Easy Honey Strawberry Jam Recipe for a Large Family

One of my favorite parts of spring is seeing sweet strawberries ripen like jewels in the early summer in the little patch beside our house. Preserving strawberry honey jam for a large family is a task that has taken more than a few years to perfect. For the first time this year, I finally have mastered this delicious recipe and I am happy to share it with you!

Video: Honey Strawberry Jam Recipe for a Large Family

Previous attempts at Making Strawberry Jam

When I first started making homemade strawberry jam several years ago, I made it with a full-sugar recipe, but over the years, it bothered me how much white sugar we were consuming, so I switched to a recipe with less sugar (Low Sugar Sure Jell). This worked for a while.

One year, I attempted to nix the granulated sugar by using a natural sweetener like honey. The problem, however, was that I couldn’t get the honey jam to set, so I went back to the safer low-sugar recipe that I knew would set without difficulty.

Finally, this year, I decided to try the honey-sweetened strawberry jam once more and I love how it turned out!

Preserving Jam for a Large Family

To feed our family of twelve last year, we made 50 pints of strawberry jam. This lasted us until March, so ideally, we should probably do about 60 this year if we want it to last until next May. The recipe in this post yields 5 pints.

How can you determine the amount of jam you should make to feed your family for a year?

Count approximately how many pints you use per month.
Multiply this number by 12 months in a year.
Divide by 5 (the pint yield from one batch) to see how many batches you need to make.

Problem Solving: Breaking Jars

Over the years I have sometimes had a problem of jars breaking when I put them in the canner to process. I have learned that this is indirectly related to having a larger family.

Because I usually have some children underfoot and others helping when we are making jam, the process sometimes takes longer. I often have random interruptions as I work on the jam throughout the day.

Sometimes the finished jam will sit in the pint jars long enough to cool down to room temperature. When I place these room-temperature jam jars into the canner of boiling water, the change in temperature causes the jars to crack. The solution is to either process the hot jars of hot jam in the canner immediately or, if there is a time-lapse, put the room-temperature jars in the canner when it is warm, but not boiling.

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Easy Jam Recipe

Here are a few things you should know before making this homemade jam recipe. If you are used to store-bought traditional jam, this may not taste quite as sweet as your normal preference.

Additionally, honey sweetened jam does not yield as much as a full or low-sugar recipe. In my opinion, however, the smaller yield is worth it because you can be confident that your family is consuming healthy food.

Ingredients

8 cups crushed fresh strawberries, pureed with a potato masher (kids are great for this job!) or in a food processer
1 cup water (or fruit juice if you prefer it a little sweeter)
9 tablespoons Low or No Sugar Sure Jell or Fruit Pectin
1 cup honey ( I prefer raw honey.)

Canning Tools

Instructions

Pour 8 cups of crushed fresh berries and 1 cup of water (or fruit juice) into a large saucepan. Heat on the stovetop, slowly whisking in the 9 TB Sure Jell. Bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.
Add 1 cup of honey. Bring to a rolling boil again. When the boil cannot be stirred down, set a timer for 1 minute. Stir constantly to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Turn off heat after the minute timer is complete.
Use a funnel and ladle to pour hot strawberry jam into clean jars (pint-size.) Leave a 1/4 inch of headspace. Wipe the top of the filled jars with a hot, clean cloth to remove any strawberry residue.
Boil lids and rings in a small pot of water for 1 minute.
Use a canning magnet to pull lids and rings out of the boiling water. Place lid on the jar. Screw on the ring. It should be screwed all the way, but not too tight. (Too loose and it may not seal, too tight and the jar lid may buckle.)
Use a jar lifter to gently place the pint jar into a canner filled with hot water. Seven pint jars will fill a standard canning kettle.
When the kettle comes to a boil, process the jam for 10 minutes.
Use a jar lifter to remove the jars from the boiling water bath canner. Set on a tea towel to let the jam cool. Do not move for 24 hours to allow the jam to set and the jars to seal. Test the seals on each jar by tapping in the center or gently pressing down.

Preserving Food Teaches Kids Life Skills

One good reason to preserve food for your family is because it teaches kids valuable life skills. Getting them involved in growing and making their own food helps them fully understand how they contribute to the family.

There are many jobs that kids can do to be a part of when preserving food. With jam, they can pick the fresh fruit in strawberry season, wash them, cut off the tops, mash them to a puree with a potato masher, and measure the berries, honey, and sure jell.

When they see this process year after year, even if they aren’t actively doing the work, they can step in and out in any part of it because they watched it all several times.

It’s also good for them to see how we respond to failures (like jars breaking and jam not setting.)

Besides all this, the memories made and smells of delicious jam are worth making this a regular family tradition in your home.