To can peaches (or plums, pears or nectarines).
You need
A water bath canner, pressure canner or some type of large
pan (large enough to cover the bottles you will be using) with a lid.
Canning jars
Lids and rings (lids need to be new each time, rings can be
re-used)
Fruit (you want to get cling-free or freestone), this means
that the fruit will separate easily from the pit. Trust me on this one, it’s a pain to cut the
pit out. It takes about 5 good sizes
peaches or nectarines (or about 10 plums) to fill one quart jar. An average of
17½ pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 11 pounds is
needed per canner load of 9 pints. A bushel weighs 48 pounds and yields 16 to
24 quarts — an average of 2½ pounds per quart.
(Thank you http://www.pickyourown.org/peachescanning.htm
for that great bit of info)
- UPDATE - Right now you can get Early Alberta's (among others) up in the Brigham City / Peery area. We canned some this week and they were great, the skins peeled right off, the kids love the taste and they are freestone. Actually the expert therr told me that at this time of year in Utah at least everything is freestone.
Sugar or other sweetener, or even fruit juice
Water
Fruit Fresh (a commercially prepared mixture of citric acid
and vitamin C) or lemon juice, there are generic brands too that seem to work as well.
Paring knife
Extra’s
that you don’t need but make it quite a bit easier
An extra large pot of boiling water
A bowl of ice water
A jar funnel (fits inside jar to make it MUCH easier to fill.
A lid lifter ( a magnet on a stick), I don’t have this but
I’m not sure I have much feeling left in my fingers either, so it might be nice)
A jar lifter (large weird looking pliers like things that keep
your little fingers safe). With a water
bath canner you have a rack you can lift out, then I use a silicon oven mitt to
lift them out.
A dish washer
Cutting board and a place to put your peels (you can save
them to make other things) and pits
A bunch of extra bowls and dishrags
Chocolate - this is not for the faint of heart you may need a treat
First
things first
This is how I do it anyway . . . put your jars and rings in the
dishwasher.
Put water in you large
black ( or
sometime blue speckled) water bath canner.
You can just use a large pot but the canners have a jar rack that is
really nice, if you plan on doing more than a few batches these are good to have and generally not too expensive.
Add some water and put it on your largest burner on low (you don’t want
it too hot right away).
Now boil another large pan of water, and in a small saucepan
on low, simmer your lids (this will keep them sterile and warm) – don’t forget
about them they really stink if they melt!
Fill a large bowl with ice water.
Wash and drain your fruit and peel. (Peaches and nectarines don’t have to be
peeled but most people do, peaches at least).
The quick way is to drop your peaches in the boiling water
for about 45 seconds then with a slotted spoon move them to the ice water for a
few minutes, the peels will then slide of pretty easily (works for tomatoes
too).
Remove the pits and cut up the peaches, (halves, quarters, diced,
it’s all a matter of personal preference)
Because peaches will turn brown when exposed to air you want
to top each bowl off with ¼ cup lemon juice or Fruit Freshener. The jar says to add 2 tsp per pint or 3-4
Tbsp per qt of water, then add the fruit, drain and then put the fruit into the jars.
Now you need something to put in the jar with the
peaches. I’ve only ever used sugar syrup
but there are other ways, I’m sure a good google search will help.
- For a light syrup, which is what I always use, heat 6 cups of water, slowly add 2 cups of sugar, stir constantly, yield 7 cups of syrup Make as many batches as you need to cover your peaches.
Remove your jars from the dishwasher, while they’re still hot
add* cut up peaches, syrup and additional fruit fresh if you are adding it to
your jars (it will help keep fruit from turning brown). I usually just use it in the rinse water as
described above.
- *You can add the peaches to the syrup and boil it for 5 minutes but I’ve never done this. I just try to work with hot jars and hot syrup. The USDA does recommend this method because it helps to remove air from the food, allowing you to store more food and also helping fruit retain it's color.
Fill the jars to within ½ in to 1 in of the top.
Wipe off the rims with a clean cloth.
Fish your lid out of the hot water (this is where the
magnetic thing would be nice, I use a fork)
Put on the lid and ring and tighten (just finger tight, you're
just keeping the lid on, not sealing it).
Put the warm jars in to the hot water in the canner (on the
rack) lower the rack and put the lid on.
Bring to a boil and boil for:
- Raw (the way I do it) at our altitude ( around 4000 ft)
- Pints 35 min quarts 40 min
- Take off 5 minutes if you boiled the peaches in the syrup for 5 minutes.
When the time is up remove the jars to the
kitchen counter let them cool for about 24 hours to make sure the seal is
good. After that you can remove the
rings and label your lids.
If you're a first timer, you know it's sealed because when you push on the top and it doesn't pop up
Store in a cool, dark, dry place for longest life. If you leave the rings on they can rust and
cause the seal to pop.
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| My SIL canned these beauties, I have yet to buy any peaches this year. |
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| update 9/1 - We made a trip to the Brigham City Temple open house and so we HAD to buy some peaches while up there. This is our first batch (my daughter helped - it is WONDERFUL to have someone help you) |
