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.
Thank you for the honey little bee.
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