Love the red rings! Where did you get them? What recipe do you use? I am debating whether to put some up this year. I still have two half pints left from last year and a half pint of blueberry jam from two years ago. I might give the "old fashioned" method another go around. As per my previous post, great strawberry jam is one of the "holy grails" of food preparation that I have yet to achieve. I can make good strawberry jam, but not the jam of my dreams. I have spent so many strawberry season chasing the dream that I have missed out eating any fresh ones a couple of years!

The strawberries that we picked last year we used for eating. This year I have to make freezer jam. We haven't had rain for the month of May, just a scant 5 millimeters. So the berries will be late and small and hard. I hope June has more favourable weather.

The red rings are new, from Ball, and you can get them at Walmart, Target, Amazon, etc. They also have purple, green and blue.

Here's the recipe I use. I'm not usually this prepared when I cook, but I am with jams, jellies, etc, because I always forget something if I'm not prepared.

Simple Strawberry Jam

About 10 ½ pint (1 cup) jars of jam

5 cups hulled mashed strawberries
7 cups sugar
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 49g package powdered fruit pectin, or 6 T of pectin from large container

½ tsp butter (optional, supposed to keep the foam down)

Fill large hot water bath canner (or pot) with water and
heat to boil. Place 8 10 10 8-ounce canning jars, cover with water and simmer
while preparing the fruit. Simmer center lids in separate saucepan full of
water.

Meanwhile:

Set out all the ingredients and equipment before you start.

Hull and crush whole strawberries (I cut the really big ones
in half) and measure

1 cup at a time, draining a lot of the juice. I use a flat bottom bowl and crush them with
a potato masher. I put them, one cup at a time, into the cooking pot.

Place mashed strawberries and lemon juice in another large pot. Stir in pectin
until dissolved. Bring strawberries to a strong boil. Add butter

Add sugar all at once
(you MUST measure beforehand because you
will lose count), return mixture to a full (violent) boil that can’t be
stirred down. Boil hard for 1 minute 15 seconds. Skim foam off the top.

Remove one jar at a time from the simmering water. Pour water back into the
pot. Using a wide-mouth funnel, fill each jar with jam, being careful to keep
the liquid/fruit ratio consistent. Fill jars so that they have 1/4-inch of
space at the top.

Wipe rim of jar with a wet cloth to remove any residue or stickiness.

Remove lid from simmering water and position it on top.

Put screw bands on jars, finger tighten. Repeat with all jars and lower the
jars into the water in or on a canning rack of some kind.

Place lid on canner, bring water back to a full boil. Boil hard for 10.

Remove jars from water using a jar lifter, and allow them to
sit undisturbed for 24 hours.

Listen for that really satisfying pop.

After 24 hours, remove screw bands and check the seal of the jars. Center lids
should have no give whatsoever. If any seals are compromised, store those jars
in the fridge.

A few variations from Ball.
Vanilla Strawberry Jam:

Add half a vanilla
bean, split in half lengthwise, to the crushed strawberries. Cook as
directed and remove vanilla bean before ladling jam into jars. The
resulting jam will be enhanced with subtle yet distinct vanilla
overtones.

Strawberry Balsamic Jam:

Reduce
the lemon juice to 1 tbsp and add 3 tbsp good-quality balsamic vinegar.
Balsamic vinegar accents the strawberry flavor and gives the jam a
robust taste.

Lemony Strawberry Jam:

Add the grated zest of 1 large lemon to the crushed strawberries.

Peppered Strawberry Jam:

Stir
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper into the cooked jam just before
ladling it into the jars. Pepper accents and compliments strawberries'
sweet flavor. Be sure to use freshly ground pepper, which delivers a
fresher-quality flavor.

(This is modified from Pioneer Woman. She has some good recipes, but ...........)

I made the balsamic strawberry last year, using raspberry balsamic vinegar that Alexa gave me. That was YUM! This year I want to try orange strawberry jam. Maybe . . .
Can't wait to get some of those colored rings! I miss the old six ounce jars with fruit designs pressed into them too. I still have a few, along with the red and yellow calico lids and rings. I even have some with strawberries printed on the lids and rings.

Cool rings. ..seeing them holding down holiday fabric. Other than pepper jelly, pectin is not my friend so I use this old Ball recipe. Last year our berries were small and they came out sort of candied and chewy. ...kids loved them.

Strawberry Preserves Deluxe

1 1/2 quarts strawberries
5 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

Combine strawberries and sugar in a large saucepot. Let stand 3 to 4 hours. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.

Add lemon juice. Cook rapidly until strawberries are transparent and syrup is thick, about 10-12 minutes.

Ladle into a shallow pan, Let stand, uncovered 12 to 24 hours in a cool place. Shake pan occasionally to distribute strawberries throughout syrup.

Heat strawberries and syrup until hot throughout. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle into clean hot jars, leaving 1/4"head space. Adjust two piece caps. Process 20 minutes in boiling water bath.

Sounds delicious!

This year's jars will have red tops, next year - purple.

Walmart has some new half pint canning jars, a bit shorter and wider. I like them better than the Ball jars. I need less water in the canning pot.