Strawberry Freezer Jam

Strawberries are in season and there have been great prices on them at the grocery stores, so I thought I would try my hand at freezer jam this year. I don't know why I have never made jam before. It is so easy. It seriously only took me a half hour to make. It is so much better than store bought.I read others tips on freezer jam and everyone was raving about Ball's Simple Creation No-cook Freezer Jam Pectin. So, that is what I used. Update: Jam has been repackaged and looks like this.
People like it because it uses less sugar than most pectin brands and you don't have to cook the jam. Here are the summarized instructions from the pectin package:

4 cups crushed strawberries
1 package Ball's Simple Creation No-cook Freezer Jam Pectin
1 1/2 cups sugar

That's it! Pretty easy. Pour the jam in your freezer containers and let the jam set for about a half hour before placing in the freezer. This is how much jam the recipe makes:

Strawberry Freezer Jam using Aguave

Last year I posted a simple freezer jam recipe using Ball's Simple Creation No-cook Freezer Jam Pectin. Since strawberries are now in season and we recently ran out of jam, I decided it was time to make more. I have heard of people using agave so I recently bought some and decided to try it with my jam. Agave is sweeter than granulated sugar, so you use less of it when making the jam.

Here is the recipe:

4 cups crushed strawberries
1 package Ball's Simple Creation No-cook Freezer Jam Pectin (update: pectin repackaging now looks like this.)
3/4 cups agave


Mix the agave and pectin in a large bowl. Wash your strawberries (I like to spray with this fruit/veggie cleaner first), remove stems, and cut in half and place in food processor or blender.

Place the four cups of crushed berries into the large bowl with pectin and agave. Mix for 3 minutes and then pour into jam containers. Let jam thicken for 30 minutes before placing in the freezer.

That's it. No cooking required. You just simply mix. I love this pectin!

This is a very healthful jam and I really can't taste a difference between using agave and sugar.

Here is a break down of the cost of this jam. I got 5 jars of jam.

Strawberries - $2
Agave - 2.25 (estimated by how much I used of the bottle)
Pectin - 1.42

Total - $5.67
Total per jar - $1.14

You definitely can't buy a jar of jam for that much at the store, especially one that contains agave! This only took me a 1/2 hour start to finish and is something anyone can do. Enjoy!

Freezer Jam Pectin

I noticed at the store today that the no-cook freezer jam pectin I have recommended in the past has been redesigned and has a new look. So when you are at the store looking for it, this is what you are looking for.

I have bought mine at WinCo and Wal-Mart, but you can also order online here. It's the perfect time of year to make your strawberry freezer jam. I am hoping to make some later this week.