Spiced Summer Peaches
An easy, beginner-friendly raw-pack water-bath canning recipe for peach slices or halves in a light cinnamon syrup. The syrup won't overpower the flavor of the peaches, just adds a light spice to the fresh fruit flavor. Each quart jar takes about 2½ lbs of fresh peaches, or 1¼ lbs per pint jar. The syrup recipe should be enough for a full 7 quart canner load, or a smaller batch of slices and then a batch of peach nectar.
Equipment
- 1 large stockpot or canning pot
- canning jars (wide-mouth jars are best, especially if you are doing halves, but either will work)
- new canning jar lids (or reusable Tattler lids, or Weck lids, rings, and clips)
- canning funnel (optional but helpful)
- jar tongs or rack with handles
- false bottom for canner or silicone trivet to protect bottoms of jars from scorching
Ingredients
Peach Slices or Halves
- yellow peaches, ripe freestone are easier to process but clingstone is fine. White peaches are NOT fine, only yellow can be safely water-bath canned.
- 2 quarts cold water or to cover
- 2 tbsp lemon juice or ½ tsp ascorbic acid powder (vitamin C) (both optional but improves quality and prevents browning)
Light Cinnamon Syrup
- 7 cups water
- 3 cups white sugar
- 1 large cinnamon stick
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Spiced Cinnamon Syrup Variation:
- 7 cups water
- 3 cups white sugar
- 1 large cinnamon stick
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2-3 whole cloves
- 1 piece cardamom 2-3 pods of green or ½ pod black
- 2-3 berries whole allspice (or cracked)
- 1 slice candied ginger (or fresh)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
Light Cinnamon or Spiced Syrup:
- For the spiced syrup, either place loose spices in a metal tea infuser or bundle of cheesecloth tied with cooking twine, or strain the finished syrup with a mesh strainer before using. The cinnamon stick is easy to remove with a slotted spoon, so it can be placed loose in the syrup to more freely infuse in either version.
- Combine sugar, water, and spices in a large pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer at least 10 minutes and then keep hot while you prep the peaches. You can leave the spices in until you are ready to pack the jars if you want a stronger infusion, or remove them once you have the flavor you want.
Prep Peach Slices or Halves
- Fill the canner with water and add the jars to sterilize as you bring it up to a boil (not strictly necessary, especially if you are using new or otherwise spotlessly clean jars, but it's never a bad idea). Do not boil the lids, just the empty jars. Cover the canner to trap heat so it boils faster and loses less steam into your kitchen.
- Wash the peaches and trim any bad bits generously. Do not use moldy fruit but damaged peaches are ok- trim them well to remove bruised areas.
- To peel the peaches, blanch the peaches a few at a time in a pot of simmering water. Leave them in the water for 30-60 seconds, then rinse under cold running water or dunk in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.
- The peels should easily slip off. If they don't, return to the simmering water and blanch again. You can save the peels to make peach vinegar or peach nectar (see notes in a future post... for now either freeze or compost them).
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cold water and either lemon juice or ascorbic acid (vitamin C or "Fruit-Fresh" in the canning aisle). As you slice the peaches, place them into the acidulated water, which will keep them from oxidizing and browning and preserve their bright, fresh color.
- Slice or halve the peaches into your lemon water and remove the pits. Either discard the pits or save and set aside to roast and make peach creme de noyaux liqueur (another future post). Save any ugly or irregular but not spoiled bits of peaches in another bowl if you want to make peach nectar or puree (you can can these with your nice slices too, it's just an aesthetic decision).
Pack Peaches in Canning Jars
- When all the peaches are blanched and sliced and dunked, start packing your jars. I like to use wide-mouthed jars, especially if I am doing halves or large slices, but regular mouth jars work too (and the jar shoulders help keep the canned fruit submerged under the syrup... they're just more tricky to pack). Use what you have or prefer! A jar funnel will be helpful here and keep the rim of your jars cleaner.
- Ladle hot syrup over the peach slices, leaving ½" headspace at the top of the jar. Using a chopstick, debubbling tool, butterknife, or thin spatula, gently poke around in the jars to dislodge any trapped air bubbles to make sure the peaches are fully submerged in the hot syrup. They will float to the top- this is ok- just make sure there aren't any pockets of trapped air around the fruit.
- Wipe the rims of the jar with a clean cloth or paper towel dipped in hot water (or hot water and white vinegar, which I prefer). Make sure the rims of the jars are clean, then top with new, clean canning lids and rings. Tighten them finger-tight (gently snug but not overtightened... this may take some practice but unless you are using reusable lids, not hard to figure out. Reusable lids have a learning curve and are best for more experienced canners).
Process Jars in Boiling Water Bath
- Place the jars in your boiling water bath canner and make sure they are covered with at least an inch of boiling water over the tops of the jars. Place the lid on the canner and listen until it is vigorously boiling again. Once the pot is boiling, start your processing timer.
- Process raw-pack pints and quarts for 30 minutes (IMPORTANT: this is for elevations at or below 1000 ft... see notes for processing time adjustments for higher elevations or hot pack). After the processing timer goes off, turn off the heat and set a timer for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, using jar tongs or a canning rack remove the jars from the canner and place on a folded kitchen towel or metal grid cooling rack. Do not place hot jars on a cold counter (especially stone, concrete, or metal) or they may crack and break from thermal shock! I always use a sheet pan lined with a folded kitchen towel just to be safe.
- Leave jars undisturbed to cool completely before checking for seals... I usually leave them overnight and check them in the morning. Wait at least 6-8 hours and no more than 24 before checking them, so that you can safely reprocess or refrigerate any jars that didn't seal. If you reprocess, use a new lid and don't put cold jars into a hot canner.
- Wash the jars (they may be sticky, as some juice escapes during processing- this is normal and fine) before labeling and storing them in a cool, dark pantry or cupboard. Home canned peaches are best in the first year but are safe to eat as long as the seal is intact and the jars haven't frozen. They will discolor over time and lose taste and quality, especially if they are exposed to light, heat, or large temperature variations.
Notes
Processing Times for Higher Elevations and Hot Pack Peach Slices or Halves
Ball Blue Book times are listed as 30 minutes for pints or quarts. The following data is from the NCHFP. Raw Pack: Pints: (0-1000 ft): 25 minutes (1001-3000 ft): 30 minutes (3001-6000 ft): 35 minutes (above 6000 ft): 40 minutes Quarts: (0-1000 ft): 30 minutes (1001-3000 ft): 35 minutes (3001-6000 ft): 40 minutes (above 6000 ft): 45 minutes Hot Pack: Pints: (0-1000 ft): 20 minutes (1001-3000 ft): 25 minutes (3001-6000 ft): 30 minutes (above 6000 ft): 35 minutes Quarts: (0-1000 ft): 25 minutes (1001-3000 ft): 30 minutes (3001-6000 ft): 30 minutes (above 6000 ft): 35 minutes Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!