Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam Recipes

Here are my recipes for strawberry-rhubarb and rhubarb-strawberry jam. The former is sweeter, the latter is a little tart. The proportion of ingredients varies slightly, but the procedure is the same. You can play with the amount of rhubarb, strawberries, and sugar, but I don't recommend less than 5½ cups of sugar. The amount of cooked rhubarb and crushed strawberries should always total 3½ cups.

If you haven't made jam before, don't be afraid to try one of these recipes. It really isn't very difficult to do and as long as you get the quantities correct, the results are very good. A jar of home-made jam makes a nice gift!

Metric measures:
1 cup is about 250 ml.
1 pint is about 500 ml.

A rhubarb patch	Rhubarb stalks	A canning jar

Ingredients

• 8-10 one cup (half-pint/250 ml) glass jars,
  preferably with separate metal lids and bands; put through the dishwasher or sterilize
• One package of liquid Certo fruit pectin or equivalent (85 ml pouch)
  [Kraft cannot manage to keep this link stable.]

For Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam (quite sweet):

• About 5-7 large stalks of rhubarb (1 cup when cooked)
• Ripe strawberries (2½ cups when crushed, about 1½ quart boxes)
• 6½ cups of sugar

For Rhubarb-Strawberry Jam (a little tart):

• About 10-12 large stalks of rhubarb (2½ cups when cooked)
• Ripe strawberries (1 cup when crushed)
• 5½ cups of sugar
• Juice of ½ lemon (optional)

Procedure

1. Prepare the fruit:
Wash the rhubarb and chop it into 1 inch (2½ cm) chunks. Do not peel it. Put just enough water into a large pot (I use a stainless steel dutch oven) to cover the bottom and then add the rhubarb. On low heat, simmer and stir the rhubarb until it gets mushy and stringy. Do not boil it. This should only take a few minutes. Turn off the heat and remove the pot from the burner. Wash the strawberries and remove stems and caps. Crush the berries. I use a potato masher, like this one.

2. Make the jam:
Add the crushed strawberries to the cooked rhubarb. Add the sugar and stir well. If desired, add the lemon juice to help firm up the jam (if you cut back on sugar you may want to add the lemon juice to keep the jam from being runny). Place the pot on high heat and, stirring constantly, bring quickly to a full boil with bubbles over the entire surface. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the liquid pectin. Skim any foam off the surface. Fill the jars and seal tightly.

3. Finish up:
Let the jars stand for a few hours, then you can refrigerate if you like. I recommend putting a label on the jars to identify the recipe and date you made the jam. As with any jams, jellies, etc., watch for spoilage and always keep refrigerated after opening.

Also see...

• Ingredient of the week: rhubarb
• Rhubarb: The Unconventional Vegetable
• Rhubarb: Wikipedia article
• How to Harvest Rhubarb