Choose your favorite type of peach and watch for it to come in season. All peaches were not created equal and some are great for canning, some people like one kind and some people prefer another.
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| My favorites, Lemon Elberta - these are absolutely beautiful! |
There are basically a couple things to look for. Peaches are cling or freestone. This means one will release from the pit fairly easily (freestone) and one will not (cling). Peaches can be anywhere from white to yellowish orange, to orangey red. Some are smooth and some are a little more stringy. Some are better fresh and some are great for canning. Watch for and talk to growers in your area or other canners who know where to get peaches to know when and where to get them. Peaches will be in season from late July to mid September, depending on your growing season and the variety with Mid August being the norm.
My personal favorite is Lemon Elberta, a light yellow freestone peach with a light taste and good texture for canning. When choosing peaches choose firm but not overly green peaches, larger is better as it will cut down on your work and will probably be a better quality and taste of fruit as the trees have been better thinned and cared for. You can ask for a taste when buying. A half bushel box will yield 12-14 quart jars.
When you buy firm but not mushy peaches you may be able to can them that day or within a day or two. If they are greener you may want to watch them, turn them gently and spread them out a little making sure you don't bruise or puncture them until they are ripe.
getting started
Stuff you will need:
peaches
large pot for water bath
medium pot for making syrup
small pot or kettle for boiling water/softening lids
jar lifter
water bath or steam canner
jars, lids and rings
jar funnel
sugar
measuring cup
ladle
stir spoon
wash cloths and towels
apron
fruit fresh (optional)
some big bowls
a paring knife
pasta spoon
a junk bowl for peels
plastic knife or thin long spatula
OK...
so.. I usually put my empty jars in the dishwasher beforehand to get them clean, but if you have not thats ok. Make sure your jars are clean and you can heat them up by running them through a rinse only cycle. This ensures they are clean and that you aren't working with cold jars.
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| water bath (you can see the fuzzies after a few baths) lifting out with the handy pasta scoop! |
Water Bath
On a large burner place your large pot full of hot water. Add the peaches about 6-8 at a time and let them sit in the hot but not boiling water for a minute or two. You will soon know how long to leave your peaches in there depending on the variety, how ripe they are and how hot your water is. You aren't trying to cook them, just make them warm enough to give up their furry little skins.
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| water bathed peaches in cold sink , next to the pits and peels and large bowl of sliced fruit |
Pasta scoop makes a great lifter here dropping them carefully into very cold water. This will stop the cooking and make them easier to handle.
With the paring knife slide the skin off and cut into the desired size. The skins should just about slide off at this point and as you slice your peach you will probably see the color line if you cooked it a little too long. Don't stress if you did... your going to put it in the water bath and cook it some more.
Some people like half, others like slightly smaller pieces. You can put them directly into jars or pile them up in a large bowl depending on how much help you have.
You can use wide mouth jars (which a lot of people find handy for personally arranging the peaches in organized cupping stacks) or you can use narrow mouth jars. A funnel comes in handy for not making a mess as you add the peaches to the jar.
At this points you can add fruit fresh if you get a big bowl full ensuring that the peaches won't turn an unsightly brown if you leave them in the bowl.
After the jar is about 3/4 full I place one hand over the mouth and give it a settling shake or two in order to get more peaches in the jar but not bruise them.
Hot Syrup and the Canner
While you are water bathing your peaches you can prepare the hot syrup and the water bath canner.
The syrup can be heavy or light depending on your taste and you can make it with regular white granulated sugar, honey or white grape juice.
Light syrup: 2 cups sugar 8 cups water
Heavy syrup: 4-6 cups sugar 8 cups water
Honey: 1/2 cup honey to 6 cups water, add about 1 tsp lemon to each jar
White Grape Juice: 1/2 and 1/2 water to juice
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| hot water lids and the sugar water- or syrup // filled jar with fruit and the hot syrup // filling the jar with hot syrup by ladle |
Prepare the syrup you are going to use, heating it in your medium sauce pan to very warm (should be just under a boil)
Also - fill the steamer or canner and get it heating in preparation for the jars.
