Here is how I make my grandma’s upside down strawberry jam.
Get some local strawberries and mash em up. Need six cups worth of mashed strawberries. I have found that to be about three quarts, or three of those greenish containers you see in the picture. I use a good ol potato masher to mash em up.
I use sure-jell the purple kind because it is the least amount of sugar required that I know of. It only requires four cups of sugar. Other kinds like Jel Ease require much more. Sure Jell also always sets up for me. It is also kind of pricey of course.
See Sure Jell here on amazon to read reviews: Sure Jell on Amazon
The directions come printed inside the package of the sure-jell container. There are tons of different ways on both sides, I circled the way I do it.
Put the pectin and 1/4 cup sugar into a bowl and mix it together, then throw it in the mashed strawberries and bring it to a rolling boil. Then throw in the rest of the sugar, and bring it to a rolling boil. Boil it for exactly one minute. Then remove it from the heat.
Need a big pot and hot gloves on because that boiling sugar burns the hands quite nicely. Keep it far away from your face, I would hate to think what it would do to your face and eyes if a big boiling bubble of strawberry sugar juice exploded in your face.
Once you have it removed from the heat, ladle it into jars and tighten the lids on. Use a wet wash rag to clean off the excess around the tops and sides where the lids screw on.
Almost done. Have to boil em now for ten minutes. Not a hard boil, just a soft 212 F boil to kill off any bacteria or viruses that might have some how jumped in between ladle and cap screw on.
Put a towel in and push it to the bottom of the pan to keep the bottles from rattling and off of the direct heat of the pot. Don’t want no brittle fracture jam jars.
All in!
Take em out, put em on a dry towel and let em sit for 24 hours before using them.
Now for the secret…My dear grandma had a hard time sealing the lids (screwing them on tight enough to form a seal) so she would on occasion, turn them upside down to make sure they sealed. I claim it makes it taste better because all the good stuff get’s spread out evenly. And it looks cool. And it just sounds cool when you give it to someone, “Hey, here’s some of my grandma’s infamous upside down strawberry jelly.” Just look at their faces when you say it, their reactions are priceless.
The final product. Jelly magically suspended in the jar. The real magic is in the taste.
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