How to Can Fresh Peaches - with tutorial!

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For as far back as I can remember, canned peaches have been a weekly staple in our house. From having as a fruit on top of cottage cheese, to on the side of your lunches, dinners, or even as a snack. My kids LOVE them. I remember it being a right of passage to know who had the better deal on peaches that week. It always came down to Target or Giant. Sometimes Weis would beat them both out for the week. And when those magical 10/$10 sales would come, I bought 4-8 cans at a time. It certainly beat paying $1.25-$1.39 per can after the sale.

And all those years, I was also canning our own jellies {including peach jam!!} and preserving our own tomatoes and green beans. I’m actually a little embarrassed to admit that it never dawned on me that maybe buying peaches in bulk would help save us money in the long run. Until three years ago. And it didn’t start because of our budget.

It started when I had pinpointed what triggers my Monkey’s migraines. We already knew I had allergies to food preservatives, and we were pretty good about avoiding foods that had triggered reactions for me in the past, but Monkey’s migraines were a whole new territory for me. And as I was standing in aisle after aisle in the grocery store, reading food label after food label, I realized something. I was going through an alarming amount of canned peaches each and every week, and a very miniscule amount of the cans on the shelves contained peaches grown here in the United States. None. Where were they grown? China

And that got me thinking… what are they spraying on the peaches that are then being canned and shipped to my stores, for me to buy and consume, and feed to my kids!? Nope. I made the decision then and there, that even if they were more expensive per can, that I would start canning our own peaches because they were grown locally, by people we know, and that I could ask about their farming practices.

And that’s what I’ve done ever since. While I may still be new to canning peaches, I can tell you that fresh canned local peaches are preferred by our family over store bought. And that’s more than enough approval for me!

What You’ll Need:

Here’s a list of what you’ll need for canning your own sliced peaches.

Peaches
Large bowl* to wash them in
Cutting Board
Knife
Water Bath Canning Kit — I’ve had this one* for the last 6 years. It holds up to 7 quarts, or 9 pints, and is a breeze to use. Plus, it comes with other items you’ll need, like the headspace tool, jar lifter and a funnel, without having to purchase them separately.
Canning Jars with Lids and Rings*
Fruit Fresh*
Large stock pot {I use my 12qt pot*}
Small stock pot {I use my 6qt pot*}
Sugar
Water
Ladle
Damp cloth for wiping down the ring of the jar
Towels

Get Your Peaches

If you’ve got your own peach trees, or access to peach trees, then this should be a breeze for you! I don’t have any peach trees, so when peach season comes I have to get mine from a local orchard or the local you pick farms. I stay away from farmers markets because they have been known to be more expensive when buying in bulk than from getting it straight from the orchard. That being said, I know my in-laws have had success with driving to a flea market a few towns away, and getting some excellent deals on fruit. As for price, I pay between $30-$32 for a bushel {about 50 pounds} of peaches.

I don’t like to do more than bushel at a time because unless you have more hands and are running more than one canner, it makes it difficult to keep up. Unlike apples, peaches tend to ripen really fast, and can turn moldy on you if you can’t keep up.

Wash & Peel those Peaches!

Before I get started, I wash my peaches in the large bowl*. Not only does it remove dirt, bugs, and anything else that may be on the peaches, but it also takes off their fuzz. Peeling peaches is so much more enjoyable when I’m not battling with fuzz everywhere.

Now there’s two ways you could peel your peaches. For the last two years, I’ve been a fan of blanching them, but this year Hubs got me into a different method. I’ll get to that a bit later.

Blanching

If you opt to blanche your peaches, you’ll want to bring a pot of water to a gentle simmer while you wash them. I like to use my huge stock pot* for this. It’s the same one that I cook our applesauce in, or make our homemade chicken broth in.

After the peaches have been washed, I score a small ‘x’ in the bottom of the peach, and drop it into the simmering pot.

While your peaches are in their hot tub, refill your large bowl* you washed your peaches in with some ice cold water.

Within few minutes later, you’ll see the peel starting to pull away from the peach where you scored it. The peach is ready to be taken out of the simmering water, and dunked into ice cold water in your big bowl.

I like to let them sit in the cold water for about 5 minutes before I take them out and let them finish cooling on a towel.

After they’ve cooled, their peels will easily peel off.

Without Blanching

This past year, Hubs mentioned that if the peaches are really ripe, the peel will slip right off. Since I had been so used to blancing them the last few years, I thought he was going about peeling them the slow way. The honest truth of it is, blanching peaches was just as fast as Hubs’ method.

In order to peel them this way, you still need to wash your peaches. Like I said before, it just makes it so much easier when you’re not dealing with a ton of fuzz.

Slice your peaches in half. I like to use the natural dimple in the fruit as a guideline.

Gently twist you peach to split into two halves.

Starting from where the stem was, gently peel the skin off of the peach.

