Home Canning 101: Fresh Strawberry Jam

Instructions:

1. Place the 8 canning jars on a rack in a boiling water canner. Fill the jars and canner with cool water. Make sure the water covers the top of the jars. Cover and bring water to a simmer over medium heat. Do not boil.
2. Prepare the lids and bands. Place lids in a small sauce pan and cover with water, then heat to a simmer over medium heat, again not letting the water boil. Keep the lids warm until ready to use. The bands do not need to be heated.
3. Measure sugar into a large mixing bowl and set aside.
4. Wash all strawberries thoroughly and remove the top hulls from the fruit. Put the strawberries into another bowl container and crush them; a potato masher works well for this. We found it's best to do this in batches and then add each batch to a deep sauce pan.
5. Once all the strawberries are in the saucepan, add the lemon juice to the strawberries. Next, whisk in pectin until fully dissolved. Bring to a full boil, stirring frequently.
6. Add in the sugar and return to a full boil, stirring constantly. You will want to do this for about 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim off the foam.
7. Now you're ready to fill the jars, however you will want to do this one jar at a time. Remove one jar from the canner with a jar lifter and empty the hot water back into the canner. Place jar on a towel covered counter, however to not not dry jar. Place a canning funnel in the jar and ladle hot jam into the hot jar. Leave about 1/4 inch headspace.
8. Remove air bubbles by sliding a non-metallic utensil down between the jam and the inside of the jar. Add more jam if required after bubbles have been removed. Wipe the jar rim with a clean damp paper towel or cloth. You want to make sure that you have not food residue on the rim, otherwise it won't seal properly.
9. Using a magnetic utensil, lift a hot lid from the water and place it on the jar. Put a screw band on the jar and finger tighten. Return jar to canner rack with the jar lifter and repeat steps 7, 8 and 9 for each jar.
10. When all jars are filled and placed back into the canner, you will want to make sure that the water is at least 1" above the tops of the jars. Cover canner and bring the water to a full boil. You will want to process for 10 minutes.
11. After 10 minutes, turn off heat and remove the canner lid. Let set for 5 minutes and remove the jars with the jar lifter, placing them on a towel. You will want this to be a draft - free and undisturbed place for 24 hours.
12. After 24 hours, you now have your very own delicious strawberry jam that you can enjoy all year round!