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July 12, 2012

Canning Peaches



It's finally peach season again!  Beautiful, glorious peaches!

Last year, we had a huge shortage of peaches and we got very few put away in the freezer.  This year, the Lord has blessed us beyond words with the amount of peaches there are available.  

I'm not an expert on peaches, I didn't know one variety from the other until this season.  Now I am very familiar with Redhavens and I can tell you that these are the best that I have ever worked with.  They are extremely easy to peel and pit.

In the previous years, the easiest thing I found to preserve peaches was to peel and slice them and then plop them into freezer bags.  Easy, right?  Yes it is, however, since we are raising our own beef, or freezer space is extremely valuable and I've had a hankering (yes that's a word here in the Ozarks) to be able to open a jar of sweet peaches for dinner this winter.

So here's what I did.  It's ALMOST as easy as the freezer method.

Peel, pit and slice your peaches into your clean quart jars.  Fill your jars with peach slices about 2/3 of the way full.  Add 1/3 cup of sugar to each jar.  You may want it less sweet, but I went with 1/3 cup of sugar this year.  Finishing filling your jars just to the shoulders with sliced peaches.  Every once in a while, tap your jars on the counter gently to adjust the peaches on down.  Then fill your jars with water about up to the neck of the jar.  Wipe the rims and put on your lids.  Process them in a hot water bath for about 20 minutes and your done!  Disclaimer:  The Ball Canning book states to cook them for 30 minutes.  They tend to turn to mush if you do.  Here is another article on canning PEACHES where I got this method from.

Here is my result, the picture isn't that great, but it'll give you the idea....


After you finish enjoying a jar of these peaches, be sure to save the juice/syrup for delicious smoothies!

If you find yourself with a large surplus of peaches that are beginning to get soft and you can't get to them right away, a dear friend of mine told me her method of saving them.  Bag up the peaches and put them in the freezer.  Later when you have time, let them thaw just a bit and rub off the peels.  Then pit the peaches and put them in your blender.  Puree them and pour them into ice cube trays to use for smoothies later!  YUM!

For those of you who have been asking me where I've been, I apologize for being so scarce these days. Our area has had a terrible heat wave and drought.  Between keeping everything watered and general work here on the homestead, I've barely had time to get on this electric box.  Thankfully we've had a bit of rain this week.  Prayers for rain in our area would be much appreciated!

Next in line for the season will be different recipes for canning and preserving tomatoes.  They are just beginning to roll in, and I'll be sure to share those recipes with you too.

Until then, may you and your family be blessed and Happy Canning!

Also be sure to see how to can PEACH BUTTER and SPICED PEACH BUTTER!



27 comments:

  1. Beautiful! I have been canning and drying peaches, cherries and apricots all week. Hard work, but so nice to have on those cold winter days.

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    Replies
    1. Have you been drying cherries? If so, do you dry them like you would any other fruit?

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  2. Wonderful post! We are suffering from the same drought conditions here in North Missouri and will pray for us all to get some rain and cooler temperatures : )

    CQ

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    Replies
    1. Are you all having trouble finding feed? I have to say it took us two days to get it here, we couldn't even get up to the docks due to all the 18 wheelers loading up for Arkansas.

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  3. Yum..your pictures make my mouth water..I love peaches! Thanks for sharing this easy canning method.
    Sorry about your drought..we had that last year. This year, as of right now, we are having flash flooding. How weird is that?

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    Replies
    1. This weather is all over the charts for sure. Nothing surprising though, just working through it one day at a time with much prayer.

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  4. Sharon,

    I know where I can pickup some really great looking peaches already canned too! All kidding aside, the peaches look delicious. I truly hope ya'll get some long deserved rain. Lord knows we need it too.
    Have a great day!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Sandy, I've never lived through a drought like this. I know others have all around us, but it's impossible to get hay these days and the feed is disappearing quick too. It's all a bit alarming.

