PickYourOwn.org
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How to Make Homemade Fig-Strawberry Jam - Easily! Making and canning your own jam is also quite easy. Here's how to do it, in 10 easy steps and
completely illustrated. The fig and strawberry combination is a perfect match:
the sweetness of figs coupled with the tartness and aromatic flavor of
strawberries is ideal, allowing you to use much less sugar or even go sugarless!
This recipe is all-natural, using fresh or frozen strawberries an figs. Every
other fig-strawberry recipe I've seen calls for strawberry Jell-o instead of
real strawberries! Gross!
Real jam does not use jell-o!I've got some other pages for specific types of jam, too: See this page for Fig Jam, this page for Blueberry Jam directions and this page for how to make apricot, peach, plum or nectarine jam. For more information about figs and strawberries, see Fig Picking Tips, Strawberry Picking Tips and Miscellaneous strawberry facts. Also, see this page for directions about how to can figs and this page for strawberry and other berry jams! For easy applesauce or apple butter directions, click on these links. Ingredients and Equipment
Jam-making Directions
Step 1 - Pick the figs and berries! (or buy them already
picked)
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Recommended process time for jams in a boiling water canner. |
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| Process Time at Altitudes of | ||||
| Style of Pack | Jar Size | 0 - 1,000 ft | 1,001 - 6,000 ft | Above 6,000 ft |
| Hot | Half-pints or Pints |
5 min | 10 | 15 |
Lift the jars out of the water with your jar lifter tongs and let them cool without touching or
bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight) You can then remove the rings if you like. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok.
Once cooled, they're ready to store. I find they last up to 12 months. But after about 6 to 8 months, they get darker in color and start to get runny. They still are safe to eat, but the flavor and texture aren't as good. So eat them in the first 6 months after you prepare them! Another trick is to keep the uncooked berries or other fruit in the freezer and make and can the jam as needed, so it's always fresh.
Other Equipment:From left to right:
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 You can get all of the tools in a kit here:  |
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Home Canning KitsFeatures:* All the tools you need for hot waterbath canning - in one comprehensive set! * Complete with 21 1/2 qt. enameled waterbath canner and "Ball Blue Book" of canning. * Also includes canning rack, funnel, jar lifter, jar wrencher, bubble freer, tongs and lid lifter. * A Kitchen Krafts exclusive collection. This is the same type of standard canner that my grandmother
used to make everything from applesauce to jams and jellies to tomato and
spaghetti sauce. This complete kit includes everything you need and
lasts for years: the canner, jar rack, jar grabber tongs,
lid lifting wand, a plastic funnel,
labels, bubble freer, and the bible of canning, the Ball Blue Book. It's much cheaper than buying the items separately. You'll never need anything else except jars and lids (and the jars are reusable). To see more canners, of different styles, makes and prices, click here! Average Customer Review:
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Canning booksCanning & Preserving for Dummies
Click here for a larger photo, more information, pricing, ordering, etc. |
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The Ball Blue Book of PreservingThis is THE book on canning! My grandmother used this book when I was a child. It tells you in simple instructions how to can almost anything; complete with recipes for jam, jellies, pickles, sauces, canning vegetables, meats, etc. If it can be canned, this book likely tells you how! Click on the link below for more information and / or to buy (no obligation to buy) Price $8.95 |
Summary - Typical Cost of Making Homemade Jam - makes 8 jars, 8 oz each** |
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| Item | Quantity | Cost in 2006 | Source | Subtotal |
| Berries (strawberries) | 1 gallon | $8.00/gallon | Pick your own | $8.00 |
| Canning jars (8 oz size), includes lids and rings | 18 jars | $7.00/dozen | Grocery stores, like Public, Kroger, Safeway and sometimes, Big Lots, local hardware stores and big box stores | $10.00 |
| Sugar | 4 cups | $2.00 | Grocery stores, like Public, Kroger, Safeway and sometimes, Big Lots, local hardware stores and big box stores | $2.00 |
| Pectin (low sugar, dry) | 1 and a third boxes * | $2.00 per box | Grocery stores, like Public, Kroger, Safeway and sometimes, Big Lots, local hardware stores and big box stores | $2.70 |
| Total | $22.70 total or about $1.25 per jar |
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| * pectin use varies - blackberry
jam needs very little, raspberry a little more, strawberry the most.
