Mama Edie’s Rhubarb Freezer Jam

Most kids I knew growing up ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with gloppy grape jelly.  In my house, we grew up eating them with delicious sweet tart rhubarb jam.  This was because my father developed an allergy to most fruits when he was young, with the exception of melons, limes and rhubarb.  My Mom had to get creative with a jam that he could safely enjoy.

Technically, rhubarb is a vegetable, with an inedible leaf and a long reddish stalk that looks similar to celery, though it is not related.  But it can be cooked down with sugar and turned into delicious baked treats, or made into a delicious sweet and tart sauce or jam.

My Mom has been making rhubarb jam each summer as long as I can remember.  It is not difficult, but it is labor intensive.  Once you have tasted it though, you know it is so worth it.

When we used to live in the Midwest, rhubarb could be found in abundance.  In fact, most people had enough to spare and gave it away, so we never had to buy it.  Then we moved to the South.  Because rhubarb requires a cold winter, it does not grow well here.  We soon discovered you can find it in the produce section of some grocery stores for about the market price of gold.

If you are going to make enough to last the year, you need a lot of rhubarb and buying it in the stores is price-prohibitive.  But my resourceful mother discovered you can buy it in bulk through Ford’s Produce which operates out of the NC State Farmers Market in Raleigh.  They provide wholesale fruits and vegetables, but will also sell to the public.  

They had some beautiful Oregon Rhubarb in this week, so we rolled up our sleeves and got to work.  We got two 20 lb. boxes for about $60 each.  This may seem like a lot, but we made 25 boxes that hold about 4 cups of freezer jam each, which breaks down to about $1.20 a cup.

So, if you’re ready to get a little messy and a whole lot sticky in the name of some delicious jam, you will need to gather your supplies.

You will need some basic kitchen tools to start. You need a very sharp knife and a large cutting board. A nice big pot with a heavy bottom is great, if you have 2, even better. Some large glass measuring cups will help speed up your measuring, and some good spoons or spatulas are great for stirring. You will also need sturdy freezer-safe storage containers with lids for storing your jam.

Depending on how many batches you plan to make, you will need a mess of strawberry gelatin (or any red berry flavor), and a lot of sugar.

I know it seems like a lot of sugar, but that’s the thing about rhubarb. Rhubarb itself is extremely sour. A lot of sugar is necessary to give it that sweet tart flavor we love. If you don’t want to add more sugar with your gelatin, you can substitute sugar-free gelatin.

For each batch my Mom and I made, we used 10 cups of chopped rhubarb, 6 cups of sugar and 3 boxes of strawberry gelatin. This yields 3 to 4 freezer storage boxes.

Your first step is to wash the rhubarb well in the sink, then chop into small pieces, about an inch or smaller. The smaller the pieces of rhubarb, the faster it will cook down.

Next you set the rhubarb in your big pot on the stovetop on medium and heat until cooked down to mush. You need to stir fairly frequently so the rhubarb doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

You want it really mushy, with very few lumps left. Once that happens, you can turn off the heat and add your sugar. Stir very well until it is completely dissolved into the mush.

Once you are sure your sugar is fully dissolved, you can add the strawberry gelatin, one packet at a time. Mix very well between each pack and stir thoroughly until there are no gelatin lumps or grains left.

One you are sure your gelatin is mixed in, you can scoop the jam into the freezer-safe containers and label them for storage.

Repeat the process again until all of your rhubarb is transformed into beautiful jam.

If you have 2 pots, you can work on 2 batches at a time, just be sure to stir well while cooking the rhubarb. It works much better to form an assembly line process with a friend or family member, like my Mom and I did. You can keep each other straight and make sure your don’t skip a step, etc.

Once you have nice big collection of filled containers, you can stack them in your freezer and store for up to 2 years, assuming it lasts that long.

This jam is good on literally almost anything – PB&Js, pancakes, toast, muffins, even on ice cream. It also makes a wonderful gift. Many a houseguest has left my Mom’s home with a container of jam to hold them over until their next visit.

If you are willing to carve out a morning to tackle this treat, I promise you will not be disappointed with the results.