Easy Strawberry Jam

I was still 20 feet away from the stand when I knew that strawberries had arrived with a vengeance at the Bloomingdale farmer's market. There were only about a dozen quarts of red goodness left, but had out-perfumed the nearby flower stand and staked an olfactory claim to nearly half of the block-long market. It wasn't long before my bag was 2 pounds heavier.

I am not much a strawberry enthusiast, and I soon realized that consuming that many strawberries before they went bad would be nearly impossible. I decided to look for an easy recipe for jam. Here is what I did:

1) The recipe said to hull 2 pounds of strawberries. I am not exactly sure what that means, but I think it involved paring knife surgery on each berry. It was Monday night and I wasn't in the mood for that level of patience so I just cut the tops off.

2) Crush the strawberries. I just used my hands to do this and it was pretty fun. It also really lets you control how lumpy the jam will be.

3) Add 1/4 cup of lemon juice (about 1 big lemon) and 4 cups of white sugar and stir. Honestly, you could probably get by with 3 cups of sugar, particularly if the berries are already fresh and sweet.

4) Pour mixture into a saucepan and dissolve sugar over low heat. Once the mixture is no longer grainy, crank up the heat and boil it. The juice should get to 22o degrees. Use a candy thermometer if you have one. I found the last few degrees to be a challenge for some reason.

5) Once at 220, turn down the heat to maintain that temp and put a small sample of the mixture on a cold plate. Run your finger through it and if it stays apart, then you are most likely going to have the right consistency. I just read about this tip, so I don't know yet whether it is true.

6) Turn off the heat and pour jam into warm, sterilized jars. To sterilize, fully wash the jars of any major junk and then use a no-rinse sterilizer (these are available at brewing supply stores). Just follow the instructions on the sterilizer. In a pinch, Josh or I probably have enough to share.

7) Seal and refrigerate.

UPDATE:  Just tried the jam with a little fresh ricotta and bread and it was delicious and just the right consistency.  I'll definitely be doing this one again and freezing it for the winter.