How To Can Peaches – Easy Canning Recipe (Video)
Learning how to can peaches is simple and easy and great canning recipe for beginners. Canned peaches can easily be made into many different desserts like sourdough peach cobbler, added on top of sourdough pancakes or waffles, or just enjoyed plain. Having canned peaches on the shelf ensures you’ll have plenty of fruit to eat during the long winter months when fresh fruit is harder to find. Whenever my kids are sick, they know they can have peaches or applesauce from our homestead pantry, and I like them because they are gentle on stomachs and easy for little tummies to digest. These peaches can be canned without any sugar by making a simple brine out of apple juice, or you can make a low sugar simple syrup which is what I show you in the video tutorial below.
The process for canning these peaches is very simple. You just blanch the peaches to remove the skins, peel (which is a great thing for your kids to help with), core and place into jars. Add the syrup, and process in a boiling water canner. It’s as easy as pie!
Sourcing Fresh Peaches
When we started our homestead in 2015, the first thing we did was plant fruit trees. Here in Nebraska we grow in a zone 4b so we had to make sure to buy fruit trees that would survive in our long cold winters. It took about 8 years for the apple trees in our orchard to produce their first big apple harvest. The peach trees have yet to produce, but we are hopeful they will soon. They have been affected by late frosts and other weather related problems. Until my peach trees start producing, I purchase canning peaches from my local grocery store in the summertime when they are in season. They usually have canning peaches on sale during August, and I try to purchase them by the case to get the best discount. That is why peaches are more of a treat on our homestead, because they are something I choose to purchase until our peach trees start producing. They are a nice to have, not a need to have, but we sure like having a few for winter eating.
Gleaning
If you live in an area where a lot of peaches grow, you might be able to glean some peaches from folks that might have trees and don’t want all of their fruit. A lot of times elderly people have apple trees and even though they don’t can as much as they used to, they don’t want to see the fruit go to waste. They will usually gladly let you have it if you come and pick it. I’ve canned hundreds of quarts of food this way over the years to help fill our homestead pantry.
Purchasing Peaches
You can also purchase organic peaches in bulk from Azure Standard when they are in season, and that is a greaty way to source organic peaches if that is something that is important to you. You can get 15% your first order of $100 or more from Azure Standard using the code NEW15. Azure Standard is an online grocery outlet where you can purchase mostly organic items in bulk, and it comes to a dropoff point near you via a semi truck once a month. It’s like having a Sam’s or a Costco available to you wherever you are.
What Kind Of Peaches Are Best For Canning?
The best peaches for canning are known as “freestone” peaches because the pit separates from the fruit “freely” or easily. If you’ve ever eaten a peach and had to cut the fruit away from the pit, you’ll know that not all peaches are freestone peaches. Peaches that have pits that don’t freely separate from the fruit are called “clingstone” peaches. They are much more time consuming to preserve, because it takes a lot longer to get the pits out of the peaches.
Ways We Enjoy Canned Peaches
- We like to eat them plain especially when the kids are sick.
- On toast, french toast, pancakes or waffles with peanut butter
- In homemade fruit soup
- Added to sourdough crepes along with blueberries in the summertime.
- In peach pie or peach cobbler
- Served with homemade ice cream
Preserving Fresh Peaches
There are many ways to preserve peaches. They can be frozen, or made into peach sauce, peach butter, peach jam or jelly, canned peaches, peach pie filling, or dried peaches. I prefer not to freeze mine because I try to can or dehydrate as much food as possible to save on freezer space. If you have all of your preserved food in the freezer, you run the risk of losing it if the electricity is out for a long time. They also don’t keep in the freezer as long as they will if they are canned because they will get freezer burned.
For lots of other canning recipes and tips on preserving food, check out the preserve your own food section of our blog.
Simple Ingredients
Tips For Making Home-Canned Peaches
- If you purchase your peaches, you will want to sort them right away. You will know if they are ripe or not by gently pressing our finger into the peach. If it makes the slightest indentation, than it is ripe. The ripe peaches should be canned right away, and the green peaches can be put back into their boxes to continue to ripen at room temperature. Be sure to check on them daily so they don’t over ripen.
- The blemished or small and medium-sized peaches are much easier to make into peach sauce or peach butter.
- If you want to can peaches without any sugar, my favorite way to can them is in diluted apple juice concentrate. I usually put one can of apple juice concentrate with 3-4 quarts of water or to taste. Heat it on the stovetop and pour over peaches the same as you would the sugar syrup.
- Have your kids help you peel the peaches. Once they are blanched in hot water, and then placed in cold water, the peelings slip off easily by hand, without the use of a knife. My first memories of canning are peeling peaches with my Mom when I was probably 2 or 3 years old.
- I prefer to put my peaches in wide mouth jars because the peaches fit through the top easily. I usually can them in non-name brand quart jars, or old mayonnaise jars. You can tell those kind of jars because they won’t have any writing on the sides. They work fine for water bath canning, but shouldn’t be used for pressure canning. Since we water bath can peaches, they work perfectly for that.
- I prefer to do all of my canning outside if the weather allows. I use a camp chef outdoor stove.
- You can make a medium syrup or even a heavy syrup by adding more sugar to the water when mixing up your syrup. I prefer to have a light syrup, and don’t really think the peaches need the extra sugar.
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Tools You May Need
How To Can Peaches
Prepare Equipment
- Wash all of your jars and allow to air dry.
