Bright Strawberry Watermelon Jam (Print Version)
# Ingredients:
→ Fruit Base
01 -
2 and a half cups of watermelon juice, well-strained
02 -
2 and a half cups strawberries, diced (fresh or frozen both work)
→ Sweeteners and Preservers
03 -
7 cups white sugar
04 -
1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
05 -
1 teaspoon optional unsalted butter
06 -
1.75 ounces standard pectin or you can swap in 6 tablespoons from a bulk pectin pack
# Instructions:
01 -
Blitz watermelon pieces in your blender or food processor till completely puréed. Pour that through a fine sieve—stop when you get 2 and a half cups of juice.
02 -
Squeeze out the lemon. If you're using butter to cut down on foam, keep it handy on the side.
03 -
Grab a heavy pot and add watermelon juice, strawberries, pectin, lemon juice, and the butter if you want. Stir 'em all together.
04 -
Put the pot on medium-high. Gently stir, and let it cook till it comes to a big, rolling boil that keeps bubbling even when you stir.
05 -
Pour in the sugar and keep stirring every so often. Once it hits a hard boil (the kind that doesn't settle when stirred), keep going.
06 -
Boil that jam for just over a minute—about 70 seconds—and stir like crazy the whole time.
07 -
Move the pot off the burner as soon as it's done boiling; get your jars ready or go straight to loading them up.
08 -
For canning, fill your canning pot so jars will be covered by about an inch of water. Bring to a rolling boil.
09 -
Drop clean jars into boiling water for a minute, then lift them out with jar clamps and let them air dry upside down on a clean dish towel.
10 -
Use your funnel and a ladle to fill each jar while the jam is hot—leave about a quarter-inch of space up top. Wipe the edges with a damp cloth and dry well.
11 -
Pop on the lids and seals, then screw them on by hand. Grab some gloves if it's too hot to handle.
12 -
Drop the packed jars into the boiling water canner, making sure they're covered. Let them bubble away for 10 minutes.
13 -
Once done, take jars out and set them on a towel. Let them cool off completely. Make sure the tops are sealed tight before storing at room temp for up to 18 months.
14 -
Not canning? Just let the jam cool off in the jars and stash them in the fridge. Eat up within a month once they're open.
15 -
For freezing, scoop the cooled jam into freezer-safe jars—leave about an inch at the top. Put on the lids and freeze for as long as a year.
# Notes:
01 -
You'll go through about half of a big watermelon for 2 and a half cups of juice. This makes over six 240 ml jars—stash any leftovers in the fridge and use within 30 days.
02 -
If you press down on a lid and it pops back, the seal didn't work right. Pop it in the fridge and eat it up soon.
03 -
It's best to eat opened jars within a month. If using bulk pectin, go with regular, not low sugar. Follow what it says on the package for best results.