Tiny Batch Strawberry Preserves

Ingredients

1 quart hulled and sliced strawberries (measure after hulling and slicing)
3/4 cup sugar
2 T. lemon juice (bottled juice is okay)
3 half pint canning jars with rings and new lids (if canning)

Instructions

Put the berries, sugar, and lemon juice in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Cook over medium low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the the strawberries have released some of their juice.
Turn the heat to medium high and cook, stirring and mashing the berries occasionally until the temperature registers 220° on a candy thermometer. For refrigerating or freezing, you may stop here, cool the preserves, and transfer to and appropriate storage container. If canning for pantry storage, see canning instructions in the notes below.

Notes

Easy Water Bath Canning for Strawberry Preserves:

Wash 3 half-pint canning jars, rings, and new lids in hot, soapy, water. Rinse well. Set the rings and lids on a clean towel and put the clean jars in a preheated 225° oven before starting the preserves. Jars need 20 minutes in the preheated oven to sterilize.

As soon as the preserves register 220°, remove the jars from the oven and fill the hot jars with hot preserves. Wipe the rims clean and put lids and rings on. Screw the rings down until you feel resistence, and then turn a quarter turn more. (i.e., "finger tight")

Put the jars in a stock pot and fill with enough water to cover the jars by a couple of inches. Bring to a boil and time 10 minutes.

Remove the jars from the water bath and allow to sit overnight. You will probably hear the popping sound as the jars seal. Don't push down on the lids to help them along, they need to seal by themselves. Any jars that haven't sealed in 24 hours should be put in the refrigerator and used first. You can tell that a jar hasn't sealed by firmly tapping the middle of the lid. If it pops when you tap it, it hasn't sealed.

It's normal for the fruit solids to float upward in the jar. The preserves thicken up considerably under refrigeration, so you can stir to redistribute the fruit then.