Strawberry Preserves

servings
4 servings
prep time
15 minutes
cook time
30 minutes
Fresh strawberries boiling in a cast iron pot, suspended over a wood fire.

A rustic scene capturing the process of making strawberry preserves. Fresh strawberries boil in a cast iron pot, suspended over a crackling wood fire, evoking the age-old tradition. Courtesy photo.

For this recipe you will need a large pot, cheesecloth or a spice bag, canning jars and lids, and canning tongs for removing the hot jars from boiling water.

Ingredients

  • •2 liters (2 quarts) raw strawberries*
  • •4 whole cloves
  • •3 whole allspice berries
  • •1.2 liters (5 cups) granulated sugar

*Preserves are best done from berries that are soft (softies) because the juices are ready to burst forth.

Preparation

    1. Remove tops/leaves and any blemishes from strawberries. Rinse berries and combine in a large pot. (The pot should be large enough to boil the berries without it boiling over.) Wrap the cloves and allspice in cheesecloth or a spice bag and tie securely; drop on top of berries. Pour sugar over the strawberries and slowly bring to a boil. Boil the strawberries until the berries are translucent.

    Sterilize canning jars and two piece lids in hot water. Ladle strawberry preserves into jars. Place lids and rings on, tightening firmly but gently.

    Turn jars upside down for about 5 minutes. Then turn them right side up.

    You will hear the caps making popping/tinging noises as the jars cool and seal. Any that don’t seal after an hour you should consider those the spoils of your labor and immediately eat on buttermilk biscuits.

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condiments & syrupsgluten-freepreserved foodsvegan

About the author

Clarissa Clifton is the author of One Hearth, One Pot: For Love of Food and History. Her focus of food history is on Southern poverty food.  Southern poverty food is a term coined post Civil War and relates to food that was looked down on by those in the elite 10 percent both in and out of the South. Clarissa falls into the 90 percent that called it simply food. Southern poverty food not only related to how food was seasoned but the inventive ways it was prepared, ranging from roasting meats over saplings to baking chicken in cabbage leaves to rosin potatoes. Clarissa has made it her life mission to study the food that 90 percent of Southerners ate before and after the Civil War.

Courtesy photo

Clarissa Clifton

Clarissa Clifton

Clarissa Clifton is the author of One Hearth, One Pot: For Love of Food and History.

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