Who would have thought it would be so hard to find decent strawberries in July? Honestly, strawberry jam should be made in May and June when local berries are at their peak, but I promised y’all a Strawberry Balsamic tutorial and a Strawberry Balsamic tutorial you shall have! One major difference in this recipe and the Blueberry Jam recipe from Part 1 is that the berries are actually cooked and macerated twice in this version. The result is bursting with strawberry-ness!
I made a small batch of jam for this post because my cupboards are already bursting with strawberry jam and because I could only find two pounds of strawberries that looked worth jamming. You can easily double or triple this recipe.
Gently wash your strawberries to remove the sand and grit.
Cut the tops off the berries. Cut the berries in half, quartering any jumbos.
Sprinkle the berries with sugar to your taste. I used about half a cup of sugar for two pounds of berries.
Splash the berries and sugar with 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar and toss to combine all ingredients. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and allow to macerate at room temp for one hour.
After an hour, your berries should have given up some juice.
Tump the berries and juice into a wide pan and bring to a rapid boil, then remove from heat and return the berries and juices to their bowl. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 8 hours.
In the meantime, run your jars, rings and lids through the dishwasher.
Place a colander in your preserving pan. Pour the berries and juice into the colander and catch the juice in the preserving pan. Set aside the colander of berries.
Bring the juice to a boil over high heat and reduce by half. The juice will become thick and syrupy.
While the juice is reducing, fill a stock pot with water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Toss in your rings, lids and ladle and allow to simmer for at least ten minutes.
Place your jars on a sheet tray and pop into a 400 degree oven for at least 10 minutes.
When your juice is good and syrupy, add the reserved berries to the pot and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. When the jam has reached the set point (220 degrees) remove from heat.
Dump the sterilized rings, lids and utensils into a clean colander in the sink. Refill your stockpot with water and return to the boil over high heat. Fill your half-pint jars, remembering to leave half and inch of headspace and to wipe the rim of each jar before putting the lid on.
Submerge a dish towel in your stockpot to keep the jars from banging together.
Slowly lower the jars into the boiling water. The jars must process for ten minutes at a rolling boil. Carefully remove the jars and allow to cool.
Voila! You’ve made Strawberry Balsamic, or as I like to call it, The King of Jams.
Questions? Post them in the comments. I would also love to hear from those of you who’ve made the Blueberry Jam from my last tutorial.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
interesting, never thought of balsamic in a fruit jam! May need to start this today. Have the strawberry tequila marinating.
Oooh, I can’t wait until next year’s homegrown strawberries! I’ve already made Grandma’s jam with mine, but I’d love to try this recipe.
Question: I have some chocolate balsamic that I haven’t a clue what to do with it. Do you think it would work for this? Also I made a slab of ribs last weekend. They were wonderful!! I’ve never made ribs before!
Awesome tutorial. I am obsessed with jam making (http://jobifood.blogspot.com/search/label/canning), but I never thought about reserving the fruit until the syrup is a little bit thick. I imagine that helps the berries retain their shape and not turn into such mush? Gotta try that! Does the process work for all fruits or just strawberries and blueberries?
I have a friend that makes Strawberry Basil margaritas, and I wonder if adding basil to this recipe would taste good…. hmm..
Strawberry Basil Balsamic Margarita? not so sure. 
Don’t forget to send some to your family! Maybe for mom’s birthday (hint, hint)
Nice recipe. I hope you’ll do salsa next. Pretty please?
I tried your method of sterilizing the jars in the oven and wowzers those things are hot when they come out! Do you let them cool off a bit before you put the jam in? I was a little surprised when my jam boiled as I spooned it in!
Yes! You should allow your jars to cool before filling them. I still hold them with a hand towel when I fill them though.
Approximately how many jars were you able to fill from this recipe? I’m seriously considering my first canning experience, between this and the blueberry jam, and need to know how many jars I’ll need. Thanks!
Hi Greta! I only used two pounds of strawberries when I made that jam- because that was all I could find at the market- and it made two half pint jars. You can scale the recipe up to make more when you make it.
So I’ve been telling my husband for 7 years that I hate jam and jelly. And been telling my mom the same for 18 years before that. Apparently I am a liar. It’s only wierd, gooey commercial jelly/jam that I hate.
My husband found this out when he came home to me cooking blueberry jam and eating strawberry jam out of a jar with a spoon.
He thanks you. I thank you as well, even though you’ve made a liar out of me.
Yay, thanks! Not sure if I’ll be able to find good strawberries any more, but I’ve got blueberries macerating as I type! Any recipes for a good pectin-free peach jam? My local orchard is about to open up for peach season, and there is nothing better than a fresh-from-the-tree ripe peach. If I could bottle that too, I’d be in heaven. Thanks for inspiring me for finally giving canning a try, I’ve been thinking about it for years! Your instructions sounded so easy I figured I couldn’t wait any longer.
Just started making Strawberry Balsamic Jam tonight. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Just finished my jam, it tastes GREAT, can’t wait to try peach….Thanks for the recipe Susan.
Making this as I type with fresh strawberries just picked from the farm. Thanks so much!!!