203 METHOD Wash strawberries and allow to dry. Hullthe strawberries and cut large strawberries in half. Place the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice into a large preserving saucepan and gently stir to combine. Cover the saucepan and leave stand overnight. If time poor, allow strawberries to stand for at least two hours. Place a saucer in the freezer in readiness for checking the setting of the jam. A jam thermometer can be used and the desired setting temperature will be 105°C. Remove the cover from the saucepan and place the pan over a low heat and stir A traditional strawberry jam made gently until all the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat to high and boil the jam without pectin. rapidly. Stir the jam occasionally to ensure the jam is not sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. Boil for 10–20 minutes or until the jam reaches 105°C. Spoon a little jam onto the frozen saucer and leave for 1 minute, if the jam wrinkles when a finger is pushed through the middle, it is ready. Keep boiling ifit is not Appliance used: Induction cooktop or set and check again in 2 minutes. Stand the jam for 3 minutes before bottling. FlameSelect® gas cooktop Ladle the jam into hot, sterilised jars (see notes on how to sterilise the jars), 3–4 medium jars cover jars with a piece of baking paper and cool completely before sealing Makes: the jars. Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: Approximately 40 minutes HOW TO STERILISE JARS Marinating time: Overnight Wash the jars and use one of the following techniques. Remember the jars Level of difficulty: Easy are placed upside down. 1. Oven – select top/bottom heat (conventional) to 120°C, place jars and lids (non-plastic) on an enamel tray lined with bakingpaper and heat in oven for 20 minutes. Remove jars when ready tofill. 2. Dishwasher INGREDIENTS – place jars, rubber seals and lids in the dishwasher and select the hottest cycle. 1kg strawberries 3. FullSteam – select FullSteam 100°C and steam jars, rubber seals and lids for 1kg white sugar 10 minutes. Open oven door and allow jars to dry. Juice of 2 large lemons NOTE Ensure to make this jam at the peak of the strawberry season. Strawberries need to be ripe and fragrant. This recipe doesn’t use pectin or jam sugar so it may be a little bit runnier than the store bought jam. Keeping the open jar in the Strawberry jamrefrigerator will help to give a thicker jam. THE NEFF AUSTRALIA COOKBOOK MAINS