As I try to decide which is better: the no-cook freezer jam, on the left in the photo above, or the old fashioned cooked jam on the right. Certainly they look different at this point just after completion. Although the freezer jam is not technically complete since it sits overnight at room temperature so possibly the color settles down and darkens to look more like standard jam.
Conveniently, a small flat of strawberries (8 baskets) is the perfect amount of fruit to make one batch of each kind of jam so I thought I’d take a flyer on freezer jam this year as I’ve heard people singing its praises over the years but never tasted it or tried making it before. The p-b and j school crowd has no comment on this thorny issue other than a previously stated general preference for Grandma’s homemade jam over store bought.
A very limited straw poll among adults indicates that whatever one’s mom or grandmother makes or made is what people seem to prefer. If I start making both consistently, it will be a quandary in the future for my grandchildren. I have a sneaking suspicion there will be advocates on both sides with a slight edge for freshly made cooked jam.
All I know for sure is that anything made with the wonderful strawberries to be had at local stands all around us right now is going to be head and shoulders above what’s on grocery store shelves for berry-liscious good flavor.
Biscuits anyone?
