Canned Summer Peaches
Capture the taste of summer all year long by canning your own summer peaches.
Peaches are one of my favorite summer fruits. I look forward to the peach season all year, and I’m so sad to see it go. But this year, I decided to rectify the situation and give canning my own peaches a try.
Growing up, my family always canned their own peaches, more out of necessity than anything else. It was a way for us to have delicious fruit throughout the winter without having to spend extra on fresh produce in the store. Most late summers were spent helping in the kitchen, canning various fruits and vegetables. It wasn't the easiest task to do when it was hot outside, but it was necessary to bulk up our winter pantry. Among all the different produce that we would preserve, peaches were always my favorite. I loved how I could enjoy my favorite summer fruit all over again by simply opening a jar—it was positively magical.
Peaches
17 lbs fresh yellow peaches
3 cups granulated sugar
6 cups filtered water
2 cinnamon sticks
Equipment
7 wide mouth quart mason jars with lids and rings
Clean kitchen towels
Water Canner
Jar grabber or tongs
Lid Magnet
Jar funnel
Ladle
Butter knife
Sterilizing the jars, rings and lids:
Place your mason jars into your water canner and cover them with water, making sure you fill the inside of the jar so they don’t float and are fully submerged. Place the lid on your canner and set on the stove on high heat. Once your water is at a full boil, set a timer for 15 minutes. After the time is up, turn off the heat and carefully remove your jars from the hot water. Pick up the jars with your jar grabber or a pair of tongs and carefully dump out the water, place your sterilized jars onto a clean kitchen towel to dry.
Leave the water in the canner, you can use it later to can the peaches. Just put the lid on the canner and leave on low heat to keep the water warm. That way it won’t take as long to get it boiling again.
In a small pot, place your rings and lids. Fill the pot with water so everything is completely submerged. Set on high heat and boil. Once boiling, leave for 5 minutes and then turn off the heat. Leave the rings and lids in the hot water until you are ready to use them. The warm water will keep the rubber gasket on the lids lubricated so it has a chance to create a better seal on the jar.
Making the sugar syrup:
In a large pot combine your granulated sugar, filtered water and the cinnamon sticks. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved and set your pot on medium low heat on the stove. Gently cook your sugar syrup until it starts to simmer and your sugar is completely incorporated into the water. The syrup should be slightly thickened but still watery. Once cooked, take the pot off the heat and top with a lid. Now it’s time to prep your peaches!
Prepping the peaches:
Wash your peaches by running them under cool water and gently scrub the fuzzy with your hands. This will dislodge any dirt trapped within the peach fuzz. Lay your washed peaches on a clean kitchen towel.
Prepare a large pot with water and set to high heat.
While you’re waiting for your water to boil, fill another large tub or pot halfway with cold water. Add at least two cups worth of ice to create an ice bath.
Once the water is boiling, place your peaches in batches into the boiling water and leave them for only 30 seconds. Promptly remove them with a slotted spoon and place them in the ice bath immediately, this will stop the peaches from cooking. Depending on the size of your ice bath, you might have to blanch the peaches in batches.
After you blanch and ice your peaches you can easily peel the skins off. Just take a paring knife to lift some of the skin off and the rest should just slide right off. Cut your peaches into halves to remove the pit. You either leave them in halves or can cut them into wedges depending on your preference. Once cut into your desired shape, place the peaches into the sugar syrup you put aside earlier. Repeat this process until all the peaches are sliced and in the syrup. When I’m cutting my peaches, I will cut them over the pot. That way I don’t lose any juice and it helps to flavor my syrup.
When all your peaches are in the syrup, place the pot back on the stove and turn on low heat. You want to gently warm the peaches and simmer them in the syrup before packing into the jars. Just have them on the heat until they feel warm, after that you're ready to pack the jars.
Packing the jars:
Take your sterilized jar and your syrupy peaches, pack the jars by layering the peaches. When layering the peaches, you want to make sure they are tightly packed without squishing them down. As long as there are minimal gaps in between the peaches it should be alright. Pack the jar until you’re about ½ inch from the top. This is called headspace and it’s to leave room for the peaches to expand in the jar. If you don’t leave enough space, you might get juice leaking from the jar and you won’t get a tight seal on the lid.