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| the canner, waiting... |
Lids:
On a back burner place the lids with rubber side up covered with warm water and heat to warm. You don't want the rubber to touch the metal pan, or get too warm and break down. Keep this part very clean and sterile.
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| jars filled with fuit and hot syrup// the bottom ring line is where it should be filled too... one is a little overfull // sliding out the bubbles |
Filling the jars:
Fill the jar with fruit and set aside or fill with hot syrup to within a 1/2 inch of the top (should be just under the bottom ridged circle and just before the bottle widens, using the funnel.
Air Bubbles: Gently slide a long plastic knife or spatula down the inside of the jar loosening the peaches just enough to dislodge any air bubbles and then refill the jar to make sure all fruit is covered and the juice/fruit is within 1/2 inch of the top.
Using a very clean hot damp cloth, wipe the top of the jar and make sure there is no debris, sugar, fruit or anything around the top. You want to have a clean seal when you put the lid on.
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| carefully pulling a lid out of the hot water, I use a fork, being careful not to touch the rubber part |
Lid: With a clean fork, gently lift a lid out of the small pot (or you can boil some water in a kettle and them pour it over the lids in a bowl if you don't want it taking up space on your stovetop). Being careful to minimally touch it place it on the top of the jar with rubber side down. Screw on a ring so no juice or fruit will escape (fairly tight but not overly so) and place the fruit/syrup filled jar (should be fairly hot) on the wire rack in the canner (the water in the canner should also be hot but not boiling.
Caution!!
If you allow your jars to cool at this point, or they are a different temperature than the water bath or the water bath is already boiling like a volcano your lovely jars will make a
snapping sound and then begin to leak out the bottom and your hard work and delicious peaches will be floating in your water bath, at which point you might say Cussword or other unhappy work words and you will have to empty the whole thing and
start all over because you cannot process your peaches in a bath with a broken jar shimmying all around the bottom of the canner which will make another snapping sound and more unhappy words. (don't think you can cut a corner here because you will be tossing a lot of peaches down the disposal if you do)
So... as you work, just keep your canner at a low heat and keep filling and placing your super clean jars full of delicious peaches and sugary syrup on that wire rack until you are ready with all 7 jars loaded in. At this point you can gently lower your wire rack and make sure that there is at least 1 inch of water over your jars.
Depending on your elevation you will need to process your peaches from 20-30 minutes.
Here is a good link to check out your time:
http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/general/selecting_correct_process_time.html
Start your time at the boil, cover and get the next batch ready.
When your time is done, gently lift out the jars using your handy lifter, tipping just a tad to get the water off the top (so you don't pour any boiling water on yourself). Place the jars on a clean dry towel (not directly on a cold counter.. or .. its back to that snapping sound thing)
At this point you will probably be getting started on your next batch and then waiting for that sweet sound of the pop when the lid seals.
Let the jars cool a bit and then move them out of the way (across the kitchen is good) until they are cool all the way, usually overnight.
The next morning I take off the rings, give them a second hot soapy water bath to make sure they don't have any extra sugar or peach juice on them, and making sure they are sealed, dry them off and mark them with a sharpie so you have the year and any other information you want to document on the lid.
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| rings removed, hot soapy water to remove any residue which would cause the rings to turn black// jars in the sun |
At this point you can replace the rings or leave them off. I leave them on to keep track of them but the jar is sealed.
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| ready for having the date marked, rings back on and then off to storage! |
Store in a cool dark place and they should last for a good while!
great for breakfast, peaches and toast or yogurt
on ice cream, peach cobbler and cooked peach pie!
Other helpful links:
water bath for beginners from canning granny -
http://canninggranny.blogspot.com/p/water-bath-canning-for-beginners.html
another good how to:
http://www.frugallivingnw.com/frugal-homemaking/canning-peaches-step-by-step-guide/
and if you still want more info and some good pix:
http://www.make-it-do.com/cook-it-bake-it/the-best-way-to-can-peaches/
