Sugar at a concentration of 60 to 65% in solution prevents the growth and reproduction of various microorganisms, as it has preservative properties. This is the basis for preserving fruits and berries when boiling them in strong sugar syrups. Various products are obtained from fruits or berries. For example, strawberry dishes can be prepared for the winter in the form of jam, jam, jam, marmalade, jelly or syrup.
All of them can be stored for a long time without prior sterilization or pasteurization in sealed containers, since their resistance is due to the high concentration of sugar. A lower sugar concentration requires preliminary preparation of cans and pasteurization of the product.
When cooking jam, it is not necessary to maintain the shape of the fruit. Cook any, including strawberry jam in one go. Unlike jam, syrup in this form of preforms has a jelly-like consistency and does not spread. If the fruits do not gel well, pectin powder or the juice of other fruits and berries (for example, gooseberries, quinces or apples) is added to give a jelly-like consistency.
Recipe 1
To adjust the taste, lemon juice is added to strawberry jam . Ingredients:
In a wide bowl, make strawberry puree with sugar, crushing all the halves of the berries, mix with lemon juice. Transfer the mixture to a pot with a heavy bottom and put on a slow fire. Stir until sugar dissolves. Increase heat. Bring to a complete boil, reduce the heat and cook until cooked. Transferred to prepared sterile jars and pasteurized in a water bath. Cork tightly and store in the refrigerator. Readiness is checked by the degree of thickening. A porcelain plate is placed in the freezer for about 10 minutes. After which, jam is dripped on it and again set to cool. After a minute, the plate is removed and tilted. If the jam drains, then continue to cook, and if the drop remains in place and does not change its shape, then the cooking process is stopped.
Recipe 2
It turns out a very tasty and not quite traditional strawberry jam with pineapple. Ingredients:
2 ½ thin glasses of freshly mashed strawberries (washed, dried, peeled and carefully cut each berry lengthwise and knead);
2 ½ cup (thin) fresh finely chopped pineapple;
6 thin glasses of sugar;
1 glass of water;
50 g of pectin (powder).
Pineapple is spread in mashed strawberries and sugar is slowly added. All the time they interfere until it is completely dissolved. Water is poured into a pan with a thick bottom and put on medium heat, pectin powder is poured. Stirring, bring the water to a boil, boil for a minute, remove from heat, pour into a berry-fruit mixture and mix well until a homogeneous mass is formed. After the mixture has cooled, it is poured into containers made of polyethylene and closed with lids. A day later, placed in a freezer. Such conservation of strawberries does not require long-term heat treatment of berries, which means that the destruction of a number of useful substances is excluded. Shelf life of the finished product in the frozen state up to 6 months. In a thawed state - up to 3 weeks. Before use, the jam is kept for an hour at room temperature.
Recipe 3
Another unusual recipe: strawberry jam is cooked with cherries. Ingredients:
2 kg of washed, dried, peeled strawberries;
2 kg of cherries washed, dried and pitted;
1 ½ kg of sugar.
Berries are used only ripe and strong. They are laid out in a pan with a thick bottom, put on a slow fire and cooked, stirring occasionally, without adding water. After the whole mass has thickened, pour out, constantly stirring, all the sugar. Continue to cook, without stopping interfering. When the jam is ready, there will be no gap at the bottom. Ready jam is removed from the fire and laid hot in sterile jars, cover loosely. When the jam cools down and a film forms on its surface, the jars are corked and stored in the refrigerator.