Making Preserves is Sooooo Easy

Making fruit preserves is soooooooo easy and very rewarding. Nothing beats the taste of fresh preserves made from your own two little hands. My auntie from Virginia was big into canning and I always thought it was hard or difficult till I learned how this past summer. Now I can all the time, when ever the mood strikes me (or when I can good prices on fruit at the market). This past weekend I noticed that strawberries had finally came down in price which was so ironic since we just finished off our last jar of strawberry preserves from my last big batch of canning. That was the sign for me to break out my Ball jars and get to work.

A couple of tips about canning from my experience.

• You don't need fancy equipment. I use my 8 quart stockpot, BBQ tongs, and a large spoon. No rack and no funnel.
• Jars are easy to acquire, they are sold in most supermarkets. Plus they are recyclable.
• I boil and sterilize everything, jars, lids, spoon, tongs - just to be on the safe side. I sterilize as the preserves are cooking.
• I do not add pectin to my preserves. I find that enough sugar and cook time will lead to the desired thick consistency I want.
• I don't always hear a pop indicating that the jar has sealed properly but if you press the center of the lid  and does not move than it has sealed safely.

If you want to read thoroughly on the process here are some links (I am not really great at writing tutorials).

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/category/canning/

http://www.freshpreserving.com/

You can also make the following recipe and just jar it and refrigerate. You will still need to sterilize the jars but it shortens the processing time. Preserves should keep in the refrigerator for at least  two to three weeks.  

Strawberry Preserves (Courtesy of Joy of Cooking)

• 2 pounds of fresh strawberries hulled and sliced (I prefer large chunks in mine so I usually do a mix of halves and quarters)
• 2 1/2 cups of sugar (the recipe called for 3 but I found the recipe perfect with less)
• Lemon juice (recipe calls for 1/4 cup but I did mine to taste)

Mix sugar and strawberries in a heavy pan under high heat. You want this puppy to boil. Once sugar has melted and notice foaming add in lemon juice. At this point I crush the mixture slightly with a potato masher to give it more texture. Continue to stir frequently. Skim off any foam that forms. (You will have to do this repeatedly). You will notice that it will cook down and began to form into a preserve like consistency. I like mine thick so I cook it down more. Once the preserves have cooked down transfer to sterilized jars and place filled jars back into pot making sure they are covered with water. You will need to boil the jars to seal and boiling time depends on the size of the jar. (see following link for guide & also great canning tips: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/348/348-594/348-594.html) I usually do 30 minutes to be safe which is longer than what is needed.