Strawberry Jelly and Syrup

Yesterday, I found that our grocery store has strawberries for $1 a pound. Great price, huh? Until you buy 8 lbs and learn that you only get that price on 4 of them, but don't notice til you get home that you paid 3.99 a pound for 4 lbs. Ha ha! Oh well. Overall it wasn't a bad price and it was cheaper than buying strawberry jelly in the store which is hard to find (I don't like jam). Today was a nice cool day. It is still only 83 degrees out. So I decided it was the best day for making some jelly.

Strawberry Jelly

What you need:
Steam Juicer or an 8 quart pot with a lid and a vegetable steamer (the kind that folds up on itself)
6-7 pint jars with lids and rings
mesh strainer
About 4 lbs strawberries (to make 3 3/4 cups juice)
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 pkg pectin (powdered, not liquid)

What you do:

Take the leaves off of and wash the strawberries.








Put them in the pot on top of the steamer. You will want to have a little water in bottom to start. (Probably enough that runs off from rising them.)
Cook the strawberries over low heat for about 1 hour.



Pour off the juice. (I got about 10 cups from 8 lbs of strawberries). It isn't as sweet as it smells.







Put the remaining strawberry mush in a strainer and let any remaining juice drain out. You can squish them some with a potato masher or fork to help.




Put 3 3/4 cups of juice in a saucepan and 4 1/2 cups of sugar in a bowl. Make sure the measurements are accurate. It won't set up right otherwise.






Boil some water in a small pan and take off heat, then add the lids and rings and keep them in the hot water until you are ready to use them.





Add the pectin to the juice and bring it to a full-rolling boil, stirring constantly. You can add 1/2 tsp butter to keep it from foaming so much. Add the sugar quickly and continue stirring, bring it back to a full-rolling boil and boil for exactly 1 minute. (Sorry, no pictures for this part, because you don't have time. You have to stay with it.)

Quickly pour or ladle it into six pint jars (I had enough for 6 1/2 pints). I used a soup ladle and a funnel. Wipe off the threads and rim of the jars and put a lid and ring on each. Screw them on tight and turn the jar upside down, to seal it. Be very careful, they are HOT! Leave them upside down until the lid has sealed. Probably about 30 minutes. As long as it takes to clean up the huge mess you probably just made. :)



Strawberry Syrup

What you need:
2 cups strawberry juice
2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup

What you do:
basically the same as the jelly.
Bring juice to a full-rolling boil, stirring constantly. Stir in the corn syrup and sugar quickly, continue stirring. Return to a full-rolling boil and boil for about 5 minutes. Pour in the jar and put on a lid and ring. Screw on tight and turn it upside down. I got one quart jar with this recipe.