Soon, summer will be gone and so will the sweet flavor of the fruits.
In order to savor those wonderful flavors all year long you can can them.
I've shown you how easy it is to turn fruit into jam. If you missed it, you can find it by clicking on here.
Some of you may not like jam or you have already mastered the art of canning jam. So, it's time to move on to other things.
Today, I'm going to show you how easy it is to can the fruit directly. Yes, it's even easier then making jam.
First you need decide how many jars of peaches you want to can. I had purchased a case at Costco. I forget how many are in there. I think maybe about 15 or so.
Peel the peaches and slice them however you like. You can cut them in 1/2 if you like but I like my peaches in slices.
Make sure you remove the skin on all the peaches and remove the pit.
You then need to make a syrup. I found a heavy syrup is what I like.
For a heavy syrup you use:
4 3/4 cups of sugar
4 cups of water
Then bring it to a boil. Once it is boiling, add your peaches. Stir and bring back to a boil. Once you have a boil with the peaches, you are ready to can them.
Remove the hot peaches from the stove. Pour into your prepared hot jars. Seal and put it a water bath for 25 mins. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
That's it! Now you have fresh peaches to enjoy all year long.
I've linked up on the Canning Week. Go here to see other yummy canning recipes.
Your peaches look yummy. I canned a few pints over the week-end. The best peaches are to be had in my area at the end of August or early September. Can't wait! v
ReplyDeleteWhen I do peaches, sometimes I just pour in 1/4-1/2 c sugar to water already in a quart jar, and stir it. It makes an instant "syrup," and allows me to know how much sugar is in each jar if I'm counting calories or paying attention to amounts of sugar/fat in my diet.
ReplyDeleteAnd I just mentioned on a pear canning post (including pickles & pineapple) that I throw in a vitamin C tablet per pint or quart; this replaces the need for lemon-water, and I often seem to have Vitamin C in abundance, sometimes just barely expired, so an easy way to re-purpose it.
Kimberly, please be careful because the latest recommendations do not approve of using a vitamin C. Also, it's very important to follow canning guide lines and to heat up the syrup first.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do know that many people still follow the old canning ways that they learned years ago. They always have and always will.
I just don't want any new canners to learn that way. Todays practices are much safer.
Interesting. I haven't canned for about 5 years due to a new baby and a 1500 mile move, but today peaches are down to 50 c a lb, and they won't go lower unless I make it to a farmer's market. So I hope to buy one today and check that it's not a cling-peach, and then get a whole bunch and can them.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't aware that practices have changed; can you tell me why the syrup needs to be heated? I've never had any issue before w/ my peaches. And do you know why the vitamin C is being disregarded? Where do I find these latest recommendations, and learn what about them are much safer?
Knowledge is power, and so once I know why, it makes all the difference.
If I need to use lemon water, what ratio do you use, or is recommended, of lemon juice to water, and do you soak the peaches first, or make the lemon water the water used in cooking the syrup? And how long do you heat the syrup? Just microwave warm, or boiling and then a simmer?
Thanks for such a prompt comment to alert me that things have changed. They probably had 6-10 years ago as well, and I just went off of what a friend taught me.
Today we have a lot more illnesses that have been caused by botilsm due to things in our soil. So we need to make sure everything is heated high enough and long enough to kill all possible spores that can cause sickness or worse.
ReplyDeleteYou can go to Ball Cannings web site or I go to a facebook page where the owner, Cindy, is a certified master preserver and will only give the latest and safest ways/recipes to can. You can find her blog by going here:
http://www.sbcanning.com/ and from there you can click on her facebook page if you like :)
When I am cutting up my fruit (any kind) I just keep a bowl of water and about 1/4 cup of bottled lemon water next to me. I put the fruit in there until I'm finished then take the fruit out of there and put it in the hot syrup.
You just need to heat the syrup up to a boil which should be around 212 degrees.
I find that by putting the fruit in they syrup for a few minutes helps the fruit from floating to the top of the jars when you can them. It allows the fruit to soak up the syrup and get rid of the air pockes in the fruit so they don't float.
Canning is so much fun but it's also needs to follow the safey recommendations so no one gets sick or your food go bad.
Enjoy!
I assume that you mean botulism.
ReplyDeleteWill check out the link; since I haven't bought new jars in years, I haven't seen the newer recommendations, I guess.
You're saying you buy bottled lemon-water? (Not can it or something)
Sitting the peaches in syrup sounds like a good idea if it helps with the air bubbles and keeping the fruit from floating to the top as much. Thank you for all your prompt advice. I appreciate it greatly.
In that past, I assumed that the hot water bath was what killed any possible things like botulism bacteria.
So, do you blanch your pears or just peel them raw?
Here's one little preference of mine when I do can; I like open-mouthed jars. Even when I have my little funnel that helps slip things in, I personally like to be able to use my hand if need be, like if I am arranging fruit to be more pleasing to the eye (clearly, haven't been doing that in a hot syrup solution!). Just a funny little quirk of mine.