The time is here, and strawberries are everywhere you turn. Farmers Markets should be ripe with them now as well. Friends have been posting photos of them going strawberry picking, and well, I’m guessing it’s now a proper time to go ahead and post about the newest batch of strawberry preserves that I made. I do not have an end photo because well, we ate them. My apologies.
This time around, I did an apple cider vinegar rinse to remove any dirt, and also keep the strawberries from browning just in case I didn’t cut them right away. The latter wasn’t necessary, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. I used 2 tsps of ACV to one full sink of water. 
After quartering the strawberries (I used 7 pounds) I put two and a half cups of sugar and a half cup of lemon juice into a slow cooker and left it on low. The lemon juice was to keep the strawberries bright. 
After about six hours, the mixture looked this way. I added two packets of pectin (for a looser preserve) and immediately poured the preserves into half pint mason jars.
I then sealed the jars, and immersed them in boiling water to seal them so that they could be shelf stable.
I’ll put another picture up with one of the jars opened and slathered all over buttery biscuits. Chicago is quite humid these days and the last thing that I want to do is cook biscuits. Maybe toast?
So tell me, have you ever made Strawberry Preserves? Did you like them?
I’ve made preserves and they were delish! I never thought to do them in the slow cooker though! I may try it with blueberries :-).