can jam 2010 - september - stone fruits

The canning gods have been with me throughout the can jam challenge.  Last month, when the challenge was announced, I just happened to have 4 pounds of tomatillos sitting on the counter.  This month, when the challenge was announced, I just happened to have relatives driving to my house from the other side of the mountains with a case of peaches in their car.

Peaches are my favorite fruit.  Oh I love a just picked strawberry, but peaches are at the top of my list.  Last year was the first year I jarred peaches.  The results were only so-so.  The fruit floated quite a bit which led to some discoloring.  Also the fruit was not in pretty slices.  It was all raggedy and funky looking.  I am sure this is because I did not do a great job with the boiling water skinning process.  This year I was determined to do better.

I waited until the peaches were perfect.  Not too soft, not to hard, perfect.  That meant I could skip the boiling water skinning completely.  Pulling the peel off a perfectly ripened peach is easy.

I did not have lemon juice, and was unwilling to get dressed and go to the store for lemons, so I used lime juice for my anti darkening agent.

Last year, I am certain I used a cold pack method.  This year it was hot pack.

 

You could actually see the air bubbles coming out of the fruit slices.

The jars were packed a little tighter than last year.  A full case of perfect peaches yielded 8 quarts of sliced peaches.  I ran out of time and also have another quarts worth of slices in the freezer.

There was a little bit of float so I think I will be more patient with the warming slices next year.  I used the basic recipe from the Ball Complete Book.  Any google search will get you a recipe.

Being able to make a peach cobbler in February will help get us through the wet, grey winter. I heart peaches.

 

Comments

[Rae]

I have never been a big fan of peaches but they are nice once in awhile. But I have never tried peach cobbler.

[kate]

Canned peaches are a must in our house. Perfect winter remedy for the blahs.

[knittingkitty]

I just canned another 12 pints of peach slices last night. Second batch had much less float than the first and used the same Ball recipe. Mine are ugly but oh so tasty.

[Jane]

What a beautiful job. I wish peaches were in here. Next year I'm going to give this recipe a try.

Thanks for posting.