Fresh Strawberry Jam with pectin is a real hit. This recipe uses original pectin and reduced sugar to help bring out the strawberry flavor.
Gently rinse and drain the strawberries. Remove stems and cut into halves and quarters. Now chop the strawberries into small pieces.
Place the chopped strawberries in a large bowl, mash with a potato masher, and measure. You should have 3-1/3 cups of mashed strawberries They will weigh about 28 ounces.
Combine the 3-1/3 cups of mashed strawberries and the package of powdered fruit pectin in a 3-quart saucepan.
Cook and stir frequently over medium heat until the strawberries come to a gentle boil. You do not have to bring the mixture to a hard boil.
Stir in the 3-1/3 cups sugar. Continue to stir until all of the sugar is dissolved.
Increase to medium-high heat and stir until it reaches a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute. Watch closely to make sure that it does not boil over.
Remove from heat and skim foam from top of jam.
Pour into hot, sterilized, half-pint canning jars, and seal.
Process the strawberry jam for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Remove the jars from the pot and place on a dry towel to cool. After two hours, check the jars to make sure that they are sealed. Then hold each jar with a dry towel or hot pad and gently shake to prevent all of the pieces of fruit from floating to the top. Leave undisturbed for another 10 hours until the jam reaches room temperature.