We have a winner in the strawberry jam giveaway! I really do wish I could send jam to all of you, but with 55 entries, that would more than clean me out, jam-wise (I need to save a few jars to get me through the dark, frigid days of January and February). Hopefully though, the strawberry jam post has compelled some of you to make your own (you do need to act fast though, as strawberry season is short and here in Philly, it’s drawing to a close) and I firmly believe that it tastes better when you’ve made it with your own two hands. But enough with that, it’s time to announce that the lucky recipient of this truly delectable strawberry jam is comment #51, left by Rebekah Denn of Eat All About It.
In other news, as many of you know, I teach some canning classes here in Philly. Last weekend, I did a class in which we made a huge batch of strawberry-rhubarb jam. Someone asking the comments whether I’d be willing to share that recipe on the blog. Well, of course! It’s a good recipe and can be easily halved (it makes just over seven pints as written, which is a whole heck of a lot of jam) if you don’t have that much fruit. The recipe is after the jump.
Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
Ingredients
- 5 cups of chopped rhubarb approximately 1 1/2 pounds of stalks
- 8 cups of chopped strawberries approximately two quarts
- 6 cups sugar
- 2 cups water
- 2 lemons zested and juiced
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 2 packets liquid pectin one box
Instructions
- Wash your jars and rings and lay them out on a towel to dry. Place your lids in a small saucepan and put over medium heat, so that the sealing compound softens in preparation for canning.
- In a 8-quart, non-reactive pot, bring the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar and water to a boil. Add the cinnamon, lemon juice/zest and salt to the pot and let it bubble gently for about ten minutes (on my stove, this means I set it to medium-high). After ten minutes have elapsed, use a potato masher to break down any large pieces of strawberries that are left (the rhubarb should have broken down nicely by now). If you like a smoother texture, use an immersion blender to puree the fruit. Add the pectin, stir to combine and let cook for a few more minutes.
- At this point, dip a spoon in the jam and see how it coats the back of the spoon. You can also try the saucer test. If you get a nice, even sheet, the jam is done. You can also taste at this point, to see if you like the balance of flavors. Add a little more lemon juice if you feel it needs additional brightening.
- Pour into hot jars, wipe rims to remove any spillage and apply lids/rings.
- Process in a hot water bath for ten minutes.
- Remove from water and let cool.
I am so excited! I feel like going out and buying a lottery ticket to see how far my luck holds. And it’s very timely — I have two flats of Shuksan on order for tomorrow! Can’t wait to make some of my own.
Mmmm, that sounds deelish. I am gonna go start the hot water bath boiling right now! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
My pleasure!
Last weekend the rhubarb selling lady at our farmer’s market told me of an old but easy rhubarb jam recipe. Mix 4 c. chopped rhubarb and 3 c. sugar and let sit overnight. Next day add one package red jello, boil 15 minutes and jar up. I happened to have cherry jello in the house so tried it and the jam was delicious. Next time I’ll use strawberry jello. This made about 3.5 cups so I just put it in sterilized jars and into the frig. One was given away and half another jar has already been enjoyed this week.
Mary, how interesting! Thanks for sharing! -Marisa
Thank you so much for sharing this! I’ve been looking for a good recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb jam. I’ve got a huge patch of rhubarb, and I’m the only one who likes it as pie here. You have perfect timing as well, since I just got 7 pounds of strawberries for jam. Now half is going to be strawberry rhubarb jam.
Thank you so much for sharing! I love this jam and never really found a recipe that “felt” right!! I really apprecaite it!!
Congrats Rebekah, enjoy your jam!!
I tried making this recipe, but I used “no sugar needed” dry pectin as the store did not have any other type. It’s currently setting right now, and is only warm to the touch but is still pretty loose. It’s okay if it comes out syrupy, though, as it will still be good for yogurt and ice cream.
What concerns me is that between putting on the lids and processing the jams, I needed to take care of something. That errand took about 30 minutes. The jars were cleaned and the lids were sterile, and the jam had remained hot before placing the lids and rings. The jars sealed perfectly before and after boiling (bubbles did release from the jars). Should this jam be okay to keep at air temperature, or should it be refrigerator jam?
Also, it tasted wonderful and looks great. A great use of $7 worth of strawberries and rhubarb. Thanks for running this great resource, which made me feel comfortable with a process that always sounded dangerous to me.
In addition, this may be too general for this thread, but I don’t have a pair jar tongs, and I found my regular kitchen tongs didn’t give me a secure enough grip to remove a full jar of jam. What worked for me was using a silicone oven mitt to remove the jars. It let me reach right in and use the dexterity of my hand to get the jars out. I don’t like them for most other tasks, but the silicone mitts seem pretty good for this purpose.
A friend and I used this recipe for our first ever attempt at jam-our finished product came out pretty runny. After the fact we were reading in a canning book that you have to follow the pectin directions exactly and not to use pyrex measuring cups as they are less accurate. After fishing our pectin box out of the trash we saw that we were supposed to stir the pectin for one full minute after adding (we stirred it in but probably only for 10 seconds or so). Do you think these two mistakes were the key to our runny jam?