last batch for the season. pretty small
harvest this year. i'm contemplating
buying *shudder* strawberries...

instead i will likely just be frugal with
what i have and hope for a better season
next year.


songbird

On Fri, 23 Jun 2017 07:25:42 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> wrote:

>On Thu 22 Jun 2017 06:48:58a, songbird told us...
>
>> last batch for the season. pretty small
>> harvest this year. i'm contemplating
>> buying *shudder* strawberries...
>>
>> instead i will likely just be frugal with
>> what i have and hope for a better season
>> next year.
>>
>>
>> songbird
>>
>
>I used to make strawberry freezer jam. Don't know why I stopped, as it
>always had a nice fresh flavor.

That is why it is a favorite of mine. I prefer it over cooked
strawberry jam any day. I have been using Splenda for it lately, not
sugar.

>I have about 8 quarts of whole dry frozen strawberries. Do you think I
>could use these to make freezer jam?
>
>TIA

My only concern (not based on any experience using frozen berries)
would be the moisture content. Freezer jam can sometimes be a bit
"damp" even with fresh fruit.

You could defrost the berries in a sieve, tho. That might help prevent
any addl moisture..

Wayne Boatwright wrote:
....
> I used to make strawberry freezer jam. Don't know why I stopped, as it
> always had a nice fresh flavor.

yeah, i give it an extra shot of lemon
juice and like how that turns out.

the cooked commercial jams aren't really
worth comparing - they are whole different
creatures.


> I have about 8 quarts of whole dry frozen strawberries. Do you think I
> could use these to make freezer jam?

i'm not sure if you mean that they are whole
berries that were frozen individually and then
packaged? or they are dry (as in dehydrated)
berries?

IMO the nuances of strawberries involved with
the fragrance is probably not that great if the
berries are frozen first without the sugar and
lemon juice and pectin to capture them. in
addition, i'm really finicky when it comes down
to any off flavors that are often introduced in
most freezers even if things are well wrapped
sometimes they just smell wrong to me.

so, um, i've never done it, i've only frozen
smushed berries (last year and the year before)
and while the first year i did it the results
were great last year i used over-ripe berries
that had already started to ferment so i ended
up with 12-15 pints of worm food (which they
readily adored ).

this year, not enough berries to freeze a lot
of smushed ones (1 pint only). i priced local
strawberries the other day and won't be doing
any more jam or frozen berries. at $3.00-4.50
a quart...

i've been growing a gold-mine for these years!
sometimes i've given away dozens of quarts a
season that i couldn't use.


songbird

Boron wrote:
....
> My only concern (not based on any experience using frozen berries)
> would be the moisture content. Freezer jam can sometimes be a bit
> "damp" even with fresh fruit.
>
> You could defrost the berries in a sieve, tho. That might help prevent
> any addl moisture..

i mash the berries pretty well so there is
usually plenty of juice anyways. i don't think
this is a problem as i've not had poor results.


songbird

In article >,
Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
>On Fri 23 Jun 2017 10:27:08a, songbird told us...
>
>> Boron wrote:
>> ...
>>> My only concern (not based on any experience using frozen
>>> berries) would be the moisture content. Freezer jam can sometimes
>>> be a bit "damp" even with fresh fruit.
>>>
>>> You could defrost the berries in a sieve, tho. That might help
>>> prevent any addl moisture..
>>
>> i mash the berries pretty well so there is
>> usually plenty of juice anyways. i don't think
>> this is a problem as i've not had poor results.
>>
>>
>> songbird
>>
>
>Good to know. Thanks!

I've never tried the freezer jam method before, and it sounds like
a great idea. My wife never cared all too much for our cooked
strawberry jam recipes. The color and fresh flavor are really muted
when you cook it.

Does the technique work for other fruits too? Our peach tree is
overloaded - we'll be ready to put up the fruit in a week. We usually
just make jam preserves, but I'm thinking maybe of holding back
a few lbs for an attempt at a freezer batch.

