Preserving Strawberries

What did I do with all 65 pounds of strawberries?

I have a variety of ways that I preserve their deliciousness. We picked on Friday and spent that day plus all day Saturday preserving them.

It always begins with washing the strawberries. I just dump half a flat in to one side of my sink filled with water. As I remove the stems I put them in a bowl in the other side of my sink.

First came the ever loved freezer jam. Although freezer space is much more expensive than pantry space, I prefer freezer jam to canned jam. It maintains the fresh flavor of the berries.

I use Mrs. Wages  Freezer Jam Pectin and these handy freezer containers.

Each batch uses four cups of crushed fruit and 1.5 cups of sugar.

Nicholas helped me in the crushing of the strawberries.

Once you have four cups of crushed berries, you add the pectin and the sugar then stir for three minutes. Easy peezy.

I made three batches for a total of nine 3/4 full freezer containers. I already had three left over from two years ago (yes, it still tastes as good) so that gives me one per month for the next year to use.

Last year I made blackberry pancake syrup. This year I wanted to make strawberry. Here is a recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation

I use less sugar  than is called for. Strawberries contain a lot of acid which allows them to be processed in a boiling water bath. Sugar performs two functions; first it helps to thicken when it is combined with pectin and fruit, second it acts as a preservative. The more sugar that you have in a canned product the longer the shelf life will be. When I followed the recipe with my blackberries last year the product jelled. When I wanted to use it I simply put it in a pot of hot water to make it pourable.

First you need to crush your berries. I used a half of a flat. You bring those crushed berries to a boil over high heat. You bring the heat down to a simmer for ten minutes.

You then add your hot crushed berries into a jelly bag,or a colander lined with cheese cloth, or a chinois strainer (too expensive for me) and let the juice drain from the berries.

I have a couple juice bags that my friend Kirsten made for me that I have always successfully used. I found a nut milk bag on line and decided I wanted to try it. It is called The Bigger Better Nut Milk Bag by Ellie’s Best. It worked really nicely. Very easy to rinse and clean by hand.

I do the straining in my canning room.

It isn’t pretty but it works.

Once I had as much of the juice as I could get without squeezing the bag I got to making the syrup.

I combined the juice with more sugar ( I use less than is called for) and lemon juice. You bring it to a rolling boil for one minute then remove from heat. There will be some foam that will need to be skimmed off the top. Fill your jars to 1/4″ from the top. Put lids and rings on and process in a boiling water bath for ten minutes.

I made eleven half pint jars.

I had all the strawberry pulp leftover from the syrup and didn’t want it to go to waste. I don’t know how it will turn out but I froze it in cup cake pans for use in smoothies. The berries still have the fiber and vitamins so they will be a healthful addition.

The next thing I made were Popsicle. Yes, I do have a cute set of four Popsicle molds but I don’t use it….ever. In case you haven’t noticed I tend to make a lot of stuff at once. It is just easier for me. Plus with something like fresh berries you need to use them while they are around.

I use nine ounce paper cups and Popsicle sticks. I dump my strawberries in my Vita Mix and puree until the little seeds are gone. Then I add Chia seeds just because it is healthy and since the strawberry seeds have been liquefied the boys just think the Chia seeds are the strawberry seeds.

The first batch was mostly just pureed strawberries and some whipped cream I had leftover from a previous dessert. The second batch was a strawberry banana mixture. I don’t fill the cups since they make really big Popsicles.

I put the cups on a cookie sheet, then I put foil over the top, pressing down a little so I can see the impression of each rim. I then use a sharp knife to make a slit and then insert the Popsicle sticks. Into the freezer they go.

I still had berries left so  I decided to freeze macerated strawberries. My boys prefer their yogurt parfaits sweeter than I prefer, so using frozen berries in syrup is an easy way to solve that. Since I had the berries and I tend to keep sour cream containers it was pretty easy to do.

Of course we ate fresh berries. I put a large bowl of berries in the refrigerator every day and they were quickly eaten. We also enjoyed a dessert of strawberry shortcake.

One other thing I did was freeze pureed strawberries in ice cube trays. I did that last year with the intention of making some strawberry vinegar salad dressing. I haven’t done that yet but, I still plan to. I also add the strawberry cubes to lemonade turning it into a delicious strawberry lemonade.

Well, I hope that some of my methods of preserving the strawberry season give you some ideas for extending the use of strawberries or any other berries.

Enjoy,
Karen