If you've never made jam, and are feeling hesitant about going through the whole cooking and canning process, and you just want to maybe dip your toe into the jam-making pool and see what temperature the water is, then this is the way to do that.
Freezer jam is simpler than simple to make. All you need is fruit, sugar, and the special Freezer Jam Pectin put out by Ball.
You also need containers. Ball makes these specifically for their freezer jam recipes - 5 eight-ounce freezer jars. I'm sure you could use whatever freezer container you want, but these are nice because they're thicker than most freezer containers and they come in this handy-dandy jam jar size.
And no, they're not paying me to talk up their jam-making stuff - but I think they're almost the only game in town. And they have some basic recipes on the back of the package, too, which is helpful.
I love the enthusiasm. All those exclamation points!!!
Last summer I made blueberry freezer jams and mixed berry freezer jams, and they were great to have on hand. The other nice thing was that they took no time at all to throw together. The only downside is that if you want to make a LOT of freezer jam, you need to have a LOT of freezer space. I don't have as much freezer space as I'd like (which just doesn't seem right, if you ask me), so that's why I'm doing the hot water bath canning thing this year. But I wanted to make at least one batch of freezer jam JUST so I could take pictures and show how simple it truly is.
So first, you need some fruit. I had strawberries, of course, which I'd bought in quantity at the farmers' market on Friday. I used some for cooked jam, and some for just feeding the little mouths around here, and finally some for this freezer jam.
As you can see on the package, you need 4 one-pound containers of fresh strawberries; enough so that once you've hulled and crushed them, you have 4 cups of fruit.
You also need a cup and a half of sugar.
Put the sugar and the pectin in a bowl
and whisk them together well.
Then stir in the crushed fruit,
and
YOU'VE GOT JAM!
Ladle the jam into your washed and rinsed freezer containers,
let them sit out for half an hour to get the pectin activated,
and then label them
and pop them in the freezer. I had some leftover jam as well, which fit in a little ramekin and went into the fridge to use now.
See? Wasn't that easy? Now you try it!