We just did a (large) batch of olallieberry jam - great crop this year from
some patches near the coast. They was nothing for the past couple
of year due to the California drought.

--Mark

On Fri, 23 Jun 2017 13:27:08 -0400, songbird >
wrote:

>Boron wrote:
>...
>> My only concern (not based on any experience using frozen berries)
>> would be the moisture content. Freezer jam can sometimes be a bit
>> "damp" even with fresh fruit.
>>
>> You could defrost the berries in a sieve, tho. That might help prevent
>> any addl moisture..
>
> i mash the berries pretty well so there is
>usually plenty of juice anyways. i don't think
>this is a problem as i've not had poor results.
>
>
> songbird


Really, it is not ideal.

http://www.pomonapectin.com/faq/can-...-frozen-fruit/

On Fri, 23 Jun 2017 20:19:25 -0000 (UTC), (Mark
Curry) wrote:

>In article >,
>Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
>>On Fri 23 Jun 2017 10:27:08a, songbird told us...
>>
>>> Boron wrote:
>>> ...
>>>> My only concern (not based on any experience using frozen
>>>> berries) would be the moisture content. Freezer jam can sometimes
>>>> be a bit "damp" even with fresh fruit.
>>>>
>>>> You could defrost the berries in a sieve, tho. That might help
>>>> prevent any addl moisture..
>>>
>>> i mash the berries pretty well so there is
>>> usually plenty of juice anyways. i don't think
>>> this is a problem as i've not had poor results.
>>>
>>>
>>> songbird
>>>
>>
>>Good to know. Thanks!
>
>I've never tried the freezer jam method before, and it sounds like
>a great idea. My wife never cared all too much for our cooked
>strawberry jam recipes. The color and fresh flavor are really muted
>when you cook it.
>
>Does the technique work for other fruits too? Our peach tree is
>overloaded - we'll be ready to put up the fruit in a week. We usually
>just make jam preserves, but I'm thinking maybe of holding back
>a few lbs for an attempt at a freezer batch.
>
>We just did a (large) batch of olallieberry jam - great crop this year from
>some patches near the coast. They was nothing for the past couple
>of year due to the California drought.
>
>--Mark
>
>
Peach freezer jam is yummy. Your olallieberries - similar to
blackberries, as I recall, are good that way, too.

Mark Curry wrote:
....
> I've never tried the freezer jam method before, and it sounds like
> a great idea. My wife never cared all too much for our cooked
> strawberry jam recipes. The color and fresh flavor are really muted
> when you cook it.

you'll likely never buy cooked strawberry
jam again. i won't.


> Does the technique work for other fruits too? Our peach tree is
> overloaded - we'll be ready to put up the fruit in a week. We usually
> just make jam preserves, but I'm thinking maybe of holding back
> a few lbs for an attempt at a freezer batch.

the recipes are on the instructions in the liquid
pectin instructions. i recall peach being one of
the options. i've never made it (don't have a peach
tree ). many years ago a friend let us harvest the
extra peaches from her tree that they weren't going
to eat. had two 4.5 gallon buckets full. made cooked
jam and we just finished the last jars of it this
year. it was still pretty good.

due to some of my food reactions i have to have
peaches/nectarines/apricots cooked in order to
eat them.


> We just did a (large) batch of olallieberry jam - great crop this year from
> some patches near the coast. They was nothing for the past couple
> of year due to the California drought.

i've never even heard of those before.


songbird

Boron Elgar wrote:
....
> Really, it is not ideal.
>
> http://www.pomonapectin.com/faq/can-...-frozen-fruit/

i've never used that brand/type before.
whole different recipes compared to the
certo liquid pectin.


songbird

Wayne Boatwright wrote:
....
> I have thawed and used frozen whole berries without sugar and they
> had a very fresh flavor. However, we don't seem to be eating the
> berries as frequently that I'd like to. That's why I thought the jam
> would be a good solution.
>
> I bought 10 quarts of berries about 2 months ago when they were on
> sale for $1.69/quart.

i'd make jam with them when fresh. would
use them after freezing for other things.


songbird