4

When using strawberries to make a preserve (canning process), they become limp and lose colour

enter image description here

Is there a way to avoid this?

Community
  • 1
Clara
  • 145
  • 1
  • 5
  • Just to clarify because of misnomers floating around; Are you referring to preserving whole strawberries or are you talking about strawberry jelly/jam with chunks of strawberry? – Jay May 20 '12 at 20:58
  • I'm assuming that it's jam, as I've never heard of whole preserved fruit being called "a preserve". But, to the OP, if I'm wrong, feel free to make the appropriate edits to your question to correct this assumption. – Aaronut May 21 '12 at 00:27
  • Sorry, guys, for the confusion. Obviously this procedure for preserving whole or large junks of fruit is only known here in South Africa. Or perhaps we call 'a Preserve' for which you in the USA have different name or description. – Clara May 22 '12 at 19:03
  • @Clara Preserve is a common term in most cultures (translated). North America seems to have develop it's own lingo, and uses canning to refer to the process, and not just the container! The French inventor Mr Appert referred to it "Conserve" or "Preserve", and in France it is still referred to as L’appertisation – TFD May 30 '12 at 21:33
  • These would be "canned" or "bottled" strawberries. Searching for canned strawberries returns a ton of results that look very similar to Doddsie's answer below. Macerate in sugar. – Sobachatina May 30 '12 at 22:22
  • Thanks, TFD and Sobachatina for good advice - the link Doddsie pasted sounds very promising. Clara – Clara May 31 '12 at 21:41

1 Answers1

2

Apparently, macerating the strawberries beforehand can help. As well as this, the shorter they are boiled the firmer they will stay [1].

If you wanted, you could create one jam base and add in extra whole strawberries at the end which will be firmer. Or even still, add them towards the end of cooking so they break down a bit but not as much as the rest.

Source: [1] http://ewainthegarden.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/recipes-for-strawberries.html

Doddsie
  • 169
  • 5
  • Thanks, Doddsie, think I have arrived. Have gone to the link you provided and will try this method - once our strawberry season rolls around, in October. Clara – Clara May 31 '12 at 21:44