Have you always wanted to can your own peaches? It really is not too difficult and you CAN do it. Today I am sharing with you a simple tutorial to teach you How to Can Peaches!
It has been a busy week in the kitchen around here! Canning is a bit of work, but can be quite fun, especially with a friend. In my case, my mom and sisters came over and we spent an afternoon making these lovelies! Bottled peaches are a little more involved than freezer jam and you need a water bath canner. But they really are not that difficult, especially if you have someone there helping you.
Here is the step by step process: (Read through all directions before starting).
**You should be able to fit about 4 to 5 peaches per quart size canning jar, depending on the size of your peaches. Peaches should be ripe, but not over-ripe and bruised.
1. Sterilize your wide-mouth canning jars in the dishwasher before beginning your peaches. Wash off your peaches and set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of water (half full) to a boil. Then set up a large bowl of ice water near your boiling water pot. Immerse a few peaches in your boiling water for 30 seconds. Quickly remove them with a large, slotted serving spoon. Immediately tranfer peaches and immerse into your bowl of ice water to quickly cool them. Leave peaches in the cool water for about 1 minute. Remove peaches and set aside on the counter top.
3. Prepare the syrup for bottling your peaches. You can choose from three different consistencies: light, medium or heavy syrup.
light: 1 and 2/3 cup sugar to 4 cups of water
medium: 2 and 2/3 cup sugar to 4 cups of water
heavy: 4 cups sugar to 4 cups of water
Mix together your water and sugar in a pot on the stove and bring to a boil over medium heat.
4. Peel, halve and pit peaches that have been plunged into the boiling and ice baths. Soak the halved peaches in an ascorbic acid solution. To make the ascorbic acid solution you need to mix 8 cups of water with 3 Tablespoon of Fruit Fresh or Citric Acid. Fruit fresh can be found near the canning supplies in most grocery stores.
5. Let the peaches soak fully immersed for a few minutes in your ascorbic acid solution. The ascorbic acid solution will prevent your peaches from turning brown.
6. Fill each jar by placing the cut sides of the peaches down and towards the middle of the jars. Fill the jar with as many peach halves as possible, but be careful not to squish them.
7. Fill the jar with your prepared syrup. Carefully stick a butter knife into the sides of the jar to remove excess air bubbles. Leave a 1/2 inch headspace at the top of the jar.
8. Place lids and rings on your jars and place filled jars into a boiling water bath. Make sure that the water covers the tops of the jars when the rack is lowered into the pot. Boil and process for 25 minutes for quart size jars or 20 minutes if you are using pint sized jars.
9. After 25 minutes remove jars from boiling bath and set on a towel to cool. Do not move until the jars have sealed. You should hear a light popping sound as the lid seals. If a jar does not seal (you can tell by pushing on the lid), you can reprocess the jar, or just put it in your fridge and eat within a few days.
The best part of canning is seeing all your beautiful hard work lined up on your storage room shelf, and eating summery peaches in the middle of winter isn’t so bad either! Anyone have any great recipes that call for bottled peaches?
**Our peaches were so large this time, we actually cut them into quarters. But cutting them is half is better. The bigger the piece of fruit, the firmer and less mushy it will become!
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Favors With Love says
Awesome! This goes perfect with the peach cobbler recipe I just posted over at my blog.
http://favorswithlove.blogspot.com/2009/09/i-peach-cobbler-recipe.html
Thank you for sharing! Great photos BTW.
They look gorgeous. Even only for the colours alone it would be nice to make them and place them on a shelve :-)
Thanks for the instructions. Now if I can only find some good ripe peaches. Have a blessed day!!
I too just found your blog last week and I've visited everyday since! Your photography is awesome and I love seeing what you are up to!! Can you share some photography tips with us? I would love to know how your pictures turn out so gorgeous….magazine quality! I love your blog!
I'm the Mom of these three incredible daughters. What a great way to spend an afternoon. Even I am impressed with the results. Amassing pictures.
That's funny, I just got done canning peaches on Monday for the first time with my sister and my Mom as well. Good times.
Those look amazing. Off the subject, I was wondering if you have a system for paying/storing bills? I would love to get some ideas of how to do that better. If that is too personal or you don't have any tips, that's fine, I was just curious. Love your blog!!
What type of camera do you have? Do you use a special lense? I canned peaches last night!
Ugh! I bet those are yummy Utah peaches too! I am so jealous! I need to make some canning friends when I get to Texas!!
Those peaches are so beautiful, and you are right the best thing is seeing them on the shelf!
I just love the quality of your photos.
I have a great peach pie filling recipe that I posted a while back. Check it out if you get a second. http://gardner-family-times.blogspot.com/2009/08/harvest-time-is-here.html
Thanks for the wonderful memories. It's been a while since I canned anything. I remember my mom and I doing the same thing with peaches. YUM!
We just did this a couple weeks ago!
I've always wanted to try this, now I have no excuse not to! Thanks for sharing!
Hi there, I just discovered your blog and I must say, your pictures are BEAUTIFUL! May I ask what kind of camera you use? (saw the other comment, guess I'm not alonge!) I'm in desperate need of a new one for my craft blog and pictures of the kiddo. Thanks so much!
I am canning peaches in the morning! My husband is talking me into it and my kids love them(a neighbor gave us a bottle that she just canned). I haven't been a big canner til now and am loving the accomplished feeling you get when you are done (the results are usually very yummy too)
I was just wondering, how many quarts does the syrup do?
Thanks for sharing, I agreed only after seeing how easy it looked on your blog. Step by step instruction….thanks!!!!
I'm so glad I found your site 2 weeks ago. I have now canned a table full of peaches, pears, apple pie filling, and applesauce. I can't wait for next summer so I can do it all over again!!! Your beautiful pictures inspired me and your directions sustained me. :)
The peaches look lovely and seems so easy to do. I'm going to try your recipe! Thanks.
Yes to all of the previous comments! Great pictures, great blog! Have you experimented canning peaches, apricots etc with either pear juice, water or stevia instead of all that sugar?
i have for the first time grown peaches on my allotment and im going to bottle the harvest, im a bit concerned about problems with boiling the jars containing the peaches after the bottleing process { worried they might break] is it absolutely nesesary to boil the jars at this stage or is it sufficiant to have them stand in boiling water for the required time, i would be gratefull for any advice.
Hi! I have a quick question. I just made these and my jars have a lot of white bubbles in them. Is this normal? Will they dissipate, or did I do something wrong?
Sometimes bubbles happen. It should not be a big deal if the lids are sealed properly. I think the peaches tend to get more bubbles in them since they have the large u shape in them and can trap air easily. Next time you could try to use a butter knife to try and get more of the air out before sealing.
Hi I was wondering how long would the peaches last? What’s the expiration date?
They should last a few years if keep in a cool place and they have been sealed properly.
Looks lovely! However, I would highly recommend skipping the metal butter knife and switch to plastic, silicone or wood. Personally, I use a chopstick and that works great. The metal on glass, especially hot glass, can leave minute scratches on the inside of the jar. Over time, and after multiple re-uses, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of those jars broke mid-processing. Plus, those scratches are breeding grounds for bacteria. Just a thought!
Great tip Christina! I will for sure make that a part of our process!
How many peaches is this recipe for?