Strawberry Jam Without Sugar & Pectin

Strawberry Jam Without Sugar & Pectin 

Ingredients 

1. Strawberries 4 lbs

2. Honey 21/2 cups

3. Lemon juice 2 tbsp 

Method Of Preparation 

1. Wash the strawberries well & pat them dry & remove the stalks.

2. Add them in a pot & mash them just twice or thrice. You don't need to mash them all well now. Just a light mash will do. 

3. Turn on the gas on a medium flame & mash well for a minute.

4. When it begins to boil, lower the flame & mash the strawberries well. You don't need to mash them to a paste. Leave some bits here & there. Let the berries cook.

5. As the strawberries boil further, you will see it rise up in the pot. At this point, stir well & add the lemon juice. Stir well. Let it boil.

6. After 15 minutes, add the honey & mix well & cook on a low flame till the jam thickens. It took more than an hour for my jam to thicken. 

7. When the jam becomes warm, add it into sterilized glass bottles & cover with a tight fitting lid & once cooled, leave it in the fridge. 

How To Know When The Jam Is Done

1. Take a ladleful of jam & from a height, drop it from the ladle & if it falls off the ladle immediately in one drop, then it means your jam hasn't thickened even a bit.

2. If it falls off as two drops, then it means your jam needs some more time of cooking. 

3. If it falls off the ladle as a sheet or sticks to the ladle & takes time to fall, then it means your jam is done.

Another way to check for doneness is 

1. Place a plate in the freezer for 10 minutes. Drop a spoonful of jam on the plate & leave it back into the freezer for a minute. If the jam doesn't fall off the plate quickly, then it means your jam is done. When you run your finger on the blob of jam, it it has formed a wrinkle on the surface of the jam, it's done. If your able to run your finger through it, it needs another 5-10 minutes of cooking before you check again.

How To Sterilise Glass Jars 

1. I suggest you use Ball glass jars for storing the jam. 

2. Wash the glass jar with soapy water before sterilizing it. 

3. Bring a big pot of water to boil. When it comes to a boil, turn off the flame & gently, drop the glass jar in the water & let it stay there for 10 minutes. Remove from the water & let it dry. In another small pot, bring water to boil & sterilize the lids in the water.

Notes: 

1. The store-bought jam is always very thick as it has pectin in it. I have not added pectin so in order to make your jam thick like the store-bought ones you need to let it cook for a longer time till it becomes thick. 

2. Another tip is, if your picking strawberries to make jam, then try to get the ones which has a light green tip(see pic). The green color in the strawberries act as a natural pectin which makes your jam thick.

3. Another way to boost pectin in your jam is to add apples along with strawberries. Apples contain a very high level of pectin & that will make the jam thick. 

4. You can replace honey with brown sugar or white sugar. 

5. My strawberries weren't sweet so I added 21/2 cups of honey. You can increase or decrease the quantity of sugar or honey in your jam.