It’s not too hard to make your own strawberry rhubarb jam. It’s even easier to eat your own jam…super easy, especially if there are biscuits just lying around with nothing else to do with their leftover life. They’re just begging you to make jam…come on, you know you want to.
I spent a few days with my mom and when we’re together we’re always cooking up some kind of trouble. Err…food, we’re always cooking up some kind of food. The rhubarb was ready to be harvested, so we decided to make Strawberry Rhubarb Jam, one of my favorites!
Is rhubarb a vegetable or fruit?
It looks like a vegetable, but you always add sugar and eat it for dessert or in some type of sweet bread. I’ve never eaten vegetables for dessert, so it MUST be a fruit, right?
I turned to Wikipedia for the answer. As we all know, everything you read on the internet must be true. Wikipedia says, “Rhubarb is botanically classified as a vegetable; however, in the United States a New York court decided in 1947 that since it was used in the United States as a fruit it was to be counted as a fruit for the purposes of regulations and duties.”
A few notes about this recipe…
- All you need for this recipe: sugar, strawberry jello, and rhubarb. That’s it! Check out this Simply Jello that has no artificial dyes, flavors or preservatives.
- You will need to wash the rhubarb WELL to be sure you get all the dirt off. Similar to celery – it can get gritty by the base of roots. My mom likes to dice the rhubarb very small. I prefer chunkier jams – but it is totally up to you.
- Sprinkle sugar over the top of rhubarb (a lot of sugar), then cover the bowl with a towel and let it sit overnight. Strange things will happen – science fair things will happen! But don’t skip this step.
- Put your rhubarb and sugar in a saucepan and bring it to a boil, but you only want it to boil just long enough to get the rhubarb a little soft. You don’t want it to cook all the way down, you just want it non-chewy. Chewy jam = you did something wrong. Remove from heat and stir in the jello.
- Pull out a hot jar from the oven (with an oven mitt because it’s HOT!) and start ladling your hot strawberry rhubarb jam into it. You need to fill it almost to the very top. Leave very little headspace.
- After you get all your jars filled, wipe the rims with a wet dishcloth. You don’t want anything between your rubber seal and the jar. Don’t let anything come between you and your jam! A woman and her jam are not soon parted.
Before I share the recipe, let me just pause a minute to talk about canning jars.
My mom has always taught me to use what we have instead of running out to the store to buy every little thing. She learned it from her mom, and I’ll pass it down to my kids. Some of you out there might wonder why we’re “canning” in salsa jars. Because we have salsa jars! They’re great for canning jellies and jams! If the fact that it says “Tostitos” on it bothers you, you can cover it up with a piece of fabric and ribbon. Problem solved!
Just make sure your jars have a rubber seal that runs around the inner lid. That’s what will seal your jam when it’s hot. Trust me. To sterilize your jars, turn your oven on to the lowest setting possible. Stick your jars in there so they can get hot. They need to be hot to sterilize them and also to help them seal. While you are doing that, put your lids in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring them to a boil. This sterilizes them and also gets the rubber seals ready.
You can follow this same procedure with Mason jars – of any size. I like the small 4 oz. jelly jar size for gifting. You can buy the canning jar lids and rings in just about any grocery store.
Remove your lids from the boiling water and BE CAREFUL. Like I said, they’re hot. Dry the lids completely before you put them tightly on the jars.
Good luck in your strawberry rhubarb jam making!
Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
Equipment
- oven
- stovetop
- large saucepan or pot
- canning jars (or any jars with lid that has interior rubber seal)
Ingredients
- 5 cups diced rhubarb
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 3 oz. strawberry Jell-O I use the Jell-O "Simply Good" Strawberry
Instructions
The Evening Before…
- Thoroughly wash rhubarb and dice it in small pieces.
- Mix rhubarb and sugar in a large dish. Cover with dish towel. Let stand overnight.
The Next Day: Prep Canning Supplies
- Sterilize your canning jars by placing them in your oven and setting it to its lowest possible temperature. Leave them in there until ready for use.
- Sterilize jar lids by boiling them for a few minutes in a pot of water. Remove from water. Allow them to completely.
Let's Make Jam!
- Transfer rhubarb/sugar mixture into a large saucepan
- Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes or until rhubarb is tender.
- Remove from heat and add Jell-O. Stir until dissolved.
- Pour into hot, sterilized jars leaving very little headspace, and put on lid until tight.
Notes
Bonnie says
Can i add fresh strawberries to the rhubarb then boil?
Julie Chittock says
Yes, this is an older recipe – I don’t make with jello these days. But yes it can definitely be updated to use fresh strawberries. I just sub a portion of the rhubarb and/or water for the berries. If you just add extra liquid it won’t gel properly. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Julie, Humorous Homemaking Team
Mary Leverich says
I like to use the sugar free jello. Both adult kids ask for it every year.