- Fill a large pot half full with hot water. Bring to a boil on the stovetop over medium-high heat.
- Place cold water and ice cubes if you have some available, in a large bowl.
- Mix up your syrup in another pot on the stove and start heating it over medium heat.
Prepare Raw Peaches
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the peaches and place them immediately into the ice cold water to stop the cooking. You don’t want them to be mushy, just cooked long enough so the peels will come off easily.
- Continue blanching the peaches until you run out of room in your cold water bowl. You can keep you hot water at a slow simmer until you have room to blanch more peaches.
- Let peaches cool in the cold water for a few minutes, and peel them by just slipping the peelings off with your hand. I rarely have to use a knife.
- Cut the peeled peaches in half using a pairing knife. Remove the pits and place two pits in the bottom of each quart jar, or one pit if you’re using pint jars (this will help preserve flavor and freshness).
- Put the peach halves into the jars, and cover with the hot syrup. You can also slice peaches into smaller pieces if desired.
Canning Process
- Wipe rim of the jar with a damp cloth to make sure there is no sticky juice on them.
- Place lids and rings on the top of the jars and hand tighten.
- Place jars in a boiling water-canner and process for 20 minutes.
- For more about the water bath canning process, see video below.
- Remove hot jars from canner using jar lifter and allow to cool at room temperature for a few hours and seal. If you’re doing more than one canner load of peaches, it is best to add a little cold water to the canner before you put another round of cold jars into the boiling hot water. This will help prevent any jars from breaking. You don’t want to lose any of those precious peaches after all that hard work.
- Remove rings, wash outside of jars if they are sticky, and then store on your pantry shelves.
- If you try this recipe and love it, please come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @wagonwheelhomestead21
How To Can Peaches – Easy Canning Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 bushel peaches about 50 pounds
- 2 gallons of water
- 4 cups of sugar
Instructions
Prepare Equipment
- Wash all of your jars and allow to air dry.
- Fill a large pot half full with hot water. Bring to a boil on the stovetop over medium-high heat.
- Place cold water and ice cubes if you have some available, in a large bowl.
- Mix up 4 cups of sugar and 2 gallons of water in another pot on the stove and start heating it over medium heat. This will be the syrup to pour over your peaches. If you want to make them sugar free, you can use 2 cans of apple juice concentrate and 2 gallons of water, or you can use just plain hot water too.
Prepare Raw Peaches
- Once the water on the stove is at a boil, turn down to a simmer and gently drop peaches into the water. Leave them in the water to “blanch” for about 2-3 minutes or until the peeling is just starting to come off (see video below).
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the peaches and place them immediately into the ice cold water to stop the cooking. You don’t want them to be mushy, just cooked long enough so the peels will come off easily.
- Continue blanching the peaches until you run out of room in your cold water bowl. You can keep you hot water at a slow simmer until you have room to blanch more peaches.
- Let peaches cool in the cold water for a few minutes, and peel them by just slipping the peelings off with your hand. I rarely have to use a knife.
- Cut the peeled peaches in half using a pairing knife. Remove the pits and place two pits in the bottom of each quart jar, or one pit if you're using pint jars (this will help preserve flavor and freshness).
- Put the peach halves into the jars, and cover with the hot syrup. You can also slice peaches into smaller pieces if desired.
Canning Process
- Wipe rim of the jar with a damp cloth to make sure there is no sticky juice on them.
- Place lids and rings on the top of the jars and hand tighten.
- Place jars in a boiling water-canner and process for 20 minutes.
- For more about the water bath canning process, see video below.
- Remove hot jars from canner using jar lifter and allow to cool at room temperature for a few hours and seal. If you're doing more than one canner load of peaches, it is best to add a little cold water to the canner before you put another round of cold jars into the boiling hot water. This will help prevent any jars from breaking. You don't want to lose any of those precious peaches after all that hard work.
- Remove rings, wash outside of jars if they are sticky, and then store on your pantry shelves.
Notes
Tips For Making Home-Canned Peaches
- If you purchase your peaches, you will want to sort them right away. You will know if they are ripe or not by gently pressing our finger into the peach. If it makes the slightest indentation, than it is ripe. The ripe peaches should be canned right away, and the green peaches can be put back into their boxes to continue to ripen at room temperature. Be sure to check on them daily so they don’t over ripen.
- The blemished or small and medium-sized peaches are much easier to make into peach sauce or peach butter.
- If you want to can peaches without any sugar, my favorite way to can them is in diluted apple juice concentrate. I usually put one can of apple juice concentrate with 3-4 quarts of water or to taste. Heat it on the stovetop and pour over peaches the same as you would the sugar syrup.
- Have your kids help you peel the peaches. Once they are blanched in hot water, and then placed in cold water, the peelings slip off easily by hand, without the use of a knife. My first memories of canning are peeling peaches with my Mom when I was probably 2 or 3 years old.
- I prefer to put my peaches in wide mouth jars because the peaches fit through the top easily. I usually can them in non-name brand quart jars, or old mayonnaise jars. You can tell those kind of jars because they won’t have any writing on the sides. They work fine for water bath canning, but shouldn’t be used for pressure canning. Since we water bath can peaches, they work perfectly for that.
- I prefer to do all of my canning outside if the weather allows. I use a camp chef outdoor stove.
- You can make a medium syrup or even a heavy syrup by adding more sugar to the water when mixing up your syrup. I prefer to have a light syrup, and don’t really think the peaches need the extra sugar.
