Making fresh homemade strawberry jam with SURE JELL is an excellent way to preserve the sweet taste of strawberries all year long! This jam recipe is also a great way to start your food preservation journey!
Making Jam As A First Time Food Preserver
Where do you start with food preservation? The process can seem completely overwhelming at first. But like most things, start small and practice. With success you’ll gain confidence and feel ready to try something else. That’s what jams and jellies did for me. In my opinion jams and jellies are a great way to get your feet wet when it comes to canning and food preservation.
Before marrying Mark I had never preserved any type of food. It was something I knew zero about. And honestly, before starting our own little backyard garden it wasn’t even something I was interested in.
But there is great satisfaction in growing your own food. Few things are as amazing as putting a seed in the ground, tending to it, and watching it produce a harvest. The process is amazing, and it’s hard work! So once you reap the harvest, you really appreciate it, and you want to preserve it for as long as possible. That’s my feeling on the subject anyway!
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What Does SURE JELL Do?
SURE JELL is a pectin used for thickening jams and jellies. Pectin is a naturally occurring thickener in fruits, but using SURE JELL when making jams and jellies reduces the amount of time needed to get a proper set.
Do You Really Need All That Sugar When Making Jam?
Yes. The sugar helps the jam set. Without the sugar and the pectin the jam would be runny.
If you are concerned about using that much sugar SURE JELL does make a low or no sugar fruit pectin too.
Ingredients For Strawberry Jam With SURE JELL
Here’s what you’ll need:
5 cups of fresh strawberries crushed – typically about 4 pints of fresh ripe strawberries will make about 5 cups of crushed strawberries
SURE JELL – original yellow box
1 tsp butter
7 cups of sugar
Canning Supplies For Strawberry Jam With SURE JELL
Directions For Making Strawberry Jam With SURE JELL
Getting Started
First you’ll want to make sure you’ve gathered all your needed canning supplies. Having everything in one place really makes the jam making process go more smoothly! Part of jam making is time sensitive so I like to make sure all my ducks are in a row before I get started.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Put your sterile jars open end up in the oven. And put about 8 lids in a small saucepan on low. Be sure the lids are completely submerged in water.
Preparing The Strawberries
Now it’s time to prepare the strawberries! Wash and cap them. Some people use a strawberry huller, but I’ve always just used a small pairing knife.
Once the strawberries are capped, it’s time to crush them. For many years I just did my best to chop the strawberries up really small. Sometimes I tried a potato masher. But in recent years I’ve been using a food processor to crush the strawberries. Using the food processor makes quick work of preparing the strawberries!
Putting It All Together
Put the crushed strawberries into an 8 quart pot. Add in a box of SURE JELL and the butter. Mix these ingredients together and bring to a rolling boil over high heat while stirring.
Once the strawberry mixture is boiling, add sugar and bring back to a rolling boil. Then boil for 1 minute while continuing to stir. This is the time crunch! You want to have everything in place so you can move swiftly into the next step!
After boiling for 1 minute it’s time to put the jam into the jars! I always use a canning funnel and ladle to try and minimize the mess.
Wipe off the tops of the jars. If any blobs of jam are on the rim of the jars, it can prevent the jars from sealing properly. Put on the lids and rings And set aside to seal.
Typically I don’t water bath my jams and jellies. Pouring the hot jam into the hot jars will seal them. However, if you’d rather process them it just takes 10 minutes in a water bath.
Tips For Making Strawberry Jam With SURE JELL
- Sterilize your jars the night before. My dish washer has a sanitize setting, so the night before I make jam I run the jars through the dish washer on this setting. The next day when I’m ready to make jam all the jars are ready.
- Have all your supplies handy. You will need jars, rings, lids, a funnel, magnetic lid lifter, and possibly a water bath canner. Having all of the supplies ready will make things go more smoothly.
- Don’t forget to put your jars in the oven. Set the oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Also be sure to place the jars open end up. This was a silly mistake my mom and I made one time… Flipping hot jars right side up is not easy!
- Use a food processor to help crush the strawberries.