Julie Chittock says
The sweet and sour combination is just the best. Thanks for commenting, Mary!
Julie, Humorous Homemaking Team
rose says
does your jam need to be refrigerated or can I just tore it in the cool basement
Julie Chittock says
I couldn’t say for sure! It would depend how cool your basement is. Mine probably wouldn’t stay consistently cold enough, so I would opt for the refrigerator.
Julie, Humorous Homemaking Team
Tamara says
As for not re-using jars, well, as my mother and grandmother always said…glass is glass, just as long as they are not chipped or otherwise damaged. They both re-used old jars like the salsa jars.
One idea if anyone is not comfortable re-using the lids…Use paraffin wax. I really don’t remember the specifically how to do that (it’s been a long time since I did any canning…that’s changing this year!), but from what I do remember, you simply melt the wax and poor it on top of the jam/jelly and let it set upright until cool and hard. If my memory serves me correctly, ya just need about a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch on top, so those one pound blocks can go quite a ways. As I said, I’m not sure of exact directions, but I’m sure somewhere in Google-Land, there is an answer.
Anyway, hope that helps. (“,)
Stacy says
My mom uses paraffin sometimes….but not often. It’s a good option that I forgot about! Thanks for adding it here. 🙂 I think it sounds like we were both raised with the type of people that just made do with what they had. 🙂
Sandra says
If u do research on canning and canning jars, u will find that u should never reuse commercial jars. Not designed to b used twice. Also, u will find info concerning canning using the kettle method. Don’t do it, it has been now proved this is an unsafe method, and you will not find any US agency who promotes this method. Home canning is great and I can every year, but its very important to can using appropriate, approved methods. People can die from incorrect canning methods. The old ways r good sometimes, but sometimes things need to b updated using superior, safer, methods and canning is one of them. Lots of good info out there as to how to correctly can
Stacy says
Sandra, thanks for your comment. My mother has canned jelly this way for years……and her mother before her. We like to make the most of what we do have. We’re all still alive and kicking. 🙂 I know where this food came from and I know what’s in it. For us it’s the pro of having something we made at home, versus something processed at the store. This is doing it “correctly” as far as we are concerned.
Most websites say that commercial jars aren’t safe for pressure cooking because of the heat. We’re just storing jelly in a sealed environment, not pressure cooking it.
I keep all the glass jars I can get. I feel safer using them than plastic that might have BPA.
Jan Mohler says
I, too, use salsa jars, olive jars, old jelly jars, any small jar with intact rubber ring inside the lid. It’s economical and the jam or applebutter I make does seal and keep well. I sterilize the jars, put them upside down in my electric frypan that has boiling water in it. The jar will act as a vacuum and suck some water into the jars, so I just tilt the empty jar and water flows back into the electric pan. I use these jars for jam, jelly, larger ones for peaches, pears, apricots, plums, etc, … anything that can be water bath canned. ALL pressure canning I do in Ball, Kerr or generic actual canning jars. I’ve never had an issue with the lid not staying sealed or the jar breaking for jams and fruit canned in “off” jars. I suppose it’s advised against because not everyone would follow these guidelines. BTW, I may be wrong, but I think botulism, every canner’s nightmare, is from low acid poorly processed vegetables, not fruit.
Cynthia says
This made me remember that my mother and I……years and years ago….made mock strawberry jam using figs. Funny what will trigger memories.
carrie says
Stacy, I make this same recipe and it is my favorite jelly.
Last year I did make some with Splenda and it turned out ok. It was just alot thicker than the ones with regular sugar.
Stacy says
I’m glad it worked for you! 🙂 We just didn’t like the result. Thanks for letting everyone know that it does work!
zannhu says
This is great, I’ve always wondered how to make jam rather than jelly (which I learned how to do in 4H as a kid but it was along and tedious process as I remember that involved straining things in cheese cloth and such). However, I don’t care for rhubarb and I’m clueless on cooking.. how do you switch it up if you want to say try blackberries or strawberries or apricots?
Stacy says
It’s somewhat of a different process. I might cover it later if we decide to make something else…..but you might change your mind about rhubarb if you had this jam. 🙂 Check out these links: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Quick-and-Easy-Strawberry-Jam
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Wild-Berry-Freezer-Jam
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Easy-Apricot-Jam
Haley says
Your momma should be paid for all that hand-modeling hehehe! I always wondered why Aunt Linda’s jam was always in salsa jars; now, I know!!
Lora Rasnake says
Really won’t to try this – but do you know if Splenda can be used in place of sugar????
Stacy says
We have never used Splenda successfully in anything we’ve canned. Sorry! 🙁