Canning Peaches

Last year, I made jam out of the peach harvest. I still have some jars in the pantry. This year's harvest was just canned over the last two weekends. It was quite an event with multiple pans going all at once: the hot water bath pan, a saucepan to boil the lids, boiling water to dip the peaches into, and a simple syrup.

I have an old Ball Blue Book from the '50's and it's pretty much the bible for canning. When I went online and looked canning peaches, it's amazing how little has changed. If you don't have this book, you need to get a copy.

So here are the "cheat sheet" directions

• Drop batches of peaches into boiling water for about 1 minute and then transfer to a bowl of ice water. The riper the peaches, the easier the peel will come off.
• Remove skin; halve and pit; place face down in a sterile jar. You may need to quarter the peaches.
• Gently push down on the peaches to maximize the space as you begin to fill up the jar.
• Ladle in syrup to cover leaving about a 1/2 of head space.
• Run a knife along the inside edge of the peaches to remove air bubbles.
• Clean the rim of the jar with a damp paper towel.
• Put on the lid and drop into a boiling water bath with a water level above the jar lid.
• Boil for 30 minutes and remove.
• Place jars on a towel to dry for 12 hours.
• Listen for the "pop" of the jars as the lids seal as it cools.

For this first time run, I went with the extra light syrup and I had to make a second batch:

Syrup

• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 5 1/4 water

Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Bring to a boil and ladle into jars.

Here's the formula:
Extra light = 1 1/4 cups sugar to 5 1/4 cups water
Light = 2 1/4 cup sugar to 5 cups water
Medium = 3 1/4 cup sugar to 5 cups water
Heavy = 4 /1/4 cups sugar to 4 /1/4 cups water

Here are some YouTube videos that demonstrate the process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoyEV0p0Ky8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G309JyFpuFs