Rhubarb Jam and My Summer Kitchen

While you can safely freeze rhubarb for later use, I’ve always found that fresh rhubarb has the best flavor. That’s one reason I appreciate having a summer kitchen in my screened-in porch. By the time rhubarb is ready to harvest, the days are hot more often than not, and I prefer to keep that heat outside the house whenever possible.

My summer kitchen is simple, but it works surprisingly well. I don’t have an oven—which is probably a good thing since baked goods are a weakness of mine and are best reserved for special occasions! What I do have is a gas cooktop (which comes in handy during power outages, too), a microwave, plenty of countertop space for small appliances, and outlets galore.

A full-sized refrigerator sits just inside the house, so once I gather everything I need, I can keep cold items cold while I work. There’s also a large laundry-style sink with cold water only, but it comes in very handy for rinsing vegetables and filling my canner.

As nice as the space is during the height of summer, it becomes even more useful toward the end of the growing season. My husband loves pickled beets so much that he’s always willing to pick, clean, boil, peel, slice, and jar them up. A few years ago, I taught him his mother’s wonderfully simple pickling recipe, and now he handles the entire process himself without heating up the house.

My Mother-in-Law’s Easy Pickling Brine

• 1 part water
• 1 part vinegar
• 1 part sugar

You can add pickling spices or cloves if you’d like, but honestly, they’re not necessary.

Today, though, I wasn’t making beets. I took advantage of my summer kitchen to make a batch of rhubarb jam using a recipe I’ve gradually tweaked over the years. Every time I made it, I’d adjust something a little bit until it finally became exactly what I wanted.

I think it’s just about perfect now.

Rhubarb Jam

Ingredients

• 8 cups chopped rhubarb (cut into ¼” to ½” pieces)
• 2½ cups sugar
• ¼ cup water
• 3 teaspoons lemon juice

Near the End of Cooking

• 1 tablespoon butter (helps reduce foaming)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

Directions

1. Combine the rhubarb, sugar, water, and lemon juice in a large pot.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer for approximately 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. During the last 5 minutes of simmering, stir in the butter and vanilla bean paste.
5. Ladle into prepared jars.

This batch made five half-pint jars.

The vanilla bean paste is the ingredient that finally brought this recipe together for me. It doesn’t overpower the rhubarb; instead, it softens the tartness just enough and adds a warm note in the background that makes the flavor feel complete.

There’s something deeply satisfying about turning a basket of fresh rhubarb into jars lined up on a shelf. Maybe it’s the connection to the growing season, or maybe it’s simply the pleasure of preserving something delicious to enjoy later.

Either way, my summer kitchen earned its keep once again.

Looking for another way to use fresh rhubarb?

Earlier the same day I made a small batch rhubarb crisp with extra cinnamon and a crunchy oat topping. It disappeared just as quickly as the jam!

→ Read my Small Batch Rhubarb Crisp recipe here