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Quick Strawberry Jam

Three ingredients, one big flavor payoff.
difficulty:
yield:

1 pound (about 2 cups)

time:

About 1 hour to prep and cook the jam, plus cooling time

introduction

This quick strawberry jam is so much tastier than a preserved jam born of the same fruit, we wonder why anyone goes through the labored orchestration of traditional jam. Want it to keep? Freeze it. Fantastically perfumed, lightly jelled, perfectly balanced with bright berry acid and sweetness, this jam is great on ice cream, yogurt, in hand pies, or on toast.

Cooking Remarks

Berry jams are typically cooked to 221 degrees. While temperature is an excellent guideline, pouring the hot jam into a bowl set on a scale to weigh its yield provides a more reliable indicator for us. Some jam-makers swear by a wrinkle-test whereby a spoonful of cooked jam is dropped from a spoon onto a frozen plate. If the jam wrinkles as a finger pushes through it on the plate, the jam is done. We tried that, too. It worked!

equipment mise en place

For this recipe, you will need a digital kitchen scale, a 4.5-quart Dutch oven, a digital instant-read thermometer, and a glass container or jar with lid for storing the jam.

    • pounds slightly underripe or just ripe strawberries, rinsed, dried, and hulled, large berries halved
    • Juice of 1 large, juicy lemon
    • 8
      ounces sugar
  1.  

    In a 4.5-quart Dutch oven, combine the strawberries and lemon juice. Cover and bring to a very gentle simmer over medium-low heat, occasionally swirling the pot. Cook until the berries begin go limp and are swimming in juice, about 10 minutes.

  2.  

    Add the sugar and stir until completely dissolved. Return the mixture to a gentle simmer and continue to cook, uncovered and stirring infrequently—just to check for sticking—until the jam registers 221 to 222 degrees on a digital instant-read thermometer and weighs about 1 pound when poured into a bowl on a digital kitchen scale, 35 to 45 minutes.

  3.  

    Transfer the jam to a glass container or jar with lid and let cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze indefinitely.