Continue packing the peaches into the jars until all the jars are packed full of peaches. Place your jar funnel on top of the jar and fill each jar with sweet syrup, making sure you still have a headspace in the jar. Gently tap the bottom of the jar to the table to help pack down the peaches and to see if you need a little more syrup, sometimes those pesky air pockets can be deceiving. You may need to top off the jar with a bit more syrup. Don’t worry if you don’t use all the syrup, depending on the size of your peaches you may not need it all. But don’t throw it away! You can easily cook down the syrup further to use in cocktails or even iced tea.
Once you feel that the jars are filled enough, take a butter knife and run it gently around the jar to try to release some more air pockets. The more air you can get out of the jars the better, just be careful not to mush your peaches in the process.
When all your jars are filled, take a wet paper towel or washcloth and wipe the lip of the jar to clean off any sugar syrup that may have dripped. Use a lid magnet to place the lids on each jar taking care not to touch the inside of the lid. If you touch the inside of the lid it will no longer be sterile for the jar. Fasten each lid with a ring, making sure not to over tighten. You just need it tight enough to keep the lid in place and secure until the jar gets sealed. Now that the jars are ready, let’s get them sealed!
Sealing the jars:
Remember the water canner we left on low? Well, it’s time to use it.
Check the height of the water in the canner, if it’s still over half or half full empty some of the water out with a small pot. You want to make sure the water level isn’t too high for when you put the jars in the water bath.
Fasten the rack that comes with the water canner to the sides of the pot and carefully load your jars onto it. I load in two jars at a time and I make sure the jars are facing each other on opposing sides of the rack. That the rack doesn’t get too heavy to one side and there’s a counter balance of weight. If you don’t make sure that the rack is balanced the rack could fall off the pot and splash into the water canner. Believe me, you don’t want that to happen, it's such a mess. If you properly balance the rack, all the jars should fit perfectly on the rack and the last jar should go in the middle.
Once the rack is loaded you can lower the entire rack into the water bath. Make sure the water covers the tops of the jars by at least an inch or two of water. Set the stove to high heat, put the lid back on the canner and wait for the water to boil. When the water is at a rolling and vigorous boil, set a timer for 20 minutes. While waiting for your jars to be done you can set up a station for the jars to cool. I usually set up a spot on my counter or bring an extra folding table into my kitchen. I then put down a layer of clean kitchen towels down so the hot jars don’t scorch my table or countertop.
After 20 minutes have passed your peaches have been processed. Turn off the heat and carefully lift the jars out of the water bath using a jar grabber. Tip off any excess water that has accumulated on top of the jar, be careful to not touch the lid. It will be slightly puffed out and that’s ok, it’s just the hot air in the jar that helps create the seal.
Leave your jars to cool at your designated cooling station that you previously set up. As the jars cool you will hear popping sounds and that’s the glorious sound of the jar lid sealing shut.
Cool your jars completely before dating and storing them in a cool dark place such as a cellar or even a pantry cabinet. A sealed jar of peaches will keep for 12-18 months if processed correctly. Enjoy your homemade canned peaches!
*Notes:
When selecting your peaches for canning, it is important to know there are two different kinds Freestone and Cling peaches. Freestones are easier to peel and to pit because the fruit comes off very easily. Cling peaches are much harder to clean and pit, honestly they are a major pain. Just make sure you get Freestone peaches, if you’re not sure just ask your grocer or farmer.
It is important that none of your peaches have any bruises or blemishes. They must be a fresh and nicely ripened peach, not too ripe and not too unripe.
Do not use white peaches for canning. Canned peaches must be yellow because the white peaches can not hold up during the canning process.
If for some reason a jar doesn’t seal you will have to store them in the fridge and they will have to be consumed in a timely fashion. Some people will reprocess the jars that haven’t sealed but I don’t like doing that with peaches. I feel like they get a tad bit too cooked and become slightly mushy.
When canning you have to make sure that you’re using a fresh lid. If you overuse the lids you could risk not having the jar seal properly.