I don't like being the bearer of bad news, but you know those peaches you are enjoying from the farmers market? They won't be there for long. By all means, buy as many as you can. Stuff them in sandwiches and put them on pizza. What about saving some for later? Canned peaches are certainly not as tasty as fresh peaches, so don't eat them side by side. But in the dead of winter, when snow has blanketed the streets, there's nothing better than eating a bowl of peaches with light, sweet syrup. You can top them with chocolate sauce, or add more wood to your fireplace and serve them over vanilla bean ice cream.
For canning, buy the best peaches you can find and can them right before they become ripe. You don't want to be canning bruised, soft peaches.
Canned Peaches in Light Syrup
Yield eight pint jars or four quart jars
Adapted from Ball Jar Complete Book of Home Preserving
Preparing Lids and Jars
1. Wash jars with soap and water; rinse thoroughly
2. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil
3. Fully submerge jars
4. Boil for ten minutes
5. Remove with jar lifter
6. Set aside on a clean paper towel
7. Repeat boiling step for lids
See here for visuals and equipment.
Ingredients
8 to 12 lbs peaches, peeled, halved, pitted, and treated to prevent browning and drained
1 batch hot syrup
To Prepare Syrup
To prepare the syrup mix 2 1/4 cups of granulated sugar with 5 1/4 cups of water. Heat over low to medium heat until sugar is fully dissolved and syrup is hot.
Treating the Peaches
To prevent the peaches from browning, you can use a commercial produce protector containing ascorbic acid. Follow the manufacturer's instructions. You can also submerge the cut fruit in a mixture of 1/4 cup of lemon juice and 4 cups of water. {Note: I didn't do either and my peaches looked great}.
Directions
1. Prepare canner, jars and lids, according to instructions above.
2. Pepare syrup, according to instructions above.
3. Pack peaches, cavity side down and overlapping layers into hot jars to within a generous 1/2 inch of top of jar. Ladle hot syrup into jar to cover peaches, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Remove air bubbles and adjust head space if necessary, by adding hot syrup. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met then increase to finger top-tights.
4. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process pint jars for 25 minutes and quarts jars for 30 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.
