From the end of June, summer residents and owners of country plots begin a busy time. Currants, raspberries, strawberries, and gooseberries are ripening. You need to have time to prepare juices, jams, and compotes from the berries. Strawberries saturate the body with microelements and vitamins, normalize metabolism, reduce blood pressure, have a beneficial effect on heart function, and cope with depression. If you prepare “five-minute” strawberry jam for the winter, all the beneficial properties of the berries will be preserved at least until next spring. By consuming such a delicacy, a person is charged with positive energy, catches colds less often, and regains strength.
Features of making strawberry jam
Having collected aromatic berries, you can make jam from them. Housewives who have done this kind of work more than once know that they need to keep an eye on how the jam is boiling. Prepare the delicacy over low heat and leave for 2 hours. The strawberries will retain a beautiful color and have a pleasant taste.
You need to take a responsible approach to choosing cookware. You cannot cook berries in enamel bowls, aluminum or copper basins. Need to stock up:
- a saucepan or other stainless steel container;
- seaming wrench;
- lids;
- wooden spoon.
The aromatic delicacy is placed in well-sterilized jars. There is no need for a large number of different ingredients to prepare it.
Product selection
The most delicious and healthy jam is made from wild strawberries. This berry contains a lot of vitamins, pectin, phenolic substances, and flavonoids. When using it:
- Toxins leave the body.
- The percentage of cholesterol decreases.
- The functioning of the intestines and adrenal glands improves.
It is difficult to pick strawberries because they are very small and stand out bright red against the background of grass. Collection begins in June or July. Summer residents are engaged in growing garden strawberries, which have large berries, but cannot boast of forest aromas, and contain several times fewer useful components than those that grow in meadows and forest edges.
Beautiful bouquets are made from meadow strawberries. Round, dense berries are collected with stems and sepals. They are stored for a long time, differ in smell and taste from forest and garden strawberries.
To make jam you need:
- 1 kg of berries;
- 1.5 sugar;
- glass of water.
First the syrup is made. Strawberries are placed in it and left for 5 hours.Bring the delicacy to a boil three times. The last time is kept on fire for 5 minutes. If it is cooked, a drop of the product does not spread over the surface of the saucer. In the room, the delicacy is stored in sterilized jars with lids.
How to make five-minute strawberry jam
If you managed to collect wild berries in order to get a sweet and tasty product and preserve all the useful components, you need to choose a quick cooking recipe. Experienced housewives call “five minutes” the best option.
Preparing the berries
Wild strawberries must be freed from stalks, leaves, needles or grass. If it is dry and clean, there is no need to wash it. Dirty berries should be placed in a colander and placed under running water.
Stirring with sugar
A fragrant and tasty product will be obtained if the strawberries release juice before cooking. Not everyone knows what needs to be done for this. The berries, peeled from stalks and leaves, should be placed in a bowl or pan and sugar should be poured into them in layers.
Cooking process
After a few hours, when liquid appears in the strawberries, put the dishes on the fire. When the mixture boils, you need to completely remove the foam and add a pinch of citric acid or the juice of this citrus fruit so that the delicacy does not become sugary or lose color. You need to cook it for exactly 5 minutes, after cooling 2 more times for the same amount of time. This helps remove the slight bitterness present in fresh strawberries.
Housewives who have repeatedly made jam or preserves from wild berries advise:
- Do not harvest along roads.
- Do not use strawberries that have stood for a day after picking.
- You can add almonds or nuts to add flavor.
- Red currant helps eliminate bitterness.
Beginners should use the simplest recipe for making jam, in which you need to take 1 kg of berries, from 500 g to 1000 g of sugar:
- Rinse the strawberries and let the liquid drain.
- Pour 2 tablespoons of water into an empty bowl or pan.
- Pour all ingredients into a container.
- Turn on high heat on the stove and bring the berries to a boil.
- Boil the strawberries for 5 minutes, collecting the foam.
- Pour the hot treat into sterilized glass jars and wrap it in a blanket or several towels.
You can put a handful of lavender flowers, lemon juice into prepared jam from garden strawberries or wild strawberries and boil for a couple of minutes. The berries will have a bright color, and the jam will acquire a unique aroma.
Storage
The tin lids with which the jars are screwed on do not swell in the cellar or basement, and strawberries do not lose vitamins and microelements for a long time. However, if you open the jam, you can only consume the delicacy for a week.
Berry and nut preparations are stored under nylon covers and only in the refrigerator. Closing the jars of boiling jam, turn them over and place them bottom up, wrap them up overnight.
Strawberry delicacy helps cure colds, get rid of runny nose, gives energy and good mood.
