Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam

A few months ago my brother, Geoff T, texted my dad and me to ask if we had Grandma’s strawberry-rhubarb jam recipe. Sadly neither of us did – I don’t have any of my paternal grandmother’s recipes although she did cook and bake quite a lot. My dad surmised that the jam recipe might have even been her mother’s recipe.

When we were growing up, Grandma would make the trip north each summer from Miami to visit us in Devon, Pennsylvania and my uncle and his family in Virginia. She always loaded her suitcase with Florida treats such as key limes, mangos and avocados plus homemade strawberry-rhubarb jam and mango chutney.

Recently Edie and Dunham H offered some rhubarb from their garden. I’ve never cooked anything with rhubarb but took this as a sign that I should try my hand at making strawberry-rhubarb jam. 

I collected the lovely home grown rhubarb (and unfortunately forgot to take a picture of it). Then I went in search of beautiful local strawberries. I knew that I needed the best berries for this jam. I found just what I needed at Yeager’s Farm and Market on Rt. 113 in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. If you’re local, you may also know Yeager’s as a Christmas tree farm. 

I read a few strawberry-rhubarb jam recipes and took pieces from a variety of different recipes. I learned that there’s not much to strawberry-rhubarb jam – strawberries, rhubarb, sugar and lemon juice. I added some vanilla paste (seeds from one vanilla bean also work) as well to round out the sweetness. 

Really good strawberries are naturally sweet but sugar is still needed to offset the tartness of the rhubarb. My brother and I agreed that my jam wasn’t as sweet as our grandmother’s and that you could actually taste a bit of the tartness which we both liked.

This jam doesn’t contain added pectin as the fruit releases natural pectin as it breaks down but it needs lemon juice (acid) to bind the fruit together and gel. Don’t skip the lemon juice!

Once you’ve cut up the strawberries and rhubarb, add all the ingredients to a large pot and cook for about an hour. Don’t worry if your strawberry or rhubarb pieces are a bit too large as they will break down when cooking. You’ll see it start to gel but it’s best to use an instant read thermometer to ensure it’s done cooking. While I used jars to store the jam, I either refrigerated or froze them as I’m not one for canning. You could easily sterilize the jars and save it for a year on the shelf if you prefer.

When I asked my sister, Sarah S, if she wanted some of my jam, she replied “Would love it, thanks! But did you put the wax on top and will some of it get mixed in with the jam? I only like it that way.” While she was kidding, I had forgotten this added ‘ingredient’ that my grandmother used as part of the preservation process. A fun food memory. Thankfully there’s no need for wax any more as part of the canning process.