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Sunday, June 19, 2016

My New Favorite Jam

Strawberry Honey Jam

I got my first large harvest of honey from my bees last fall. So I wanted to try using honey instead of sugar in a batch of strawberry jam. I wasn't quite sure if we would like the honey jam, so I also did one batch with sugar.


I used Ball Lower Sugar Jam jar of pectin. With this pectin you can use less sugar, honey, or other sweeteners. The jar makes up to 22 half pints, but it says do not exceed 10 jars per batch. 

For my jam I used:
6 cups cut up strawberries
1 1/2 cups water
6 Tblsp + 2 1/4 teasp pectin
1 1/2 cups honey

1. On the pectin's instruction it say to crush one layer of strawberries at a time using a potato masher. I like to cut the strawberries into fourths and mash them a little altogether.  This makes for a chunkier jam.

2. Combine strawberries with water in a large saucepan. Gradually stir in pectin. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly.

3. Add honey. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 min. stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam.

4. Ladle hot jam into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rims, top with warmed lids, and apply bands, fingertip tighten.

5. Place filled jars in canner ensuring jars are covered by 1 to 2 inches of water. Place lid on canner. Bring water to gentle, steady boil. (200 degree F) 

6. Process jars for 10 minutes. (adjust for altitude, mine is below 1,000 feet) Turn off heat, remove lid and let jars stand for 5 minutes.

7. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours.


After thoughts:

I like Ball Lower Sugar Jam better than Mrs. Wages Lite Fruit Pectin. Mainly because the Ball is a flexible batch pectin.

The consensus with the family is the honey jam is better than sugar jam. The honey jam is a little sweeter and has a slight honey taste. I also used a 1/2 cup less of honey than sugar.

12 comments:

  1. I do so admire those who have the patience to make their own jam. It sounds & looked delicious.

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    1. Thank you but it really is easy. And to me fun, weird right:) Thanks for stopping by.

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  2. Very cool post, I have never used honey in Jam! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by. I can't wait to try blueberry honey jam, now if only the blueberries would hurry up and ripen.

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  3. Delicious! Thank you for sharing on the Art of Home-Making Mondays! :)

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    1. This has become my family's favorite. Thank you for stopping by.

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  4. I need to make some more jam. I always seem to miss our fruit seasons or the kitchen just isn't clean/organized enough to do any canning. It's our blackberry season right now. I better get on it.

    Thank you for sharing on the Homestead Blog Hop.

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    1. Oh, I love blackberry jelly, our major blackberry season isn't until late August. I can't wait to try blackberry honey jelly. Thank you for stopping by.

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  5. What a great idea! I am going to try this before the strawberry season is over. Stopping by from the Country Fair Blog Party!

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    1. Thank you, I going to try making raspberry jelly with honey today. I will post those results. Thanks for stopping by.

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  6. I love this recipe. My best friend is raising honey bees, and so I have some great local honey to use. Coming by from Country Fair Blog Party
    Jan

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  7. Nice little post here... Learned a lot. I am a newbie at this so can't guarantee how well I can make this but hey... Will try this for my family. Thanks for this informative post again. :)

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It is always nice to hear from you. Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment.