy is restored, chronic fatigue syndrome is relieved, and the mood increases.

When to pick strawberries for jam

The forest berry ripens gradually, starting in June, and then rapidly, within 1-2 weeks gives the harvest. Then it is already almost useless to look for sweet drops of berries in the glades. By the last days of July the bushes are almost finished fruit-bearing, the leaves begin to wither, there is an accumulation of useful substances that will help to survive the harsh winter.

There are two harvesting options. The first one is to visit the cherished glades more often, starting from the last week of June, and gather berries in small portions, processing them at once for the winter. The second option is for the impatient ones to come in early July at once with a bucket. But you need to prepare yourself for the fact that the process of gathering is laborious because of the small size of the fruit, and then within a day everything will have to be sorted, boiled or frozen, otherwise the delicate berries will spoil.

It is worth remembering: field strawberries in open places ripen a week earlier than forest ones, and garden strawberries bear fruit gradually.

How to cook strawberry jam: recipes

Many families keep their own, family recipes and ways of cooking winter delicacies. The main ingredient is preserved. The terms of seasoning on the fire, the proportions of sugar, the addition of third-party elements change. But the preparation of berries and ways to store the finished product remain the same.

Preparation stage
Brought berries need to be carefully sorted. If they are gathered on their own, you need to divide them by degree of ripeness for even boiling of raw materials.

Then pour them for a few minutes in cold water and leave to soften and remove sand or particles of soil. It is more convenient to catch strawberries from a container of water with a colander or a slotted swab.

The next step is to remove the stalks. Some people skip this step, thinking that small green twigs will not affect the quality of the finished product. There is no difference in taste and color, but in the classic version, they are removed. In the container remain only clean berries without stalks, about the same color.

Before you fill them with sugar, you must be sure to remove excess water. To do this, scatter the berries on a fine grid or in a colander for 30-40 minutes. Now you can choose the most delicious recipe or cook everything a little at a time, and then arrange a tasting.

A classic recipe

For it, you will need the following products:

• 3 kg of strawberries;
• 4.5 kg of sugar;
• 800 ml of water;
• The juice of half a lemon.

First boil the sugar syrup, carefully pour the berries into the boiling mass.

Important: If you just pour the berries to get juice, they will then boil into an inert mass.

The future jam is brought to a boil and removed from the stove for a quarter of an hour. It is required to make four approaches. On the fifth pour lemon juice into the mass, poured into boiling in sterilized jars and sealed.

Five minutes .

Minimum heat treatment time allows you to save most of the useful substances.

Important: Closed only hermetically, in sterilized jars.

In equal proportions take berries and sugar, pour in layers and put in a dark cool place until the next morning. In order to prevent dust from getting there, cover the top with a towel. Lids or other tightly closing the container is excluded, the mixture should "breathe". For an even dissolution of sugar, the contents are stirred every 2 hours.

Once the strawberries have given juice, and the sugar is almost dissolved, the mixture is brought to a boil over low heat, simmered for no more than 4-5 minutes and immediately poured into jars.

Raw jam

It is prepared similarly to currants or raspberries. In fact, it is a berry grinded with sugar without heat treatment. For the preparation you will need only two ingredients. For 1 part of berries take 2 parts of sugar. For strawberries to retain their taste and aroma, a small trick is used - completely exclude contact with metal. To do this in advance prepare a ceramic container and wooden pusher.

Thoroughly mashed berry mass is placed in jars and covered with tight plastic lids. Such a strategic stock can be stored only in the refrigerator, where it will last until the new harvest, if it is not eaten.

The second option is aimed at preserving whole berries. For this purpose, berries are poured over with sugar and left for a day, stirring regularly. The ratio of ingredients is 1:1. Then they are also placed in jars, stored in the refrigerator, but no longer than 3-4 months.

It is worth taking into account: After sterilization, the jars should dry out. If you get any water droplets, the mixture will ferment even in the refrigerator.

Peppermint Mix

A few fresh mint leaves will give the jam an unusual refreshing taste. The basis is cooked as usual - at the rate of 1 kg of strawberries for the same amount of sugar. The peculiarity of the recipe is the addition of chopped mint leaves in the third boil. The berries are first covered with sugar for a day, the syrup is drained and brought to a boil. In it poured a mass of berries, cook for 2-3 minutes and set aside for about 1/3 hour. To bring the jam to readiness will need 3 approaches.

