Canning Strawberry Jelly with Fagor #ad

It has been several years since I last canned. The last time I canned was with my good friend JQ. She taught me how to can and I learned by making my bff’s homemade black bean salsa. All we used was a big pot and whatever I could find around the house as “tools”.

I was so excited to find the Fagor Duo 9-Piece Pressure Canning Set to review!! I hadn’t ever used a pressure cooker before so it was a bit daunting. lol First of all, let me tell you what comes with this set:

• Fagor 10 quart Duo Pressure Cooker/Canner
• a full color cookbook containing all the necessary preparation instructions and recipes for home canning
• canning rack
• jar wrench
• jar lifter
• funnel
• magnetic lid wand
• ladle
• bubble freer

I took my mom to a farmer’s market so we could buy some strawberries to make strawberry jelly! I hadn’t attempted that before, only my salsa, but I was so excited to start using the canner!

I know I have a lot of learning to do and would actually like to learn how to make jelly without any preservatives. That’s for down the road right now. =) I got a ton of strawberries and everything I would need for my concoction. Thankfully, I had a wonderful teacher in JQ so I had a pretty good idea of how to get everything started.

As I read the directions it all started coming back to me! I felt so in my element and having all of the pieces to this set made it so much easier to get the tasks done that I needed! I didn’t have anything to crush the strawberries so I had to use my mom’s potato masher.

The strawberries mushed really well and then it was time to add the sugar. I had no idea that it took so much to create jelly! I had never seen this process so when it came time to remove the foam I was totally grossed out. lol the pectin was added, it cooked and then it was time to get the jars heated.

Shhh don’t tell anyone, but I should’ve started the heating jar process a bit earlier. My concoction had to sit for a while as I heated the jars, lids and rings. Live and learn, eh?

I really liked having the magnetic lid wand because I was able to get the lids and rings out without burning my fingers. As I got them out, I grabbed the funnel and was able to use the ladle to scoop the jelly and pour it into the funnel. Seriously, such a slick process.

My mom showed up about the time I was sealing the jars and she was pretty impressed. She’s never had a pressure cooker and certainly hasn’t ever done any canning. I told her and Doodle my favorite part was just coming up. I love the “pop” sound the lids make when they’ve sealed themselves!


I did them a few at a time so the jars could somewhat cool on the wire rack and then after they had cooled somewhat, moved them to a towel to set.

I let the jars on the counter overnight and opened my first jar the next day. See, I eat a peanut butter & jelly sandwich pretty much every single day. It’s my nightly snack. It was a bit more “jellyfied” than I like, but it was still really good. I have some experimenting to do. I ended up with 6 jars of homemade jelly! I’m pretty darn excited about it!

I hope to make applesauce next since it’s that time of year and I plan on making several jars of my salsa. Something like the Fagor Cooker/Canner is an investment. In the long run, by doing all of my own canning, I’ll be saving oodles of money. It’s also doing something that I truly enjoy!

Have you ever canned? What do you enjoy putting up?

*I was sent the set for review and totally fell in love with it! The opinions expressed are clearly my own.