Our favorite way of preserving strawberries was first posted right here on this forum - about 2 years ago.

Because my backyard crops come in small bunches, I found it convenient to freeze fresh berries by giving them a fast rinse - or if no pesticide residue, just pick clean, then spread on a tray and freeze without sugar.

Then after they are solid, place them in a half pint freezer container, label, etc.

This "fast freeze" is not only convenient if you have a lot of berries, but also I find they taste almost like fresh, when popped out onto a bowl of cereal later in the off season.

Freezing berries with sugar is OK too, but a lot of the juice is extracted, and the berries are much softer then.

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay

Fruit floats because it's lighter than the sugar-laden syrup. The way around that is to let the fruit absorb some of that sugar so that the weights are equal.

If you make a preserve without commercial pectin, you can achieve this by cooking the preserve nearly to the jell point, pulling it off the heat, letting it sit for a while or even overnight, stirring occasionally, then resume the cooking and bottle.

If you're using commercial pectin, you can do the same thing if the pectin is added at the end in your recipe. Just let the preserve rest then return to temperature, add the pectin and continue as usual.

Another option is at the end of preserving let the jam sit in the pan for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, then place in the jars for processing. You can also stir one more time in the jars before attaching lids. The only problem with this method is with commercial pectin it's possible the jam will set in the pan during that 10-minute period. You might have to reheat it to get it in the jars.

I hope this helps. Happy preserving and enjoy all those wonderful strawberries!

Carol