Garden Strawberry Preserves - berries

Method

• Set the jars in a pan of water over a low burner.
• Wash berries in a bowl of cold water to make sure they are free of grit and dust.
• Remove berries by hand and place them on a clean, dry towel to drain.
• Then remove the caps and crush the berries slightly with a clean, odorless, wooden pestle or a strong coffee mug.
• Pour into a non-aluminum saucepan and set over a low flame to heat.
• Meanwhile, heat the sugar either in a double boiler or in a dish in the oven, being careful not to brown it, but making sure it becomes very hot (about 10 minutes in a 350 oven).
• Now pour the hot sugar over the berries, turning the burner up while stirring the sugar around.
• The cooking should be as brisk as possible without scorching; it should take about 9 minutes in all.
• As soon as the preserves begin to boil up, a scum will rise on the surface; skim it off right away with a wooden or silver spoon.
• It is much better to skim while its rapidly boiling, because that seems to cause the scum to remain in a mass and its easy to dip it out without getting too much of the syrup.
• After 9 minutes of rapid cooking, pour the preserves into the hot jars, filling to about 1/8 inch from the top.
• Lift the jars out onto a dry surface to cool.
• When cold, carefully melt paraffin and pour into the filled jars.
• When paraffin is cool, put on the lids and seal.