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The summer is here again and it is time to fill up the freezer with lovely homemade marmalade jars. To save some time this year I bought the strawberries at a local market instead of picking them myself.
Making homemade freezer marmalade is not difficult and the result is well worth the time you need making it. When you make your own marmalade you are in complete control of what you put in your marmalade and you can control the amount of sugar as well. This leaves you with a much healthier marmalade than the once you buy in the grocery stores.
You only need a few ingredients to make marmalade; strawberries, sugar and pectin. I use Certo pectin, but choose a pectin product available in your area. Just make sure it is for freezing marmalade. Plan how much marmalade you want to make and calculate how much of the ingredients you need based on that. Make sure you have enough of everything - running out of sugar when you have one kilo of berries left can be quite annoying.
I would suggest using a mixture of sugar and erythritol instead of pure sugar, this will give you an even healthier marmalade. To learn more about erythritol see me article "Erythritol - the healthy sugar?"
In addition you will need jars to store your marmalade in. Do not use too large jars as the marmalade only keeps for four to five days in the fridge after it is defrosted. You will need a large container which fits at least one kilo of berries. I use a large plastic bowl. Then you will need a mixer to mix together the ingredients. You can use a food processor if you like. I always use my hand mixer because I feel I can control the consistency of the marmalade better this way. You will also need a weight to weigh the berries and the sugar, and a large spoon to put the marmalade into the glasses.
Wash the jars in hot water. I fill the sink with water and let the jars and lids soak in the water for ten minutes. Then I put them upside down on the table on top of a table cloth to run of whilst I peel the berries.
Wash the berries under running cold water and peel them. Remove the green stem and cut of any damaged areas with a sharp knife. I find it easiest to only work with one kilo of berries in one go.
Weigh your berries and put one kilo of peeled berries in your plastic container. Weigh the sugar or the sugar/erythritol mixture and poor over the berries. Add pectin. Use your knife and cut into the berries to divide them in smaller pieces. Then mix carefully until you get the consistency you like. I mix at the lowest speed for about five minutes.
Then spoon the marmalade into the jars. Do not fill the jars to the top. When the marmalade freezes is will expand a little bit. So leave about one centimetre free for expansion. Put the lid on and tighten well. Place the jars in the freezer immediately after you are done making the marmalade. Keep one in the fridge and enjoy the fruits of your hard work for the next few days!
Freezer marmalade made with no added preservation chemicals will only keep four to five days in the fridge after you defrost it. But trough the purity of the product it has a heavenly taste of fresh strawberries.
Here are the quantities I use for my marmalade:
1 kg peeled berries
100 gram sugar
120 gram erythirtol
certo pectin for 1 kg berries
About this Author
Anita Karlson is blogging about how to live a more healthy, natural and balanced life. Find new articles and inspiring tips at http://www.anitakarlson.com
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