Strawberry Jam: 8 recipes

Fragrant berries cheerfully peek out from under the carved leaves. To get a glass of goodies, you have to stoop low. But strawberries are so tasty and wholesome that they pick them up in buckets, not sparing time and effort. She is good for everyone, but delicate berries spoil very quickly even in the refrigerator. The most popular way to keep it for the winter is to make jam.

Valuable properties of wild strawberries

The plant is perennial, therefore, once having found several glades, you can safely return to them the next year. The bushes are small, up to 20 cm in height, the leaves are well recognizable in three separate segments. The culture propagates by shoots, which are called "mustache" in strawberries. Under good weather conditions, it grows rapidly. Flowering begins in May and lasts almost until the end of June. On one bush, buds, open flowers and berries of varying degrees of ripeness are simultaneously observed.

Interesting: scientifically, the ovary is called a false fruit, but among the people it’s still a berry.

As she sings, she changes color from green to white, then turns pink and turns scarlet or dark red. Then comes the time to harvest. Sweetness appears already in white fruits, but for jam it is necessary that the taste is fully revealed.

A lot of useful substances are hidden in the plant, and part is preserved during cooking. In folk medicine, all parts of the plant are used. They are harvested in the spring, carefully dried in a shady cool place.

Fresh berries bring the most benefits, they are recommended:

• with slagging of the body;
• chronic constipation;
• swelling;
• vitamin deficiency and anemia;
• loss of appetite;
• bad breath and gum disease.

All parts of the plant contain a large amount of organic acids, vitamins, fiber, tannins, pectin. Strawberries contain potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, cobalt, and essential oils. It is better to use the product fresh, but the fruiting time of strawberries is short and flies quickly, you have to harvest it for the future.

It is worth considering: the composition of the garden and wild berries is very similar, and both varieties have medicinal properties.

The calorie content of the berry is small - 34 kcal per 100 g of product. It is used as part of diets in weight control programs to add flavor to dietary nutrition.

What is useful strawberry jam

In boiled form, and even in five-minute jam, there are much less useful substances than in fresh berries, but the product is still of considerable value. Fructose and glucose add sweetness to the berry. In combination with the sugar necessary for making jam, it becomes unsafe for diabetics. If you don’t eat a treat by banks and use it sparingly, a few spoons per day, metabolic processes normalize, vital energy is restored, chronic fatigue syndrome is relieved, and your mood improves.

When to pick strawberries for jam

The wild berry sings gradually, beginning in June, and then rapidly, within 1–2 weeks, gives back the crop. Then it’s almost useless to look for sweet droplets of berries in the meadow. By the last days of July, the bushes almost finish bearing fruit, the leaves begin to dry out, the accumulation of nutrients that will help survive the harsh winter.

There are two options for collecting. The first is to visit the treasured glades more often, starting from the last week of June, and pick berries in small portions, immediately processing them for the winter. The second - for the impatient, it is easier to come in early July immediately with a bucket.But you need to tune in to the fact that the collection process is painstaking due to the small size of the fruits, and then during the day everything will have to be sorted out, boiled or frozen, otherwise the delicate berries will deteriorate.

It is worth remembering: wild strawberries in open places sing a week earlier than forest, and garden fruiting gradually.

How to cook strawberry jam: recipes

Many families keep their own, family recipes and methods of cooking winter treats. The main ingredient is preserved. The exposure times on fire, the proportions of sugar, the addition of third-party elements are changing. But the preparation of berries and methods of storage of finished products remain unchanged.

Preparatory stage
Brought berries must be carefully sorted. If they are assembled independently, then you need to divide them by the degree of ripeness for uniform boiling of raw materials.

Then fill them with cold water for several minutes and leave them to soften and move away sand or particles of earth. It is more convenient to catch strawberries from a container with water in a colander or slotted spoon.

The next step is to remove the stalks. Some skip this step, thinking that small green branches will not affect the quality of the finished product. There are no comrades for the taste and color, but in the classic version they are removed. Only clean berries without peduncles, about the same color, remain in the container.

Before you fill them with sugar, be sure to remove excess water. For this, the berries are scattered on a fine wire rack or in a colander for 30–40 minutes. Now you can choose the most delicious recipe or cook a little bit of everything, and then arrange a tasting.

Classic recipe

For him, you will need these products:

• 3 kg of strawberries;
• 4.5 kg of sugar;
• 800 ml of water;
• juice of half a lemon.

First, sugar syrup is boiled, berries are gently poured into the boiling mass.

Important: if you simply fall asleep berries to obtain juice, then they then boil in an inert mass.

The future jam is brought to a boil and removed from the stove for a quarter of an hour. It takes 4 approaches. On the fifth, lemon juice is poured into the mass, in a boiling state it is poured into sterilized jars and rolled up.

Five minute

The minimum heat treatment time allows you to save most of the nutrients.

Important: it closes only hermetically, in sterilized jars.

Berries and sugar are taken in equal proportions, sprinkled with layers and put in a cool dark place until the next morning. In order to prevent dust from getting there, cover with a towel on top. Lids or other devices tightly closing the container are excluded, the mixture should “breathe”. To evenly dissolve the sugar, the contents are stirred every 2 hours.

After the strawberries gave the juice, and the sugar is almost dissolved, the mixture is brought to a boil over low heat, boiled for no more than 4-5 minutes and immediately poured into jars.

