Canning Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate

5 from 2 votes

Canning Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate

Strawberry lemonade concentrate combines the amazing flavor of fresh strawberries into a delicious drink concentrate that's easy to prepare at a moment's notice.

Prep Time10

Cook Time5

Canning Time (optional)15

Total Time30

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: American

Keyword: lemon canning recipes, Strawberry canning recipes

Servings: Pint Jars

Author: Ashley Adamant

Ingredients

6 cups hulled strawberries
4 cups fresh lemon juice from 16 to 20 lemons
6 cups sugar

Instructions

Prepare a water bath canner, jars, rings and lids before beginning. The canner should be pre-heated to around 180 degrees F (barely simmering) for hot pack.
Juice the lemons and strain to remove any pulp and seeds.
Hull and puree the strawberries.
Mix the strawberries, strained lemon juice, and sugar in a saucepan.
Gently heat the mixture on the stove to around 190 degrees F, but do not boil.
Ladle the strawberry lemonade concentrate into prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Seal with 2 part canning lids.
Process the jars in a water bath canner for 15 minutes, adjusting to the altitude (see notes).
Turn off the heat and leave the jars in the canner for an additional 5 minutes to cool slightly before removing them with a canning jar lifter to cool completely on a towel on the counter.
Wait 12 to 24 hours, then check seals. Store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator for immediate use. Properly canned and sealed jars may be store in the pantry. Refrigerate after opening.
To reconstitute, mix 1 part concentrate with 3 parts water. For a 1 pint jar, you'd add 3 pints water. For simplicity, you can just add a pint to a half-gallon mason jar, which holds 4 pints, and then fill it up the rest of the way with cold water.
That should give you a "basic lemonade" flavor that's strong, but not too strong. You can adjust to your own tastes.

Notes

Yield

When I make this recipe, it yields about 5 pints. Ball canning's original recipe says it yields "7 pints" but in general, I've found that their yields are always larger than reality. The strawberries are measured whole, just with tops removed in their recipe, which is honestly a bit vague. Given variations in size of strawberries, that'll give you a bit of variation in yield. Both strawberries and lemon juice are fine for canning on their own, so adjusting the ratio of strawberry to lemon is fine. If you want a bit more strawberry, no problem. Or a bit less.

This season when strawberries come in fresh in Vermont, I will weigh everything out to the gram to try to improve on Ball's recipe and give you more exact guidance to get a more exact yield. Stay tuned!

Reconstituting

One pint of strawberry lemonade concentrate will make 1/2 gallon of prepared lemonade. Simply take 1 jar of canned concentrate and add in 3 jars of fresh water. I like to just pour it into a half gallon mason jar and then fill with water, as that keeps things nice and clean. You can reconstitute it stronger or weaker based on your tastes.

Altitude Adjustments

Process half pints and pints in a water bath canner for 15 minutes (below 1,000 feet in elevation). Between 1,000 and 3,000 feet, increase the processing time to 20 minutes. Between 3,000 and 6,000 feet, the jars should be processed for 25 minutes. Process for 30 minutes above 6,000 feet in elevation. This recipe has not been tested in quarts and should only be canned in pints and half pints.

Nutrition