Simple Strawberry Jam, European style ~ this easy small batch strawberry jam is made the traditional way they’ve been making jam in France for centuries.
Easy strawberry jam, the European way
This recipe and method comes to me from my friend Elisa. Elisa is from the Brie region of France and her family home dates from something crazy like the 1500s. Her summer job, while she was growing up, was making jams and jellies from the fruit in the family orchards. I know. How cool is that. She still goes back every summer season to help out with the huge task. Being a sly food blogger I immediately pumped her for all the information I could get on her authentic French method for making jam.
I spotted these strawberries at Sunday’s farmer’s market and they caught my eye because of their deep red color and small size. I’m going to start off super simple and just make a straightforward strawberry jam using Elisa’s suggestions. This is jam at its simplest.
what you’ll need
Elisa sent me a detailed list of the jam and jelly making tips and secrets she’s learned from her grandmother, the women in her village, and her own experimentation over the years. According to Elisa, for the most basic of all jams you technically need only 4 things:
- fruit,
- sugar
- clean jars
- and a scale. The scale is essential because you need equal amounts, by weight, of the fruit and sugar.
There are lots of variations and subtle changes you can make, including using special sugars with added pectin, and different combinations of fruit and flavorings, but I’m starting out with the easiest.
Notes: I’m pleased to say everything went smoothly. I was especially impressed with how the simple procedure of flipping over the hot jars of jam did indeed create a seal…the tops on my jars were all concave. The jam seemed a little loose at first, but by the next morning it was just perfect.
It puzzled me that this jam was so simple to make, and bypassed all that rigamarole with the boiling jars, sterilized tongs, etc, etc. I wrote to Elisa to ask her about this, and here’s what she said:
I’ve never heard of anyone, either in Belgium or in France, boiling the jars after filling them. Sometimes they do it before filling them – but just as a way of cleaning them well. But most people nowadays just put them in the dishwasher. To make sure, I checked more than a dozen websites on jam making in French, and none of them mentioned boiling the jars. However, they all said to turn the jars upside down when the jam is cooling down. This creates a vacuum that allows for the conservation of the jam and prevents contamination from bacteria or molds. You know, like when you open a jar for the first time, it makes this popping sound when the vacuum is filled with air? … and the extremely high sugar content stops the proliferation of bacteria (this is why historically sugar is used for food preservation – just like salt or vinegar). AND, my biggest argument: people in France and Belgium have been doing it like this forever and we’re perfectly fine 🙂
Is the French method for making jam safe?
According to American standards, this method is not safe for long term storage, although, as Elisa says, they’ve been doing just that in France for generations. I think I’ll be using it for small batches that I intend to keep in the refrigerator and eat relatively soon. For small batch refrigerated jam this method is easy and foolproof.
Don’t forget the scones!
Homemade scones are the perfect foil for strawberry jam. Since my berries were so small, I left them whole, and didn’t mash the fruit too much during the cooking, so I got nice big chunks of strawberry in my jam.
Simple Strawberry Jam, European style
Ingredients
- 3 pints fresh ripe strawberries, rinsed and trimmed
- An equal amount of sugar, by weight
- juice of 1 lemon
- 5 or 6 clean 1/2 pint jars
Instructions
- Cut your berries in half or quarters if they are large, or leave them whole if they are small. Weigh the prepared fruit and put it in a large kettle or soup pot. My three pints of trimmed berries weighed almost 2 pounds.
- Weigh out an equal amount of regular sugar and pour over the berries. Stir the sugar and strawberries together, mashing some of the berries to release the juice. Cover and set aside for several hours to allow the juices to start flowing. Refrigerate in very warm weather.
- Add the lemon juice and bring the pot to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for about 20 minutes, and then test the jam by spooning a small amount onto a very cold plate. If the jam gels it is ready, if it remains liquid, keep boiling, up to about 30 minutes. Mine took the full 30 minutes. If you are in doubt, keep boiling.
- Ladle the hot jam (be very careful, it's super hot) into the jars, filling them almost full. Put the lids on and immediately turn the jars upside down.
- When the jam has cooled, turn the jars upright and store in the refrigerator. Note: US health standards dictate that jam bottled this way should be refrigerated and eaten within a few weeks. It is not shelf stable according to American requirements.
I noticed in Yvette Van Boven’s cookbook Home Made Summer she makes jams this way, with equal parts sugar and fruit and the jars turned upside down. She says to store them in the pantry, so the seal must be fine. Can’t wait to try it!
Again, here in the US it’s not recommended to can jam this way, so we would refrigerate and eat within a few weeks to a month.
Can this be used with any fruit or just strawberries?
You can use other fruit, for sure.
As other posters have commented, the concept of boiling the jars and such was a total deterrent to making jams, for me. However, this is so simply brilliant! I’m curious why the jars should be kept in the fridge though? If they’re vacuum sealed shouldn’t they be able to be stored on a shelf in the pantry? My toddler and I went strawberry picking today, am looking forward to jam later on!!
In Europe they are confident keeping well sealed jars on the shelf, but here in the US it doesn’t meet our standards for safety. I personally choose to err on the side of caution and refrigerate/eat within a few weeks.
I don’t boil my jars, but I do run them through the rinse and dry cycle of the dishwasher right before I use them. A whole lot less work, and they need it anyway after being stored empty.
Wonderful recipe. This is how we used to make it here, or least how my ex-mother-in-law taught me. I don’t even think we turned them upside down. But, as long as it was fruit, it was supposed to be ok without boiling. An, pectin was a shortcut.
Half the reason (okay MOST of the reason) I never canned until 6 mos ago was watching my mother and grandma boil jars, vats of water, tongs..the whole thing Freaked! me out! Like all that work? even AFTER you have a “sterile” mixture of fruit/sugar/jam that’s been boiling for a half hour…yes, that’s American canning.
Well, leave it to the French. I love them, Elisa, and this post. Life.Changer!
Printed this off and am making as soon as our berries arrive–not too awfully long now! Gorgeous pics. Enjoy the weekend.
Super jam, I use a recipe from the back of a sugar packet in France, and the pots go in the dishwasher, I’m always amazed at the fiddle of sterilizing that I read about.
Thanks for the easy recipe! (And thanks to Elisa too!) I’ve always wanted to make my own jam, but I never actively made an attempt to do it.
BTW, those gorgeous strawberries photos are making me want to run to the market and buy out their supply! 😀
Your photos are beautiful Sue! We love homemade jam and I have been ‘canning’ in boiling water for a while now. Imagine my delight when I found the “inversion method”. We have jams and apple butter that have been canned this way are perfectly delicious a year later. I don’t have more information because I can never keep it longer than that.
I am making jam today and am so excited to eat it! Have a wonderful weekend.