Peaches are the fruit I look most forward to in the summertime! Well, I guess I have to add in strawberries, cherries and nectarines as well.
California’s Central Valley has some of the best summer fruit in the nation! I beg to differ that our peaches might even be better than Georgia’s but I’ve never been there so I better watch what I say!
There is one thing I know, you can.not. buy peaches from the store! No questions asked, if you do and you’re happy with them you don’t what you are missing out on. If I can’t buy them fresh and local there is no way I am even eating them. I tried that once, big mistake.
Peaches are the perfect summer fruit, sadly their growing season is short. There are five options:
- You enjoy them in the summer and that is the end of them
- You freeze
- You dry them
- You make fruit leather
- You can them
As much as I love and promote eating with the seasons sometimes it is nice to have a bit of peach sometime later on in the year.
I have very limited freezer space so I only freeze a few gallon size bags of peaches each year. The past few years I have either dried, made fruit leather or canned peaches. My prefered form of preservation is canning.
Canned peaches are the perfect after dinner dessert or topping for oatmeal. Most store-bought canned peaches are canned in high-frutose corn syrup. Then there is the BPA concern so I haven’t bought peaches from the store in years. When I was little we did get to eat some that were canned in a light syrup ever so often. I like to make a simple honey syrup for my peaches. Sometimes I’ve run out and just canned them in water and not noticed the difference.
Organic peaches are always preferred but can be a bit pricey. I tend to haunt the farmer’s market and buy peaches from the “sceconds” bin. Seconds are fruit that are bruised or otherwise blemished making them not able to be sold full price. I’ve found that many time there are only slight bruising or spot so I always buy them. I end up only paying 1/4 of the price! It makes the farmer happy to be rid of it while at least getting a bit of money and it makes me happy too since I’m saving lots of money.
How to Can Peaches in a Simple Honey Syrup
Ingredients
- approximately 20 lbs of peaches
- 1/2 cup honey
- 10 cups water
- 12 tsp of fresh lemon juice
- 12 pint canning jars or 6 quart canning jars, sterilized
- Water Bath Canner or Pressure Canner (Without the lid)
- Jar Lifter
- Stainless Steel Funnel
- Tattler Seals adnd Lids (opptional)
Instructions
- Peel your peaches. You can peel them with a paring knife which is what I normally do since I am using bruised fruit. You could also freeze them whole for about an hour and them rub the skin off under running water. Lastly you could put them in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds and then place them in a bowl of ice water for another 30 seconds. Pick the peach up and the skin will come right of.
- Cut your peaches. You can cut them in half or slice them to your desired thickness. Place them in a bowl.
- Fill each jar with your cut peaches. Pour the lemon juice over the peaches. Use 1 teaspoon for each pint jar and 2 teaspoons for each quart jar.
- Bring the lids/seals to a gentle simmer.
- Bring the honey and water to a simmer to make a "syrup". Once the honey is dissolved turn off the heat.
- Pour the hot syrup into each jar, just filling to where the threads of the jar start.
- Wipe the rim and place the seal and lid on the jar. Twist on the ring, being sure not to make it too tight.
- Place the jars in a water bath canner or pressure canner without the lid.
- Cover the jars with water and bring to a boil for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Remove the jars from the pot with a jar clamp and place on a counter or table covered with a dish towel.
- Allow to fully cool and seal before storing away.
- If you have never heard a jar seal before, it is music to the ears!
Have you tried canning before? What is your favorite thing to can?
This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday, Wildcrafting Wednesday,
Like you sight and your love for Jesus
Thank you, Elana! 🙂
looking for clarification …. your recipe calls for 24 tsp of lemon juice and in the directions it says 1 tsp per pint or 2 tsp per quart. The recipe makes 12 pints which would only be 12 tsp or 6 quarts which is still 12 tsp. It doesn’t add to 24 tsp of lemon juice unless I double your recommendations to 2 tsp per PINT and 4 tsp per quart.
Thank you for catching that! The recipe should read, 12 teaspoons, not 24. More won’t harm it but it not necessary.
Thanks for the great info! I would love to be able to use honey to can my peaches this year, however, I have heard that it can become toxic if you heat it too much. Just curious if boiling to seal the jars will turn the honey toxic?
I actually had to look that up to see what you were talking about. I have canned my peaches like this for years and never run into a problem. If it makes you uncomfortable you could try adding a teaspoon of an unrefined sugar instead.
Is the lemon juice required? I have canned peaches with honey in the past without adding lemon, so that part of the recipe surprised me.
It is used to help preserve the color of the peaches. 🙂
Very easy to follow directions. I only canned 5 lbs. of peaches which equated to 8 pints.
I’m so glad!
Do the peaches keep their nice bright color using this method as opposed to sugar?
Yes, I have jars from two years ago that still have a beautiful yellow color.
The first thing I ever set out to can was a pear and quince butter. Delicious!
I have never tried canning peaches…have frozen, but not canned. What are the virtues of canning as opposed to freezing? Besides the fact that the freezer can break down? I’m looking…taste vs texture, best for eating, best for cooking. Thank you!
When you don’t have a lot of freezer space like me canning peaches in great. I do keep some peaches in the freezer to use for smoothies or dessert. Canned peaches are ready the moment you open the can and can be added to oatmeal, eating by themselves (which is what we do) used to make a last minute dessert or whatever else you feel like. Really it depends on which you think you type will use the most and what kind of storage space you have.
Thank you, Katie! I have some freezer space, so maybe I’ll do some of both.
You’re welcome!
I love canning peaches! Had to do them by myself this year but I still had fun and can’t wait to enjoy them in the winter months. And I might argue that we have pretty awesome peaches up here in Washington…
You may! 😉