Raw jam

It is prepared by analogy with currants or raspberries. In fact, it is a berry grated with sugar without heat treatment. For cooking, you need only 2 ingredients. For 1 part of the berries, take 2 parts of granulated sugar. In order for strawberries to retain their taste and aroma, they use a little trick - they completely exclude contact with metal. For this, a ceramic container and a wooden pusher are prepared in advance.

The thoroughly crushed berry mass is placed in jars, closed with dense plastic lids. Such a strategic stock can only be stored in the refrigerator, where it will stand until a new crop if it is not eaten.

The second option is aimed at preserving whole berries. To do this, pour the berries with sugar and leave for a day, stirring regularly. Proportions of ingredients 1: 1. Then they are also placed in jars, stored in the refrigerator, but not longer than 3-4 months.

It is worth considering: after sterilization, the jars should dry.If water droplets come in, the mixture will ferment even in the refrigerator.

Mint Mix

A few fresh mint leaves give the jam an unusual refreshing taste. The base is cooked as usual - at the rate of 1 kg of strawberries for the same amount of sugar. A recipe feature is the addition of crushed mint leaves during the third boil. Previously, the berries are covered with sugar for a day, the syrup is drained and brought to a boil. The berry mass is spread in it, boiled for 2-3 minutes and set aside for about 1/3 hours. To bring jam to readiness will require 3 approaches.

The finished product is packaged in cans. It is more convenient to take containers of small volume, 0.5 or 0.3 liters. With airtight corking, you can store such jam even on a shelf in the corridor of the apartment.

Tasty mix

If the year turned out to be lean on strawberries or you were late with picking berries and managed to pick up quite a bit, then do not despair. Rescue community of cultures. The combination of strawberries and wild strawberries gives an indescribable flavor. Both berries are sorted, petioles are removed. The cooking method is classic, it’s better not to cook for five minutes, this is risky, because strawberries have a higher acid content.

In a slow cooker

Sometimes there is no time to closely monitor the process of boiling berries, constantly stirring them. And jam is insidious, it just waits for the moment to escape over the edge or burn. Cooking in a slow cooker will save you from these problems, especially since you can program the equipment for a delayed start and set a convenient time. The proportions are ordinary, per kilogram of sugar and berries with the addition of 1 cup of water. When determining the maximum load, you will have to focus on the multicooker parameters. After the products are laid open, open the steam valve and select the quenching mode. It will take 30 minutes to prepare aromatic jam without additional effort, removing foam and stirring constantly.

Hazelnut note

Strawberry jam with lemon peel and walnut slices is very tasty. They are added at the third boiling for a variety of tastes. For 1 kg of berries, 2-3 shavings of zest and 100 g of chopped nuts, preferably peeled from a thin inner skin covering the kernels, are sufficient.

Assorted

An amazing aroma and flavor bouquet is obtained by combining several types of berries with a predominance of strawberries. A magnificent triad with it is strawberries and raspberries. You will have to choose the earliest raspberry varieties or watch the first crop of the remontant, since in some regions one berry is sung first, then another.

A very interesting option is obtained by adding early currants, red or black. It needs very little, the berry has a tart taste, the aroma is strong and can clog subtle flavoring shades of strawberries.

Jam storage rules

After the winter stocks are made, the question arises of how to keep them as long as possible. Of course, it is difficult to conceal such a delicacy from households, and it is not necessary, it was prepared just for them. Another thing is if the top of the jam is covered with mold or it has fermented.

Storage conditions directly depend on the method of preparation of jam.

1. Raw, grated with sugar will stand only in the refrigerator on the shelf for fresh vegetables. There, without access of air through the cover, it will be able to survive for 3-4 months. An open jar will have to be eaten within a week, so it is better to pack such a product in small containers “once” from the beginning.
2. Five minutes from one type of berry without additional ingredients with a dosage of berries and sugar 1: 1 with an airtight cork can be lowered into the cellar without damage to the product. With an increased amount of sugar, the bank stands quietly in the apartment.
3. Three times boiled jam, in which the berries were poured with boiling syrup, is unkillable. It is placed anywhere in the house, apartment, garage or cellar.It does not wander, does not grow moldy, does not freeze.

Strawberries have no waste

The berry brought from the forest itself is very valuable, but you can get additional benefits from it. After preparing for jam, a whole pile of sepals remains. They should not be thrown away. They are useful for the preparation of healing broths used for arthritis, gout, renal colic, anemia, and cardiovascular diseases.

Vitamin tea from dried leaves and berries enhances immunity, reduces pressure, improves digestion and stabilizes the emotional state on a positive wave. To prepare it, take 1 teaspoon of dried grass and berries, pour a glass of boiling water, cover with a terry cloth for 10 minutes. You can drink it without restrictions, replacing the usual morning coffee or evening Ceylon tea.

Interesting facts about wild strawberries

1. Until the 15th century, wild berries were harvested and only later realized that it was more convenient to cultivate and grow them in your garden.
2. Botanists have 600 species of strawberries.
3. Brazilians consider the berry a symbol of prosperity and prosperity.
4. In the old days, friends and neighbors were treated to the first berry and they ate only the next berry themselves. The meaning of the custom is that the crop is annual and plentiful.
5. Wild species with the help of a mustache gradually "crawl" to a new place, and the meadow glides slowly to the side. The reason is that for more than 5 years bushes cannot grow in one place, as the soil is depleted.

Whatever strawberries, forest or garden, the mistress fell into the hands of, she knows that this is a real vitamin treasure and will not let a single berry disappear. Freshly eaten in season, and remember about the generous summer, opening a jar of ruby ​​jam and breathing in its breathtaking aroma.

Photo of strawberry jam