Last night I headed down to Safeway and bought about 50 pounds of peaches, and this morning I canned a few of them. If you have never canned peaches before, the process is very straight forward and easy.
For this batch I used about 10 pounds of peaches and it netted me 12 pint jars.
All you really need are peaches, sugar, water and a little Fruit Fresh to prevent your peaches from browning.
The following is a recipe excerpt from the Complete Guide to Home Canning by the United States Department of Agriculture. I have added pictures and side notes for you. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have in the comment section below.
PEACHES — HALVED OR SLICED
Quantity: An average of 17 1/2 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 11 pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints. A bushel weighs 48 pounds and yields 16 to 24 quarts, which is an average of 2 1/2 pounds per quart.
Quality: Choose ripe, mature fruit of ideal quality for eating fresh or cooking.
Procedure: Dip fruit in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds until skins loosen. Dip quickly in cold water and slip off skins. Cut in half, remove pits and slice if desired. To prevent darkening, keep peeled fruit in ascorbic acid solution. Prepare and boil a very light, light, or medium syrup or pack peaches in water, apple juice, or white grape juice. Raw packs make poor quality peaches.
Sugar Syrup - 10 cups of water and 5 cups sugar. I bring it to a boil and let it simmer for 5 minutes before packing my jars with fruit, and then pouring the syrup over the peaches.
Hot pack — In a large saucepan place drained fruit in syrup and bring to boil. Fill jars with hot fruit and cooking liquid, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Place halves in layers, cut side down.
Raw pack — Fill hot jars with raw fruit, cut side down, and add syrup, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.
Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel. Adjust lids and process.
Go HERE for more FREE canning recipes
If you are new to canning {or just looking for more recipes} I highly recommend the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. Amazon has it on sale right now for $13.07 and it’s filled with 400 recipes.
And if you are looking for a canner, I used the Granite Ware 11-1/2 Quart Covered Preserving Canner with Rack
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How long did you process them for .
I processed mine for 20 minutes. It’s based on the elevation. Check the post and you’ll be able to figure out how low to process based on your elevation.
At my grocery stores, I love it when the peaches go on sale for so cheap but they’re usually hard as rocks. Can I still can those? Will the sugar sweeten them up? Or do you only use ripe peaches to can? Thank you for helping a newbie canner!
Jenn,
My Dad has orchards so I have canned alot of fruit- I would recommend that you let the peaches ripen before you can them.
Happy canning!
Mavis,
You have been so inspiring to me! I have to tell you a funny story- my Dad has orchards nearby and also grows vegetables for area vegetable stands- my daughter and I recently went there to get cherries and I am currently making cherry jam and danish cherry sauce. I took him some homemade banana bread and strawberry bread (your recipe) and some homemade jam and told him it was my payment for the cherries and a deposit for future bartering! He thought I was a bit loony but I explained that I read your blog daily (actually several times daily) and I am following your example….I am always saying “Guess what Mavis said today….and no one asks who you are because I have talked about you so much….thank you for your blog!
Awesome! I would gladly barter some of my carrots right now for some cherries! Yum Yum Yum!
Mavis, love your blog… It brightens my day. What is a good price for peaches? I never thought of buying them at the grocery store for canning? Thanks for all you do.
I think around .75 – .80 cents a lb for good ones.
Did you barter a special price on 50# of peaches at Safeway?
Interesting that they think raw pack creates a lesser quality of canned peach. I have always raw packed my canned peaches and LOVE the taste and texture. I was always afraid hot pack would cook my peaches too much and make them mushy. Maybe I should try a batch hot packed to compare – then again – why mess with what works?
I agree with CathyB, I have always raw packed my peaches and my husband raves about them. Prior to canning peaches I was freezing them in thawed frozen orange juice concentrate, but the freezing is what I think makes the peaches a bit mushy. But yes, why mess with what works?
I first saw you on cnn’s site, and I love what you’re doing. I came here and read a little more, and I must say, I am a little heart-broken that there is a “Mr. Pilgrim.” Such is life…
I wanted to comment on this post to give you another idea with peaches. If you and Mr. Pilgrim want a ‘sipping’ drink in the middle of winter, do all the regular prep work with the peaches, but put them in a jar & pour in vodka. Seal the jar the way you normally would in a bath, then leave it for a winter’s night by the fireplace. That’s it, no sugar, no other syrups, just peaches and vodka sealed up for a few months.
Good luck with this year’s harvest!
I’ll tell Mr. Pilgrim about your idea… LOL
I love this place for ideas. I am canning peached tomorrow. I tried cherry jam, made my own cherry blueberry jam recipe, and canned cherries.
I ordered the Ball canning book from Amazon and got it in 2 days! IT was awesome. I now have 50 cucumbers waiting to be transformed and a garden full of stuff.
I think I may run out of jars. BTW- TArget has them on sale today. I picked up 2 cases of the quart jars for 9.99 each
go to the general dollar store pints are $7.50 and the qts. are $8.50
I canned a bunch of peaches,but now they have turned all white….what causes that?