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  5. I haven't done peaches yet but will probably do it this next week. I did can apricots and was "tempted" by them. Sorry to hear of the drought but here in Washington state we have had an ample supply of rain. Thankfully, Yehovah now has given us sunshine and the garden is perking up! Yahoo. Prayers that rain will come not in bunches but just enough to keep this watered for you. Nothing like good rain to water things, nice a warm and a lot better than sprinkler water. Blessings!!! Lil

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    Replies
    1. Apricots sound delicious! Do you can them the same basic way as peaches?

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  6. Could you ad some prayers for us to get rain. We have been watering the garden, but everything else is brown and crunchy

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    Replies
    1. That's the way ours is Debbie, our garden is green and flourishing (for the most part), but everything else is dry and crunchy. We were blessed with a small amount of rain last week. The forecast isn't pretty though, no more rain for another two weeks and it's been in the mid 90s here.

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  7. How long have you been canning peaches this way? I've been doing it for a number of years and have always processed them for about 20 mins for quarts. I was wondering if 10 mins was ample time of processing for food safety purposes. This seems so much easier, but, I want to make sure its safe. Thanks for the post.

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    Replies
    1. THANK YOU for bringing this to my attention! 20 minutes is the correct time and I am very grateful you brought my attention to that so I could get it corrected in this post.

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  8. When we can peaches, we blanch them first instead of peeling. Just cut in half and pit then throw them in boiling water for a min or so till the skin starts to slip. The skin pulls right off and it is so much faster then peeling. We also boil the syrup and pour into the jars. Then place in hot water bath for 15 min. The syrup is hot already and the peaches are hot and 15 min is all it takes. Never had any spoil or open.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for pointing that out Beth, blanching them does make it much easier to peel them. Sometimes I get ahead of myself and include a whole process in one word such as "peel", and skip over what exactly is included in that term. After doing something for several years, one forgets to put in the much needed detail!

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  9. I have never canned anything in my life, however, I am wanting to learn. I love peaches so I have a couple of questions for anyone that has the answer. The hot water bath, is that placing the jar of peaches inside of a pot of water brought to a boil? And if yes do you put the lid on them while in the water or after you take them out?
    Will be praying for rain in your area. Here in WV we have too much rain. Our rivers are almost over filled.

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    Replies
    1. A hot water bath refers to using a large canning pot with a rack in it, putting your jars inside of it, bringing it to a boil and boiling for the recommended time. Yes, put the lid on while processing. Once your time is up, remove your jars and place on towels or cooling racks until they cool completely.

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    2. Do you fill the pot with water or only a little bit? Sorry, never done canning either but I really want to. I've been buying peaches for like forever and now wishing I had kept all the jars. ;-) Thanks!! :)

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    3. Fill the pot until your jars are covered with 1" of water to ensure an even temperature around your jars including the tops.

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  10. Do you use fruit fresh or citric acid or anything to keep the color pretty?

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    Replies
    1. Honestly, I don't use anything but what I've detailed. Our peaches stay pretty nice looking.

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  11. Sharon, thanks for sharing this. I completed a batch of peaches using your directions this past weekend and they look beautiful!!! I was worried about the sugar that seemed to have settled at the bottom of my jars when I finished processing, however, it has blended nicely into the juice. Now, my only concern is that my peaches are "floating". Is this a result of possibly not packing tight enough?
    Stacey

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I believe floating peaches is the result from not packing them tightly. I don't can peaches whole or in halves for that reason, I slice them first so I can pack them tighter. Even doing it that way, I'll still get some that have more room in the bottom after processing them. So glad you tried it this way! You will LOVE eating them during the cold winter months!! Don't forget, when your jars are empty of peaches, use the leftover juice for smoothies!

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  12. Looks delicious! I would love to feature this recipe (and your spiced peach butter) in a roundup on one of my sites. I'd use one of the pics in a collage and link back to both recipes.

    Thanks!

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  13. If using pint jars, would you use 1/2 the sugar or leave it the same?

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  14. I attempted this recipe last night. I am a rookie canner and was impressed how quick and easy a case of peaches was to can. I noticed this morning that some sugar has settled to the bottom. From the previous post that I read the sugar should mix in. Out of curiosity how long before the peaches are ready to be used?

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