** - This assumes you already have the pots, pans, ladles, and reusable equipment. Note that you can reuse the jars and reduce the cost further; just buy new lids (the rings are reusable, but the flat lids are not)! |
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FAQs - Answers to Common Questions
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As mentioned
above; you may use frozen berries (those without syrup or added sugar);
which is especially useful if you want to make some jam in December to give
away at Christmas!
Now's a good time to get the jars ready, so you won't be rushed later.
The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sterilize" cycle, the water bath processing will
sterilize them as well as the contents! If you don't have a dishwasher with a sterilize cycle, you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, then
sterilize the jars by boiling them 10 minutes, and keep the jars in hot
water until they are used. 
I'm sure you can figure out how to wash the fruit in plain
cold water.
At
left is a sample slice of a perfectly ripe but not over-ripe fig. It
depends on the variety, but generally, they should be pink/yellowish and not
brown inside....
r tenderize the skins. Since the skins have no flavor, I'd
rather remove them if they are thick or tough... otherwise, just chop them
up along with the rest of the fig.
You'll need
3 cups. You can chop them
up more, if you like, but I find they soften and break up during cooking, an
d
if I want smaller pieces, I
just use a sharp-edged plastic potato masher (shown at right) to mush them
while cooking)
If
you are using low or no-sugar pectin, you should only need 2 and 1/4 cups of
sugar. With regular
pectin, about 4 cups of sugar. Mix the dry pectin with about 1/4 cup
of sugar and Keep this separate from the rest of the sugar. If you are not using sugar, you'll just have to stir more vigorously to prevent the pectin from clumping. This helps to
keep the pectin from clumping up and allows it to mix better!
Combine
the berries and figs in a large pot. Stir the pectin into the berry/fig
mixture. Put the pot on the stove over medium to high heat (stir often enough to
prevent burning). It should take about 5 to 10 minutes to get it to
a full boil (the kind that can not be stirred away).
If
you haven't done so already, put the lids into a pan of
hot water (barely simmering) for at least several minutes; to soften up the gummed surface
and clean the lids.
When the berry-pectin mix has reached a full boil
(photo at left), add the rest of the sugar (about 2 cups of sugar per 6 cup batch of berries
- OR the 1 cup of fruit juice OR the 1 cup of Splenda) and then
rn
to a full, hard boil for 1 minute
Foam...
What is it? Just jam with a lot of air from the boiling. But it
tastes more like, well, foam, that jam, so most people remove it. It is
harmles
s,
though. Some people add 1 teaspoon of butter or margarine to the mix in
step 6 to reduce foaming, but food experts debate whether that may contribute to
earlier spoilage, so I usually omit it and skim.
I keep a metal tablespoon sitting in a
glass of ice water, then take a half spoonful of the mix and let it cool
to room temperature on the spoon. If it thickens up to the
consistency I like, then I know the jam is ready. If not, I mix in a
little more pectin (about 1/4 to 1/2 of another package) and bring it to a
boil again for 1 minute.
Step 13 - Fill the jars and put the lid and
rings on
Fill them to within ¼-inch of the top, wipe any spilled jam off the
top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them. Then put them into
the boiling water canner!
process (boil) them longer at higher altitudes than sea
level, or if you use larger jars, or if you did not sterilize the jars and
lids right before using them. The directions inside every box of
pectin will tell you exactly. The directions on the pectin tend to be
pretty conservative. Clemson University says you only need to process
them for 5 minutes. I usually hedge my bets and start pulling them out
after 5 minutes, and the last jars were probably in for 10. I rarely
have a jar spoil, so it must work. But you don't want to process them too
long, or the jam will turn dark and get runny. See the chart
below for altitude adjustment to processing times, if you are not in the sea
level to 1,000ft above sea level range.