The finished product is packed in jars. It is convenient to take a small container of 0.5 or 0.3 liters. With tight sealing, you can store such jam even on a shelf in the hallway of the apartment.

Delicious mix

If the year was a bad one for strawberries, or if you were late in picking berries and managed to collect very little, then do not despair. The commonwealth of crops can help. The combination of strawberries and strawberries gives an indescribable flavor. Both berries are sorted out, remove the petioles. The method of cooking - the classic, five minutes is better not to cook, it is risky because the strawberries have a higher content of acids.

In the multicooker

Sometimes there is no time to reverently follow the process of boiling berries, constantly stirring them. And jam is insidious, it is just waiting for the moment to run over the edge or stick. Cooking in a multicooker will save you from these problems, especially since you can program the technique for a delayed start and put a convenient time. The proportions are the usual, a kilogram of sugar and berries with the addition of 1 cup of water. In determining the maximum load you will have to be guided by the parameters of the multicooker. After the products are stacked, open the steam valve and select the stew mode. It takes 30 minutes to prepare fragrant jam without additional efforts, skimming and constant stirring.

Nutty note

Very tasty strawberry jam turns out with lemon zest and walnut pieces. They are added at the third boil for a variety of flavor. For 1 kg of berries enough 2-3 shavings of zest and 100 grams of chopped nuts, preferably peeled from the thin inner skin covering the kernels.

Assorted .

An amazing aroma and flavor bouquet is obtained by combining several kinds of berries with the predominance of strawberries. Strawberries and raspberries make a splendid triad along with it. You will have to choose the earliest varieties of raspberries or wait for the first harvest of remontant, because in some regions one berry ripens first, then the other.

Very interesting variant is obtained by adding early currants, red or black. It needs very little, the taste of the berry is tart, the aroma is strong and can clog the subtle flavors of strawberries.

Rules for storing jam

After the winter stock is made, there is a question of how to preserve them for as long as possible. Of course, it is difficult to hide such a delicacy from the household, and there is no need, it was prepared just for them. Another thing is if the top of the jam is covered with mold or it is fermented.

Storage conditions directly depend on the way jam is cooked.

1. Raw, grinded with sugar will stand only in the refrigerator on the shelf for fresh vegetables. There, without access to air through the lid it can be preserved for 3-4 months. Opened jars will have to be eaten within a week, so this product is initially better to pack in small containers "for once".
2. A five-minute jar of one type of berry without any additives with a dosage of berries and sugar of 1:1 when sealed can be lowered into the cellar without damage to the product. With an increased amount of sugar, the jar stands quietly in apartment conditions.
3. Three times boiled jam, in which the berries were poured boiling syrup - unkillable. It can be placed anywhere in the house, apartment, garage or cellar. It does not ferment, does not get moldy, and does not freeze.

Strawberries have no waste.

Brought from the forest berries themselves are very valuable, but you can get additional benefit from it. After preparation for jam, a whole pile of sepals remains. They should not be thrown away. They are useful for preparing healing decoctions used in arthritis, gout, kidney cramps, anemia, cardiovascular diseases.

Vitamin tea of dried leaves and berries strengthens the immune system, reduces blood pressure, improves digestion and stabilizes the emotional state on a positive wave. For its preparation, take 1 tsp. of dried herbs and berries, pour a glass of boiling water, cover with a terry cloth for 10 minutes. You can drink it without restrictions, replacing the usual morning coffee or evening Ceylon tea.

Interesting facts about strawberries

1. Until the fifteenth century, wild berries were collected and only later realized that it was more convenient to cultivate it and grow it in your garden.
2. Botanists count 600 species of strawberries.
3. Brazilians consider it a symbol of wealth and prosperity.
4. In the old days the first berry was served to acquaintances and neighbors, and only the next one was eaten by them. The meaning of the custom was that the harvest was annual and plentiful.
5. Wild species with the help of whiskers gradually "crawl" to a new place, and the glade slowly shifts to the side. The reason is that bushes cannot grow more than 5 years in one place, because the soil is impoverished.

Whatever strawberries, forest or garden, the hostess knows that this is a real vitamin treasure and will not let a single berry go to waste. They are eaten fresh in season, and remember the generous summer by opening a jar of ruby jam and inhaling its mind-blowing aroma.

Photo of strawberry jam