Don’t cha just LOVE when the peaches are on? (FYI that’s southern slang for “it’s peach season”)
Well, actually, I have no idea if that’s real southern slang or not. All I know is my Grandma says it all the time and she’s from the south, so it’s prolly legit.
Canning fresh, ripe peaches couldn’t be easier. All you basically need are:
- peaches
- 1/2 c. of lemon juice
- mason jars (I used pint-sized jars, but you can use whatever size you like)
- lids and rings
- one big ‘ol pot
- this nifty tool for lifting your cans out of your big ‘ol pot without burning your hands.
Millions of peaches. Peaches for me. Okay, and for my family, I guess.
The easiest way to peel peaches are to first blanch them for about 2 minutes in boiling water, then dunk them right into cold water. Those peach skins’ll peel right off! It’s a peach miracle! After you peel the peaches, you can slice them into halves, quarters, or slices. I’ll leave that decision up to you and yours. Just let those peaches bob in that cool water until you’re ready to place them in the cans. Resist the urge to dunk your head in there and bob for peaches.
Sterilize your mason jars real good. You can do this either in your dishwasher on the hot/sterilize setting, or just bring a big ol’ pot of water to boil and sterilize them for about 5 min. You’l also want to sterilize your lids and rings as well.
Once your jars are sterilized and your peaches are skinned and sliced, simply add them to the jars. When using ripe peaches (or any fruit for that matter), you really don’t need additional sweetener at all. And even if you do, you can always add that later when you open them up.
Instead of adding a nasty syrup like in most canning recipes, you’re going to add boiled water with a bit of lemon juice to help the peaches retain their color. For 12 pint jars of peaches, you’ll need to prepare 1 gallon of boiled water + 1/2 c. of lemon juice. Fill your jars with as many peaches as you can fit, then fill almost to the top with your lemon water. Leave about a 1/2 inch of head space, throw on those lids and rings, then process the canned peaches for 30 minutes. When I say ‘process’, I mean you boil them in a big ol’ pot of  water and make sure the water level is about 2 inches above the cans of peaches.
After 30 minutes, remove your beautiful canned peaches from the boiling water with your nifty tool and place somewhere undisturbed to cool for about 30 minutes. This is the awesome part where you’ll hear little “pings”, meaning your peaches have sealed successfully. You can make sure they’ve sealed by pressing the top. They shouldn’t bounce back, but instead should have a sort of vacuum effect and be sucked down tight.
Now you have delicious peaches for your eating pleasure year-round! Deee-lish!
Thank you for such a great recipe. My son has recently developed a serious allergy to all sugars, and honey.
This recipe is a blessing. Now he can have peaches and not get hives all over his nose and face. I, myself will also be able to enjoy peaches without sugars or honey as well. as I am in the stage of fighting any possible BC reoccurrence. Cancer feeds on sugar and corn syrups,. and even honey. Now I can enjoy peaches in the dead of winter without any added stress.
Loved this recipe! Always disliked the syrupy sweet liquid found in store bought canned peaches and this recipe does away with all of that ? Also great instructions for peeling peaches – just have to make sure your peaches are ripe before starting. Thanks for the guidance ?
Does the boiled water with lemon juice need to be hot/boiling hot when you add it to the jars, or should it be room temperature when you pour it over the peaches in the jars? Thanks!
Hi Leanne-
After you have the water heated/boiling that is the time to add it to the peaches. So the water will be hot when you add it to the peaches. Good luck with your peaches! Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
Hi, I very interested in trying your recipe. I have so many peaches on my tree this year. I have frozen several bags and I’m running out of freezer space…lol.
My question is how ripe do you like your peaches for canning?
My peaches are firm with flavor but not juicy like a fully ripe peach.
I’m a noob when it comes to canning anything. I love the idea of not adding sugar.
Thank you for this recipe.
Hi Lucy-
It’s best to have peaches fully ripe before canning. If they are not, pitting them is a real chore, plus I think the flavor turns out better. You will know the peaches are ripe enough, and ready to can, when you are able to gently press your finger into the peach and leave an indentation.
I hope that helps! Best of luck with all your peaches!
Thank you-Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
Thank you Bobbi, that helps tremendously.
Monday is canning day.
