Homemade strawberry jam is irresistible! Sometimes one may ask, why make jam at home when you can buy from outside. The best part of making jam is that you know what fruits you have added and you can control the amount of sugar.
Once you make jam at home, you will not look forward to the store-bought ones, it is so delicious. You can enjoy freshly made jam with your morning toast, fruit bread, yogurt, and all the delicious homemade bread machine bread.
Ingredients to make strawberry jam
Homemade strawberry jam is free of any preservatives. It requires only 4 ingredients
- Strawberries
- Pectin
- Sugar
- Butter
How to make jam in a bread machine?
Did you know that bread machines are beyond just making bread, you can make all types of jams in it and you can be absolutely hands-off.
All you need to do is a few minutes of prep work of weighing and adding the fruits, sugar, pectin and butter to the container. Your work is done! I personally prefer the Sure Jell Premium Fruit Pectin.
Select and start the "Jam" cycle and the machine will do the rest. While this post is about making strawberry jam from frozen strawberries, you can make jam from other fresh fruits too. Check out my jam recipes and apple butter recipe made in the bread machine.
How to make jam in a bread machine without a jam setting?
The jam setting in a bread machine moves the paddle every few seconds and heats the bread machine pan to a high temperature to ensure that the fruits cook well to make the jam.
Unfortunately, there is no other setting that does both the tasks, and so it is not possible to make the jam in a bread machine without the jam setting.
Can I use frozen strawberries for jam?
You can use fresh or frozen strawberries for making jam. I have made jams using both fresh and frozen ones and both are equally good. While using frozen strawberries involves an additional step of defrosting the strawberries. If they are not well defrosted, the jam can turn out a little bit runny.
How to defrost frozen strawberries?
Frozen strawberries can be defrosted in a microwave by using the defrost setting. You can select the weight option and let the microwave defrost it.
If you don't want to use the microwave, you can rinse the strawberries in water and then leave the strawberries in a strainer at room temperature or in the fridge. It will take 4-6 hours to defrost and the strawberries completely.
How to make strawberry jam with frozen strawberries?
To make strawberry jam with frozen strawberries, weigh the frozen strawberries using a digital food scale. I prefer weighing as it gives consistent results. Next, defrost the strawberries well and squeeze out any excess water.
If the strawberries are really big or your kids do not prefer chunks, you can chop the strawberries. I prefer to make it with whole fruit, it gives a richer taste, sometimes I chop them into halves.
Now put the strawberries, sugar, pectin ( I prefer Sure Jell Premium Fruit Pectin), and a little bit butter in the bread maker container. Adding a teaspoon of butter makes the jam clear, otherwise you will see some tiny bubbles and the jam will not look clear. Pectin helps in setting the jam and giving it a thicker consistency.
Select and start the "Jam" cycle and the strawberry jam will be ready once the cycle ends. The container and jam will be very hot, be careful while transferring it to jars. I use the 16 oz Ball Mason Jars for storing jam.
In order to avoid sudden temperature change of the jars while pouring hot jam, I heat the jars in the oven for about 10 minutes on warm setting and then transfer the jam to the jar.
How to store homemade jam?
Strawberry jam is now ready. Once cooled down, you can store it in the refrigerator in a tight-fitting container for about 2 months but it never lasts that long for me, it is over just in a few weeks 🙂
Don't forget to check out these bread machine recipes
- Sweet and spicy peach jam in bread machine
- Mixed berry jam in bread machine
- Mango relish in bread machine
Don't forget to rate the recipe by clicking the stars. Also, pin the recipe by clicking the "Pin" button, for your future reference.
📖 Recipe
Strawberry Jam in Bread Machine
Watch Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb Frozen strawberries (defrosted)
- 1 cup Organic cane sugar
- 2 ½ tablespoon Pectin
- 1 teaspoon Unsalted butter
Instructions
- Defrost the frozen strawberries and squeeze out any excess water.
- Place the strawberries, sugar, pectin and butter in the bread machine container
- Select and start the "Jam" cycle
- Once jam cycle is complete, transfer to a sterilized jar and let it cool. (CAUTION! Container will be very hot!)
- Once cooled, store the jam in the refrigerator.
Pam says
I don't use real refined sugar. Can I use allulose or stevia?
Alpa Jain says
Hi Pam,
I have not tried with allulose or stevia but I think it should work. Jam thickens by adding pectin, so I don't see a reason why it would not work. If you try it do let me know how it turns out.
Cheers,
Alpa
Rob says
This stuff is delicious! My family loves it. I make it with fresh strawberries cut into pieces. I have to make a new batch every week, as everyone eats it up!
Pectin is crazy expensive - it costs more than the fruit. I'm wondering if you have tried using less pectin. One box can make 7-8 cups of jam using traditional methods. I realize the bread machine uses a different method and that might account for the difference.
Alpa Jain says
Hi Rob,
Depending on the fruit, more or less pectin is required to make jam. I have added lesser pectin to strawberry jam and it has been runny. You can try adding lemon juice and lesser pectin, it may work but I have not tried it.
I also buy the jar of pectin and not the box, it turns out to be more cost effective.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Alpa
Annette Kane says
Can this be frozen?
Alpa Jain says
Hi Annette,
Yes, you can freeze it. When you want to use it, simply keep it in the refrigerator and it will thaw in a few hours. Hope this helps.
Regards
Alpa
Cherie says
Very good flavor. My first time making it and I used frozen berries. I am making it again now
Alpa Jain says
Hi Cherie,
Glad to know you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Cheers,
Alpa
Sharon says
What can I use to replace butter for vegan?
Alpa Jain says
Hi Sharon,
Vegan butter should work. You can also try coconut oil. Adding butter makes the jam glossy and gets rid of tiny bubbles. If you don't add it, it will still be fine just that it will look a little hazy because of the tiny trapped bubbles.
Regards
Alpa
Roxi says
Just wondering if you have a recipe for apple and strawberry jam made in the bread machine. Would love to try making some but can't find a recipe for the bread machine anywhere.
Alpa Jain says
Hi Roxi
I don’t have the recipe for apple strawberry jam on my site. In general, this recipe would work for most fruits. You can substitute half the amount of strawberry by cored, peeled and diced apples. You can also reduce the amount of sugar to 3/4 cup if the apples are very sweet.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Alpa
Karen says
The recipe was super easy and the jam came out great. But it made a huge mess in the bread maker. I assume same recipe ingredients can be used on stove top instead. This was my first try at making jam.
Alpa Jain says
Hi Karen,
Thankyou for the feedback. One way to avoid the mess is by covering the top of the pan with a foil wrap for few minutes until the speed of paddle becomes slow. That way it will not splash around. And yes, it should work on the stovetop too.
Cierra Fields says
Can you do this with fresh strawberries? If so how much & does anything change?
Alpa Jain says
Hi Cierra
You can follow the same recipe without any changes. The only thing I would suggest is chopping the strawberries and not adding them whole when using fresh.
Hope this helps
Regards
Alpa
Cindy says
Can you make jam if your bread maker does not have a jam Setting
Alpa Jain says
Hi Cindy,
Unfortunately, you cannot make jam in bread machine without the jam setting. No other setting would heat at that high temperature. Also the jam setting mixes every few seconds, no other setting would do that.
Hope this helps
Regards
Alpa
Sruthi says
Can this jam be done without pectin?
Alpa Jain says
Hi Sruthi
I have tried without pectin, it turns out liquidy like a sauce. Pectin helps in setting and thickening of the jam.
Hope this helps
Regards
Alpa
Rinku Trivedi says
Very delicious and fresh... Awesome 👍