Make Freezer Jam As An Easy Alternative To Canning

Getting started with canning isn’t as hard as you might think, but boiling jars in a stove might be a tad too much production just to save some great fruit. The halfway solution? Cut it up and make freezer jam.

Traditional canning requires both enough heat to sterilise jars and create a vacuum seal when closed, along with enough confidence to know you did everything right and that you last-of-the-season fruit will be safe to eat at room temperature four months from now. Freezer jam, on the other hand, requires just straight-edged glass jars or nearly any kind of freezer-safe plastic, along with some pectin and enough time to chop and mix your fruit and pectin together.

Along with keeping certain summer fruits fresh than if one had canned them, writer Stephanie Stiavetti says freezer jam makes the tykes happy to get sandwich variety, and saves her a good chunk of change.

If you have children in the house, you might also notice yourself spending less on lunch fixings because decent store-bought jam demands a pretty penny these days. When I make freezer jam, the cost comes out to around 50 cents per 8-ounce container, and I have to say that the taste of homemade jam blows grocery store brands out of the water.

Tell us what you’ve saved from spoiling in your own freezer in the comments.

Freezer Jam: A Baby Step To Canning [NPR]