10 Easy Steps to Delicious Canned Peaches

10 Easy Steps to Delicious Canned Peaches

Supplies

Fresh peaches, form but not hard or mushy

Two large pot

Sugar

Pre-washed and sterilized 1 quart jars and lids (about 11-12)

Funnel

Water bath canner with lifting rack

Fresh Fruit Powder (Citric Acid & Vitamin C) OR Lemon juice

Step 1

Inspect your peaches and make sure they are firm, but not hard or mushy. If they are hard, you can put the peaches in a brown paper bag for a day or two and they will soften up.

Step 2

Prepare your syrup for the jars. In one of the large pots, for light syrup, combine 2 cups sugar and six cups water. Add sugar slowly, stirring constantly to dissolve. Bring to a gentle boil and keep it simmering. For Medium syrup, use 3 cups sugar and 6 cups water. For heavy syrup, use 4 cups sugar and 6 cups of water.

Step 3

Wash the peaches in water in the sink and put into a colander.

Step 4

Bring another pot of water to a boil. Put peaches in the water for one minute. Remove from boiling water and put into a large bowl or pot of cold water and ice for several minutes. This will help make it very easy to peel the peaches.

Step 5

Peel the peaches and cut out any brown spots or mushy areas. Cut the peaches in half, quarters, or slices. Make sure to remove the pits and scoop out the red center where the pit was.

Step 6

Put peaches into a bowl. Sprinkle 1/4 cup Fruit Fresh Powder or 1/4 cup lemon juice. Stir peaches to coat.

Step 7

Put sliced peaches into boiling pot of syrup for about 5 minutes. This is called "The Hot Packed Method." Doing this will make the peaches less likely to float in the jars, will reduce bubbles, and will produce brighter colored fruit in the jar.

Step 8

Fill the sterilized jars with the peaches making sure to leave 1/2 inch space from the top. When the jar is filled, use a ladle to fill the jars with the prepared syrup. Make sure to leave 1/2 inch at the top. Next, tilt the jar slightly and run a table knife or rubber spatula between the peaches in the jar to release any trapped air bubbles.

Step 9

Screw the lids onto the jars. Make sure to screw them on tightly, evenly and firmly. Do not overtighten.

Step 10

Put jars into the water bath pot. Make sure the tops of the jars are covered with at least one inch of water. Process or boil jars for 20 minutes, but no more than 30 minutes.

After the jars have been processed for 20 minutes, lift the jars out of the water and let them cool overnight on hand towels on top of your counter. Once cool, check the jars to make sure the lids have been sucked down. To check, just press gently in the center with your finger. If it pops up and down, it is NOT sealed. If not sealed, replace with a new lid and reprocess the jar while it is still hot in the canner.

Canning Facts----It will take about 5 peaches to fill a one quart jar. About 7 1/2 pounds of peaches are needed to fill a canner of 7 quarts. A bushel weighs about 48 pounds and yields 16-24 quarts.