Indiana Strawberry Preserves

From the Ball Blue Book of Preserving comes a pectin free recipe for preserving Indiana Strawberries
Change your thinking. Try Canning to make a greener Indiana. Start a thought revolution.

Heirloom Strawberry Preserve Recipe (Page 40)

1 1/2 Quarts Strawverries
5 cups sugar
1/3 cup lemon Juice

Combine strawberries and sugar in a large sauce pot. Let stand for 3 to 4 hours Bring slowly to a boil stirring until sugar dissolves. Add lemon juice rapidly until strawberries are transparent and syrup is thick. Ladle into a shallow pan. Let stand, uncovered, 12 to 24 hours in a cool place. Stir occasionaly to distribute strawberries throughout the syrup. Heat strawberries and syrup until hot thoughout. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot preserves into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust two piece caps. Process 20 minutes in a boiling water canner.

Here's what really happened when cooking the strawberries:

After straining the juice from the Strawberries and Rhubarb, I added three packets of fruit Pectin just to the liquid and not the fruit and brougt the "Sugar Juice" to another boil. Left for 14 hours, I began to ladel the jelly and sam into jars. My pectin was supplied courtesy of "Ball" who distributed the complimentary products at the Minnetrista Garden Fair last weekend. Thank you to Ball Glass Jars and Indiana Company with a deep philanthropic bond to East Central Indiana, as well as the Indiana State Museum. My compliments to Judd Fishers for his leadership of the Ball Brother's family foundation.

Stay tuned. My next step is to seal the jars with a canning techniques call hot water bath.