Strawberry Preserve
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine 1 quart of water and 11 pounds of sugar in an open kettle.
Cook until a candy thermometer reads 265°F.
Add 8 pounds of strawberries to the syrup.
Cook slowly at a boil until the thermometer reads 219°F.
Cool and fill
Pour the mixture into shallow pans to cool, pouring syrup over the berries to hasten cooling. Skim while cooling.
Once cool, fill jars.
Let them stand unsealed for 4 days.
Seal and store
Place rubber and cap on jars, but do not tighten.
If using a hot-water bath, sterilize jars for 20 minutes.
For a water-seal or pressure-cooker method, sterilize for 15 minutes.
Remove jars, tighten covers, invert to cool, and test the seal.
Wrap jars in paper to prevent bleaching and store.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Strawberries
- Provide the fruit flavour and body that the cooked syrup holds.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the preserve and, at high concentration, helps it keep and set.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar to form the syrup the berries cook in.
The step that matters
Cooking the syrup to 219°F. Sugar concentration determines whether the preserve sets and keeps. Stopping short leaves it runny and more prone to spoiling, while overcooking makes it stiff and sugary.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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