(joyful music)
- Hi, I'm Jerry James Stone.
In today's video,
I'm gonna show you how to make a delicious and easy,
very, very simple strawberry quick jam.
Let's get cooking.
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So the thing about quick jams,
the thing that I like about quick jams,
is when they're pectin-free.
Not that that's a big deal
but some people don't wanna use pectin
so hey, there you go.
Also, the part that I personally love about it
is you can take control
how much sugar is actually put into the preserve.
Typical jams or jellies have a lot of sugar.
But with a quick jam,
because you're just gonna make it
and store it in the fridge for a couple weeks,
you don't need to have as much sugar in there.
It doesn't have to be as preserved
as a typical, conventional jam.
And you just get to control the flavors
and make it just the way that you like it,
so it's a lot of fun.
So let's get started.
- So I'm starting out with some chopped up strawberries.
Okay, so we've added in our sugar.
I like to start with a low heat
because the sugar will actually, through osmosis,
start pulling the moisture out of the strawberries.
And then you can kind of slowly increase that heat
up to medium high.
Add in some lemon juice.
This just brings a nice acidity to the jam.
Pinch of salt.
So as that starts to heat up,
the juices from the strawberries will start to extract.
And then we're gonna mash the strawberries
and then bring it to a simmer.
(joyful music)
Okay so the syrup,
which is the juice from the strawberry and the sugar,
is starting to simmer.
So I'm just gonna mix those in a little bit more
and let it cook just a little bit
before I use a potato masher to mash it all down,
because it'll just be easier once that fruit is cooked.
As I was saying,
the thing I really about quick jams
is one, you get to control the flavors.
That means you can control how sweet it is.
A lot of store bought jams, in my opinion,
are just really, really sugary.
It's just too much sugar.
The fruit itself is almost sweet enough.
So you can control that aspect of it.
But there's also a freshness to it too.
So if there's something that you love
that they don't have a jam for in the store,
you can just make your own.
It's not a big deal.
It's super easy.
This'll last in the fridge for about three weeks
and hey, you know what,
it's a small batch.
It's easy to go through it.
We're beginning to cook down there
so I'm just gonna stir a little bit more.
Kind of get the ones on top down below and mix it all up.
And then we're gonna mash it.
The monster mash.
I'll share one of my favorite strawberry jam recipes
while we're waiting for this.
I love a nice slice of brioche bread just toasted
with a thin layer of fresh ricotta cheese
spread over the top
and then strawberry jam just over that.
Trust me, try that and you'll be in absolute heaven.
Unless you're lactose intolerant,
then you'll probably be really, really unhappy.
So I'm gonna show you how to test the jam.
We're gonna do it the wrong way first
because it's far from done.
But basically, you're gonna cook this
until it really starts to thicken up.
So you wanna take a spoon that you've put in the freezer,
drag it through the syrup,
drag your finger over it
and if the sauce starts to come together,
it's not ready.
If it stays apart,
you actually can part that,
like part a strip down the middle of it,
then it's good to go.
(sparkling)
Okay, so we've cooked the jam for about 20 minutes now
and it's really thickened up
and I think we're ready to test it to see if it's done.
So we have our spoon.
Just gonna get some jam on there.
Jam on there.
Don't burn your hand like I just did.
Let it set for a second.
We're gonna use the coldness of the spoon
to really cool that jam.
And then once again,
just drag your finger across it.
Notice how it's not crossing that divide.
So the jam is set and ready to go.
So once it fully cools, it'll be nice and thick.
That's all there is.
That's all it takes to make a quick jam.
Now you can use this recipe for your favorite fruit.
The measurements are pretty much the same.
You can adjust the sugar.
It's really great.
Pectin-free.
Put it in a jar.
It'll last for about three weeks in the fridge.
And you'll have your favorite jam every time you want.
Yeah, it's delicious.
If you like this video,
hey, give me a thumbs up.
If you like to cook like I do, subscribe.
And if there's something that you wanna see,
drop a comment.
I'll see you guys next time.
I'm gonna go eat some jam.
(joyful music)