- Have a place set up for your filled jars. They will be hot, so you probably want to have something down to protect your kitchen counters or dining room table.
- Only put your lids on finger tip tight. Not too tight and not too loose.
- Finally, once the jars have been set aside to seal, resist the urge to push on the lids. Pushing on the lids could create a false seal.
Storing Strawberry Jam With SURE JELL
A properly sealed jar of strawberry jam made with SURE JELL will last for up to a year in the pantry.
Once opened, the strawberry jam needs to be stored in the refrigerator. It will last 3 or so weeks once refrigerated.
Interested In Preserving Foods?
Try these!
Looking For More Strawberry Recipes?
Try these other delicious strawberry recipes!
Quick and easy strawberry muffins
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Strawberry Jam With SURE JELL
Ingredients
- 5 cups of crushed strawberries
- 7 cups of sugar
- Original SURE JELL
- 1 tsp of butter
Instructions
- Read post above for details on gathering and preparing canning supplies.
- Put 5 cups of crushed strawberries into a large pot.
- Add one box of SURE JELL and 1 tsp of butter to the pot and bring to a rolling boil, stirring continually.
- Add 7 cups of sugar and bring back to a rolling boil.
- Boil for 1 minute, stirring continually.
- Put into jars.
- Wipe off tops and put on lids and rings.
- Set aside to seal or water bath for 10 minutes.
Thank you for all tips! Your recipe sounds delicious. God bless your beautiful backyard.
I made this by your recipe and it never gelled. It was way runny and too sweet. Sorry but it was a huge Pinterest fail.
I’ve made this recipe so many times with great success. So sorry it didn’t work out for you. I wonder what went wrong. Do you live in a very humid place?
Maybe the directions need to specify a boil that can’t be stirred down?
I used this recipe today and it did not gel.
I have learned over the years and with the help of my great aunt….when in doubt, use 2 boxes of sure gel and dang nab it! It works every time!
Can you use less sugar? I used 2 cups with a strawberry rhubarb jam I made using a recipe that called for lemon juice instead of fruit pectin and the level of sweetness was perfect- but the lemon juice didn’t get my jam to the consistency I was hoping for. Looking forward to trying your recipe next.
How long do you keep the jars in the oven
I usually put the jars in the oven before I start chopping strawberries. I’d say they are in there for a good 20 minutes or so. Definitely hot to the touch!
How many jars does this recipe usually make? Wanting to try this very soon and want to make sure I have all I need.
This recipe will make about 7 half pint jelly jars full of delicious strawberry jam!
The box sure jell I bought did not have the paper with the “how to use” recipes. I went online and found this recipe. I just got done with my jam and it is very good. I sealed with hot wax. This method is what I grew up with as my mother did this.
This does not say how many jars of jam the recipe makes (unless I overlooked it).
This recipe will make about 7 half pint jelly jars. I always heat 8 or 9 just in case!
Hopefully I didn’t do this wrong but I ended up with 12 8 oz jars once all was done. Hoping it sets.
How many cups of strawberries are needed for the pink box Sure Jell less sugar recipe for jam. No more written directions?..
There is a section on the sure jell instructions about What to do if your jam or jelly doesn’t set. There is also an altitude chart that shows the extra minutes that you should cook product. That might be helpful to the person whose jam didn’t jell. 1,000-3000 + 5 min. 3001 -6000 +10min. 6001 -8000 +15 min. 8001 -10000+ 20 min. Hope this helps. I for one never noticed that chart until just now.
Do you have to freeze it once it seals?
Once it seals it should be shelf stable for about a year. No need to freeze it.
I buy sure jell every year so I can make strawberry jam with lower sugar so now that the box does not contain recipe for jam and web site only has with more sugar what do I do now that my family is used to recipe for lower sugar, for that past 20 plus years.. I know this is a lot more work to put recipe in box but this absolutely helps.
I just purchased a dozen boxes, half regular and half low/no sugar. The regular does not have the instructions inside, but all the boxes of the other had the printed out sheet. They said it exp 2026, so I knew they were new.