How To Preserve Peaches In Mason Jars

If you have been lucky enough to grow a peach tree or two and have a substantial harvest this year, or have visited a local orchard and returned with a bushel (or a few) of peaches to preserve then you might be looking for a simple way to preserve peaches in mason jars without turning them into jam.

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How To Preserve Peaches

You need to use just ripe peaches which are still firm but have lost all the green tint around the stem.  This post is for yellow peaches only.  White peaches are lower in acid and cannot be water bath canned, if you have white peaches then consider skinning them and freezing them to use later in the season.

Canning peaches in syrup has a couple of advantages over freezing them; 1.  they’re shelf stable and will stay happily in a cool dry pantry, 2.  you avoid the freezer burn 3. some say that they keep a better flavor than frozen peaches and 4.  home canned peaches are delicious and versatile in made from scratch meals from peach cobbler or peach pie to just drain the peaches and serve over yogurt.

If you are new to canning, peaches are a great way to get started and are easier to skin than tomatoes!  Take a listen to the Homesteading & Gardening In The Suburbs Podcast, episode 16 below where I give you a rundown of the basics of canning:

Read on to get into the step by step of how to preserve peaches in mason jars!

How To Skin Peaches

The first step in preserving peaches is to remove the skins.  They get kinda slimy after canning and can put you right off your meal!  You can try using a vegetable peeler or follow the steps below:

1. Heat large pan of water to boiling
2. Carefully add peaches, a slotted spoon is really helpful to do this
   
3. Let peaches boil for 1 to 2 minutes then remove with a slotted spoon
4. Place the peaches into iced water to cool them right down
   
5. The skins should easily peel off ripe peaches

If the skins don’t peel off, it might be because the peaches are under ripe, if this happens, I use a vegetable peeler to take those skins off.  Remember to always act safely with boiling water and hot pots, pans and utensils.

If you have a lot of peaches to can, it is worth putting them into some acidic water to step the peaches turning brown, like apples do.  To make the acidic water:

• Measure 1 gallon of water and place into a large pan or bowl
• Stir in wither 1 teaspoon citric acid OR 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Place the peaches in the acidic water to keep them nice and well, peachy colored whilst you prep the jars and canner.

Preserve Peaches

The next step is to preserve the peaches!  I like to use a raw pack or cold packing method, the peaches stay a nice color and look more attractive in the jar, the fruit also stays firm.

Get your jars sterilizing by boiling in water or using a sterilize cycle on your dishwasher.  The jar in the image above is a 16 oz flint glass mason jar and you can get them from SKS Bottle & Packaging right here.

1. Remove the pits from the peaches.
2. Cut the peaches into halves or quarters (psst – quarters come out of regular neck jars easier then halves!).
   
3. Pack them into the jars, I pack fairly tightly, the peaches will float up once the syrup is added.
   
4. Make the syrup by mixing sugar and water in a saucepan until it comes to a boil.  I use the extra light syrup to keep the sugar low.  You can use water but the peach flavor will be lost whilst using sugar syrup will preserve the flavor of the peaches.
   
5. Carefully pour the hot syrup into the jars, ensuring to leave 1/2 inch space from the rim of the jar to the peaches.
   
6. Remove air bubbles in each jar, a butter knife or skinny spatula works well for this.
7. Wipe rim of jar with a damp paper towel.
8. Place lids on jars and screw on until resistance is felt then tighten to fingertip tight.
   
9. Place jars in canner ensuring that they are completely covered with water then bring to a boil.
10. Process the jars in the canner for 25 minutes if working with pint jars and 30 minutes for quart sized jars, ensure to add additional processing time for altitude.
    
11. After processing time, turn off the heat and wait 5 minutes then remove the jars and allow to cool undisturbed then store your jars and enjoy!
    

Summary

Make sure you stock up on jars and clean and sanitize both the jars and the lids.  Skin peaches before you add them to the jars to avoid a slimy texture nightmare after canning.  You can use water to can peaches the jars but you will lose flavor of the peaches. Using a sugar syrup to preserve peaches in mason jars will not only keep the peach flavor but will help to keep the peaches firm in texture.

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