Last Call for Summer Peaches
PUBLISHED ON: 06.30.2012
A basket of fresh Summer South Carolina peaches.
The purchase cannot be resisted on a roadside stand off the highway.
A basket of peaches turns into cans of peaches that I can enjoy until next summer.
The art of packing fruit tightly in the jar still evades me.
While in my canning mode, late one evening and with a little help from Google, I managed to properly freeze a stash of fresh sliced peaches too. My attempt at peach jelly? We won’t go there.
Peaches in an Extra-light Syrup
Makes about 8 pint jars or four quarts
Recipe from Ball The Complete Book of Preserving
Ingredients:
8-12 lbs. fresh peaches, peeled, halved, pitted, treated to prevent browning and drained
Note: To prevent browning treat peaches with a citric acid such as lemon juice-An easy recipe would be to submerge cut fruit in a mixture of 1/4 cup lemon juice and 4 cups water.
Recipe for 1 batch hot Extra-Light syrup
Ingredients:
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
5-1/2 cups water
Yields: 6 cups
Directions:
In a stainless steel saucepan, combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat to low and keep warm until needed, taking care not to boil the syrup down.
Raw Pack Method
1. Prepare canner, jars and lids.
2. Pack peaches, cavity side down and overlapping layers, into hot jars to within a generous 1/2 inch (1 cm) of top of jar. Ladle hot syrup into jar to cover peaches, leaving 1/2-inch (1 cm) of headspace. remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot syrup. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
3. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process pint (500ml) jars for 25 minutes and quart (1 L)jars for 30 minutes. remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.
Enjoy!
Lynn
Keep trying, the jelly will work one day! Your sliced peaches turned out better than mine, I had about 4\” of syrup on the bottom of the jar-enjoy:@)
Aunt B
Your growing season is sure earlier than ours! We won't see BC peaches for weeks yet. The canned peaches look lovely.I've never made peach jelly but I do make peach jam; some plain, some with chopped candied ginger in it, and some with red jalapenos. They're all good.
Julie
Your peaches look beautiful. My CSA basked had a few in it this week and I love just smelling them. Nothing better than a fresh, juicy peach. Have a great weekend.
Ocean Breezes and Country Sneezes
They look devine! Our peaches won't be ready for a few more weeks! I can't wait to make peach salsa with my girlfriend Susan!
Michelle
I agree with Ocean Breezes and I love peach salsa! I usually freeze things, so I think your canning looks great!
Kim
Love peaches!! I tried making peach jam once. I didn't have any luck either. Wonder if there is some sort of trick to it?
Anonymous
They look delicious. I imagine they taste so much better than the ones we get that have to be imported.
Just Cake Girl
oh, those cans will be worth like gold in the winter 🙂 They look amazing 🙂
That Girl
Great way to make them last year-round.
Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen
The southern peaches have been especially delicious this year. I'm not a canner, but I remember my mother freezing peaches and they turned out great.Sam
Big Dude
Nice looking jars of peaches from here. The peach farmers on the hill above us gave up as the costs of fighting brown rot was more than the crop brought in, so we're doing the roadside stand now as well.
TKW
I am so jealous! Our peaches have STUNK for three years straight. Enjoy your bounty!
Barbara
Roadside peaches are the best, Velva. So many are mealy.I'm jealous!
From Beyond My Kitchen Window
I adore peaches and can't wait until July when they will be ready to harvest. Your peaches in light syrup look delicious.
Jackie @Syrup and Biscuits
I'm always so sad when the end of peach season approaches. I envy you being able to enjoy your home canned peaches in the middle of winter.
Cathy at Wives with Knives
I love home canned peaches! We won't have peaches in our farmers' markets until next month and I can't wait.
Mary Bergfeld
These look wonderful. Local peaches have not yet hit our markets, but when they do I'll be putting some by and hoping they look as good as yours. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
tinyskillet
Mmm…wish I could do that, they look wonderful. Too bad about the peach jam that's my favorite! 😀
The JR
Beautiful!
Katerina
Perfect way to preserve peaches! You can have a taste of summer throughout the year!
Cucina49
I can only imagine how good those are going to taste in the dead of winter. What gorgeous peaches!
Reeni
I ate peaches until my belly was about to burst this past weekend! Silly me should of done some canning!
Karen
I'm fairly new to canning and will DEFINITELY be making these. I love the fact that the syrup isn't overly sweet. Can't wait to try them over some greek yogurt for breakfast!
Jane
Your peaches look gorgeous! I can't wait until we can get peaches here. I love peaches – so good!
Hungry Dog
Gorgeous! You can get more summer than fresh peaches. Happy 4th!
T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types
I have a great fascination and fear of canning! You did a great job! And it's funny that today I'm serving a salad with the first peaches of the season for me!
SavoringTime in the Kitchen
Gosh I love peaches and wish my husband shared my love of them. I can only imagine being able to buy such beauties on the roadside! My favorite way to eat peaches? The old fashioned way with cottage cheese 😉
Karen Harris
There is nothing like the smell of peaches. I've got some in my fridge right now just waiting to jump in a pitcher of white sangria. Who needs jelly anyway?
Roz | La Bella Vita Cucina
Velva, you wonderful friend! Thank you for posting about how to can peaches. Something that I've never done, having only frozen them in syrup. Thanks for this well written post about preserving one of our favorite summer treats — peaches!
Chris
I am too paranoid to can anything, I'm afraid I'll poison everyone! Such a foodie wimp.
Inka
my love… fruits!
Anonymous
love this post! Looks fantastic and yummy!
Jean | DelightfulRepast.com
Well, I can help you out with the jam (just check the recipe index page on my blog), but I'm more of a freezer than a canner. I sometimes freeze a bunch of sliced peaches, but I can't get too enthusiastic about getting out the canner and heating up the kitchen even more in the middle of summer. Yours look great!!