Like I mentioned earlier, this method didn’t take any more or less time than blanching from start to finish, and we went through the same amount of peaches doing both methods. But the peaches had to be ready-to-eat ripe in order for this to work. Personally, I can see this being my go-to method on those really hot and humid days, when standing over a canner is tedious enough.

Pit, Slice and Store

After you’ve peeled them, you want to remove the pit and slice them. I’ve left them as halves, and I’ve sliced them. It’s up to you and your preference.

You will want to store the peaches in a citric acid solution to prevent them from oxidizing (turning brown) as you peel and prep enough peaches to run a canner load. I use a 12 quart plastic container we have on hand with a quart of water and 4 teaspoons of fruit fresh*.

I know I’ve gotten enough peaches for a canner load when the liquid and peaches fill the entire container.

Make The Syrup

I like my peaches canned as close to “in the juice” or “in water” as I can get. So I make an ultra-light simple syrup to store them in while they’re in storage.

In a smaller stock pot {I use my 6qt pot for this}, place 3 cups sugar and 11 & 1/2 cups water. Bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring to make sure all the sugar dissolves. This will give you approximately 12 cups of syrup, or enough for about 8 quart jars.

Can Your Peaches

As your syrup is prepping, you’ll want to prep your canner and jars too. Fill you canner with water and bring it to a boil. Wash your jars, lids and rings in hot soapy water. Fill the jars with boiling water and sit on the rack in your canner, allowing it to remain hot until you’re ready to fill them with peaches and syrup. Place your lids in a bowl of hot water to help soften the seals. Lately, this isn’t a necessary step, but I think it helps the lid seal a little easier.

Working one jar at a time, place your peach slices {or halves} in the jars pit side down, overlapping until there is only 1/2″ headspace. Headspace is the distance between the rim of the jar and the top of the peaches.

Using your ladel and funnel, slowly poor syrup into the jar over top of the peaches. Run the headspace tool between the jar edge and the peaches to help coax out any bubbles. Top off the jar with syrup, leaving 1/2″ headspace.

Wipe the rim of the jar with a damp cloth. It makes sure that there is nothing that will allow the seal to fail. Use the magnetic lid lifter to top the jars with lids. Add the ring, and tighten down until it’s finger-tip tight.

Add your jar to the canner, and repeat with the remaining jars.

Once all the jars are filled, lower your canning rack into the canner. Put the lid on the canner, and bring to a full rolling boil. Process pints for 25 minutes and quarts for 30 minutes.

{If you are above 1,000 feet in elevation, be sure to adjust your processing time for your altitude. To adjust your processing time, you increase the time by 5 minutes if you are between 1,000 & 3,000 feet, by 10 minutes if you’re between 3,000 & 6,000 feet, and by 15 minutes if you live above 6,000 feet. This helps to compensate for the difference in boiling temperatures and air pressures at higher elevations than compared to sea level. So for example, our elevation is 1,350 feet, so I process my quarts of peaces for 35 minutes.}

When your processing time is done, turn off the heat and remove the lid from your canner. Allow the jars to sit in the canner for 5 minutes before removing them from the canner. Then let them sit undisturbed on some towels for 12 hours before checking the seal.

To check the seal, push down in the center of the lid. If the lid is sealed, it won’t give, or “pop”. Remove the rings and store your jars in a cool place until you are ready to use them.

If your lid did give a “pop” as you checked the seal, you can either reprocess your jar with a new lid right away, or store it in the fridge and eat it within the next week.

But Is It Cost Effective?

I mentioned at the beginning that I didn’t start canning peaches for the savings, I had started in order to control what we were eating and where it was from. As someone who has allergies to presevatives, I need to point out that I am willing to pay a little more to avoid having any allergic reactions. I am also willing to pay some more to make sure I know what my family is eating, and where it comes from. But what if you’re not willing, or you’re on a really tight budget and you want to make the most of your money?

A bushel of peaches cost me $30, or $0.60 per pound {a bushel of peaches weighs about 50 pounds}. It takes roughtly 2 pounds of peaches per quart, or 1 per pint {there are two pints in a quart}. The cans of peaches that you can get on the shelves of the grocery store {those cans are 14oz, while a pint jar is 16oz}. So for $30, I paid roughtly $0.60 per pint.

This year, I purchased a bushel and a half of peaches for $45. We were eating them fresh with nearly every meal, and I still wound up with 19 quarts and 27 pints {or roughly 55 pints}. If I bought cans of peaches from the grocery store equivalent to what I canned this year, I’d spend $55 at the sale price, and upwards of $82 if I wasn’t paying attention to sales prices. That’s a savings $37 that can stay in my bank account, can be used in your grocery budget, or be put towards your debt!

Not only have I been more mindful of what we’re eating, and from where, but I’ve also saved us money. Win-win!