Canning Whole Strawberries

     Preserve strawberries now for the future.  Great for baking, ice cream making, desserts, jamming, salad dressings and syrups (think pancakes.)  Some do not like the way whole strawberries can up as they can lose their color.  I do add 1/2 tsp citric acid to each quart jar to help preserve color and quality. I plan on using these quarts for future jamming, pie filling and ice cream mix ins. Hope you enjoy! Diane 


Ingredients:

Strawberries
White Granulated Sugar
Water 
 
Directions:

1. Clean and Hull the strawberries (remove green caps & stems.)
2. Leave strawberries whole; do not slice or chop.
3. Put cleaned fruit in a large pot.
4. Add Sugar: for each 1 quart of whole berries by volume add 1/2 to 3/4 cup white sugar.  Stir fruit to distribute sugar evenly. Cover pot; let sit in a cool place for 5 to 6 hours.
5. Add 1/2 cup of water for every quart of berries. Heat pot slowly on a medium-hot burner. Stir frequently. Heat until berries are warm all the way through and, all sugar is dissolved. 
6. Pack strawberries and liquid into heated jars.
7. Leave 1 inch headspace - strawberries are air filled.
8. De-bubble, adjust headspace.
9. Top up with clean boiling water, if you still need more liquid.
10. Wipe jar rims.
11. Put lids on.
12. Process in a water bath or steam canner.
13. Process quart jars for 15 minutes.
14. Increase time as needed for your altitude.

Recipe adapted from: Bernardin Canning Canada