It was such an exhilarating feeling to neatly fold the dish towel and put it away with my canning gear after preserving peaches for the first time. This reminded me of racing around my grandma’s kitchen on a hot summer day while she sat at her old, green-topped metal table peeling a bowl of peaches or pears from her backyard. I never had the confidence to can peaches until this very week. Jams and jellies are no problem. There is something therapeutic about chopping fruit, mixing in sugar and spices and watching it all meld together into a tasty treat captured in a jar. But canning fruits and vegetables has always intimidated me. I thought I was bound to somehow mess up. Then I tried it. And- Oh. My. Goodness.- I think I’m hooked! Before the tweens became teens, we’d travel to fruit orchards throughout the summer to pick blueberries, peaches, apples, blackberries or strawberries. But now that it seems to be such a daunting experience for all except the six-year-old, we’ve settled on simpler means like driving down to the State Farmers Market on a Saturday morning to pick up a bushel of South Carolina peaches already boxed and ready to go. We eat a lot of them fresh, but a major purpose is to make peach jam. It is definitely the family’s favorite next to scuppernong jelly. After two days, I managed to whip up 10 half pints. A week out and we are already down one jar! Although I planned to make at least two more batches, there were still a huge amount of peaches left. So, I set out to try some different recipes. Aside from making jam, we cut and freeze peaches for smoothies and of course, nothing says summer like a freshly baked peach cobbler with a side of vanilla ice cream. This year, the Mister decided to get in on the action by whipping up a delicious peach barbecue sauce to set off some ribs. As if that were not enough, he prepared a simple syrup, pureed a few peaches with the immersion blender and created a peach lemonade. Our final stop will be peach salsa. I love a sweet salsa on barbecue nachos. Why not peach? So back to canning those peaches... It’s quite simple and takes about two and half hours of your time. Of course you want to start by cleaning and sterilizing the jars. I use pints. Although there are five of us in the house, it is important for me to plan for the picky eaters who live here. One of them would lick the rim of the sugar canister if it were allowed, while another doesn’t have an appetite for sweets at all. So I prefer to store things in small quantities to limit waste. Allow the jars to sit in boiling water while you prepare the fruit. What I normally do is bring the water to a boil, just before it gets to that point I set the clean jars in the water. The stove is turned off until I’m ready to begin filling them. Be sure you time this right. You never put hot food or liquid into cold jars, and you do not want to put cooled jars into hot water. The results could range from a cracked jar to an exploding one. I’ve experienced both. It leads to a long night. Prepare a stock pot and fill it with water. Bring it to a boil. You will use this to blanch the peaches for about 30 seconds, long enough to loosen the skin. Close by, you will need a large bowl of ice water. Using a slotted spoon remove the peaches from the boiling water and place them in the bowl to cool down and stop the cooking process. Once you are able to handle the peaches without burning yourself, lightly score the bottom so you can peel the skins away. Cut the peeled fruit in half and remove the pit. Work quickly to prepare the peaches before they begin to brown. You could sprinkle Fruit Fresh to slow down the browning, but it’s not a requirement. While you are preparing the peaches, it would be helpful to begin making the syrup. Use the chart to determine how thick you would like your liquid. I personally don’t care for an extremely sweet syrup. It’s just too much. For this recipe, I settled for light syrup. My kids claimed the peaches were better than store-bought, so they must have approved. Fill a second stock pot with the desired amount of water and sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally and being careful not to burn the sugar. You will know the syrup is almost ready when the sugar is fully dissolved. This will take 10-15 minutes. Add halved or sliced peaches, put the lid on and bring the liquid back up to temperature. Simmer for 5 minutes, Remove each jar from the hot water. I usually turn it right side up on a dish towel or mat. Fill the jars with the hot peaches and liquid, leaving a ½ inch head space. This is the distance from the rim to the top of the contents of the jar. Be sure to pack as many peaches into the jar as you can and fill it with the prepared juice. The juice should completely cover the peaches. Wipe the rims with a wet paper towel before you add a lid and band. Once the peaches have been processed they may float or even shrink a little. That’s okay. Peaches can be processed in a hot water bath for 20 minutes if you’re preparing pints. If you store them in larger quantities, you will need to process the jars for 25 minutes. Check the National Center for Home Food Preservation website for the safety regulations if you wish to use a pressure canner or want to explore other fruits or vegetables you’d like to can. Check out our blog Jarring Up The Summer to learn about what we did with over 30 pounds of Keiffer pears.
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AuthorI'm a wife, mother, daughter, educator, writer and hobby farmer. Welcome to my world of simply living. Archives
December 2023
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