It’s Strawberry Time

It’s strawberry time! One of my favorite times of the year. It’s great when you have u-pick farms nearby or a local farmers’ market that carries fresh local-grown strawberries.

Varieties

The main varieties grown here in Alabama are Camarosa and Chandler which are excellent for freezing, and for jams and preserves. Other varieties, including Albion and Sweet Charlie, are occasionally grown as well but are generally not as well adapted to Alabama’s weather, according to Gary Gray and James Miles, two of our Regional Extension Agents in Commercial Horticulture.

Yield

1 quart (1 1/2 pounds) = 4 cups 8-quart crate (12 pounds) = 12 pints frozen 24-quart crate = 18 to 24 quarts canned 36 pounds fresh = 36 pints frozen 2/3 quart fresh = 1 pint frozen

HOW TO PRESERVE

Freezing

Choose firm, ripe, red berries, preferably with a slightly tart flavor. Large berries are better sliced or crushed. Sort the berries. Wash them in cold water but do not soak. Cap and drain well. Using the sugar and syrup pack methods will produce better quality frozen strawberries than packing berries without sweetening.

• Syrup pack method: Pack berries into containers and cover with cold 50% syrup (1 part water to 1 part sugar), leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Seal, label, date and freeze the berries.

• Sugar pack method: Add 1 part sugar to 6 parts strawberries, and mix thoroughly. Put into containers, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Seal, label, date and freeze the berries.

• Unsweetened pack method: Pack into containers, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. To ensure better color, cover with water containing one teaspoon ascorbic acid to each quart of water. Seal, label and freeze the berries.

• Pectin pack method: This alternative uses pectin and less sugar than the syrup pack method and retains the fresh berry flavor, color and texture. Follow the manufacturer’s directions on the box. Pack into freezer bags or containers, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Seal, label, date and freeze the berries.

Canning

Strawberry Syrup (9 half pints)

6 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen berries

6 1/2 cups of sugar

You may also use this procedure with fresh juices from fresh or frozen strawberries, and with fresh or frozen blueberries, cherries, grapes or raspberries. Select fresh or frozen fruit. Wash, cap and stem fresh fruit and crush in a saucepan. Heat to boiling and simmer until soft, five to 10 minutes. Strain hot through a colander, and drain until cool enough to handle. Strain the collected juice through a double layer of cheesecloth or a jelly bag. Discard the dry pulp. The yield of the pressed juice should be about 4 1/2 to 5 cups. In a large saucepan, combine the juice with sugar. Bring to a boil, and simmer 1 minute. To make syrup with whole fruit pieces, save 1 or 2 cups of the fresh or frozen fruit, combine these with the sugar, and simmer as in making regular syrup. Remove from heat, skim off foam, and fill clean, hot, half-pint or pint jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims, adjust lids and process in a boiling-water canner for 10 minutes (both half-pints and pints).

Lower Sugar Strawberry Jam

For 10 – 8 ounce jars

6 2/3 cups crushed strawberries (can chop in a food processor)

1 2/3 cups unsweetened fruit juice or water

7 1/2 tablespoons Ball Low or No Sugar Needed Pectin

½ to 3 cups granulated sugar or honey

½ tsp butter to prevent foaming so badly.

Make Jam

1. PREPARE water bath canner, jars and lids according to manufacturer’s instructions.

2. COMBINE prepared fruit with fruit juice or water in a large saucepan. Gradually stir in Ball RealFruit™ Pectin. Add butter, if using. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that can’t be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly.

3. ADD sugar, sugar substitute or honey, if using. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary.

4. Ladle into hot clean canning jars, place two-piece lid on and tighten fingertip tight. Then process in the water bath canner for 10 minutes. Remove from canner and let set on a towel on the counter for 24 hours. Check for seal, rinse and clean jar, label and enjoy. If it did not seal, put in refrigerator or reprocess in the canner.

**One thing to remember when you are doing lower sugar jams and jellies is that the shelf life is shorter because sugar acts as a preservative of the color of the fruit. Full sugar jam will last about 8-10 months on the shelf without turning but with lower sugar jams and jellies, they begin to turn after about 3 months. It’s better for you, but won’t stay that bright strawberry red. The best way to retain the color is do low sugar in small batches and when the strawberries are so abundant freeze them in preparation of making jam several times a year. Frozen strawberries tend to make a sweeter jam.

Storage, food safety and other interesting facts about strawberries

• Avoid purchasing fruits that are bruised, damaged or moldy.

• Wash hands before and after handling fresh produce.

• Keep fruit away from raw meats and meat juice to prevent cross contamination.

• Use soft, overripe berries immediately; discard any smashed or moldy product.

• Store berries in a box with holes and cover with plastic wrap, or put in a plastic bag with holes.

• Store at around 40 °F.

• One cup of strawberries is only 55 calories.

• Eight strawberries will provide 140 percent of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin C for kids.

• The flavor of a strawberry is influenced by weather, the variety and stage of ripeness when harvested.

• Strawberries are a member of the rose family.

• On average, there are 200 seeds in a strawberry.

• Ninety-four percent of United States households consume strawberries.

• According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the annual per capita consumption of fresh and frozen strawberries is 4.85 pounds per person.

• Strawberries are grown in every state in the United States and every province of Canada.

• Americans eat 3.4 pounds of fresh strawberries each year plus another 1.8 pounds frozen per capita. Although strawberries are available in many forms— frozen, jam and jelly, and ice cream— nothing compares to the taste of a fresh vine-ripened strawberry.