Well I finally did it!! I made my own strawberry jam and you know what? It really excites me knowing that its just that simple to make jam. I will be trying other berries as they come in season. Hubby and I both love jam on toast and in our homemade yogurt so for us its worth the money to make it ourselves. It comes out to be pretty cheap when making it. There are some initial like the jars, lids and Certo but for the amount of jam and the delicious fresh flavor it gives you its my way to go from now on! Here is my break down
The Strawberry jam
2 boxes of strawberries (~$4.00)
Jars (Free) or they can be picked up cheap at thrift stores or my mom recycles and glass jar she buys to put her jam in for example salsa and relish jars.
Lids ($2 for 12 bottles) ~ $0.16 per lid used 4 lids
Liquid certo ( $3.19) makes 2 batches ($1.60/batch)
Total for one batch supplies $6.20
This makes ~ 71/2 cups of jam
Price per cup $0.83
Compare to the cheapest bottle of jam
No Name 500 ml (~2 cups) bottle of jam $2.19
Price per cup $1.10
I am looking forward to enjoying our hard work...ok so it wasn't hard at all! Here are the steps to making jam.
1. Go a pick the berries. Its cheaper and great exercise.
2. Wash and hull berries
3. Place mashed berries (it says not to use a food processor but we did) in a pot along with sugar and lemon juice if you are using liquid Certo.
4. Bring berries to a boil
5. Boil mixture hard for 1 minute. This was a scary one minute as I thought it was going to over flow a couple of times but hubby was so calm.
6. Once boiled add liquid Certo while stirring and skimming for 5 minutes before pouring hot mixture into warmed and sterilized jars. Place hot sterile lids onto jars and seal.
7. Wait for the wonderful popping sound the jars make when they are sealed and store in the cupboard.
The thing that I learned after making my first batch of jam is that its a good idea to have everything ready for the process. Have the sugar measured, the jars/lids sterilized and warming, Certo ready, a good stirring spoon, and a clean working area.
For more money saving tips check out biblical womanhood.
4 comments:
You forgot the cost of:
- Sugar
- Lemon juice
- Gas to go pick the berries (further than store)
- Time used to make them
- Hot water to sterilize bottles and wash dishes
- Electricity to cook jam
- Time to organize, clean, and manage all these supplies.
- Space to store all these supplies.
It may end up being more expensive than the stuff you buy at the store in the long run (especially if you factor in coupons and sales). However, I'm sure it doesn't taste nearly as good, isn't nearly as healthy, and doesn't have nearly as much love in each jar and the homemade stuff!
The cost of the jam can easily be offset by applying your efforts to something more profitable, but I'm sure the satisfaction and enjoyment gained from doing it yourself outweighs all that.
Just thought I'd chime in that if you are truly trying to save money (or have more money in the end at least) then doing it yourself may not be the way to go. However, for those living a minimalist lifestyle, this would definitely help save money.
Cooking food at home, in general, saves a ton of money I'm sure in the long run ... I'm not yet sold on the jam though =)
Bless you Katie! Your blog is fun to read,
Stephen
your right I did forget all those little cost. The sugar I got on sale back in winter for 1.69 and I might have used almost the whole bag as for the lemon juice its always in the fridge and the amount used would probably only be a few cents. As for the other things it didn't take that long to make the jam, I got good exercise picking the berries and the gas to get there well... next year I will think about biking! hehehe....
The taste and goodness far out weight all the other factors!
Thanks for your comment
Hi there, I know where you can go next year and get them $1 lb. I got 37 lbs last week. Do you use the low sugar certo? I do and find it is plenty. Can't wait for peach season as I make quite a bit of peach jam and canned peaches for the little ones. Actually I can just about everything but I love it. Do you use old non canning jars for cooked jam? I am a little hesitant because they are not made to withstand the high temperatures required for proper sterilization. I do use them for freezer jam though because they do not have to be water bath canned. ACtually from your post it does not look like you do that, or is it freezer jam you made? Either way homemade jam is the best.
http://organizingconnection.com/Read/TheOrganizingBlog/tabid/71/EntryID/104/Default.aspx
There's nothing like homemade jam! There's also something to be said for the feeling of pride as you hear the jars sealing. :)
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