Cheers,
Lucy
I just used Danelle’s method to can peaches. Made 18 pints. But I still had over 1 1/2 quarts of lemon water when all the jars were filled. Did I put too many peaches in the jars?? I sliced the first 9 pints and cubed the last 9 pints. Haven’t tried them yet, but hope they turned out good. My husband was just diagnosed as diabetic and he had just bought a lot of peaches! So I needed a way to cut out the sugar. He won’t get to eat them every day, but once in a while will be ok. I’ll be back with a comment on how they taste after we’ve tried them. They were South Carolina peaches. Colorado peaches have a sweeter taste, but the SC are good, too.
Hi Evelyn-
I don’t think you put too many peaches in, as you were supposed to put in as many as would fit and then fill with the lemon water to about 1/2 inch from the top. If you did that then the canned peaches should be just fine. Let us know how they turn out!
Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
Can I add some honey to the water and lemon ? If so, how much ?
Hi Tina-
It depends on how sweet you want it. Most recipes call for between 2-4 cups of honey per gallon of water.
Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
As a diabetic, I love that I did not have to add sugar. Who knew!? Thanks for your recipe. I know my family will love them just as they are, non-sugared.
Can anyone comment on the taste when you opened and ate them?
Hi Lois-
I think the peaches canned without sugar taste much fresher and have a bolder peach taste. They are not masked by the overly sweet sugary taste you get from canned peaches with added sugar. Anyone else have thoughts on this? Would love to hear what you think!
Thanks for reading and posting the question! -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
PING! It’s working!
First time canning peaches. Wasn’t interested in doing them in sugar. Glad I googled and found you.
Make sure to get free stone peaches or you will hate canning peaches!
Thank you for this recipe! I’ve been diagnosed with diabetes so it’s important to not use sweetener like I did last year. The peach truck came to town from GA and I have 1/4 bushel just starting to smell like peaches…yum! Now to bring my canning stuff up from the basement and get ready…
I remember my grandmothers’ water bath canned green beans BUT they always insisted you have to boil them for 10 minutes before eating just in case of botulism. That meant the beans were a terrible mush by the time they made it to the table. I’m so happy to have a pressure canner alternative!
As a NOOB, what is the expected shelf life of the canning method as describe in the original post?
Home canned items should be eaten within a year. I know people have eaten older food and lived to tell about it, but that’s the recommendation.
Hi! I just canned 11 quarts of peaches with the lemon juice and nothing else. Packed the jars full to the top, added 2 tsp. lemon juice, water bathed them for 35-40 minutes. Took them out and the liquid was about 3/4 up into the jar. so was concerned they wouldn’t seal. Waited till morning and they had all sealed, looked really good and have kept there color all day! So I’m hoping to taste them soon here to see how they are but I do know the peaches were very good fresh so I’m sure they’ll be wonderful! Thank you for this as I’m trying to cut out a lot of sugar from my diet. Thanks!
Awesome, Paula! I’m glad it worked out:)
Thank you for the instructions on canning the peaches without the sugar. I am picking up a bushel this weekend and I want to can them. I did not want to add the sugar. Some recipes called for honey. I think peaches are plenty sweet enough, and I don’t want to alter the taste. Thank you, this was very helpful.
Do you ever use your peaches for peach pie filling? If so, do you also can filling specifically? Use frozen peaches? Use the peaches you canned? I’m in search of a canned peach filling recipe, but if I have no luck, I will just use frozen or canned/preserved peaches as needed to make the filling. Just nice to have things ready to go when you need them:)
Have you done canning with apples/applesauce?
I will try this! Even the “light” syrups are too heavy and sweet for my tastes. I usually can my peaches in prepared frozen concentrate mixes from the store… apple juice mixes or my favorite cranberry pomegranate. 🙂 I also have used expensive organic pear juice.
This is so awesome, I’m learning so much. I’ve been interested in preserving produce, but hate pickles and vinegar flavor, and not everything can be made into Jelly! So I figured there had to be a way to preserve stuff otherwise (I mean cans of regular veggies line grocery shelves right?). Anyway this is great, doable, easily usable news!
Does basically the same simple canning method carry over to stuff like vegetables? Maybe green beans, carrot sticks, etc.?
I’m obviously a total canning noob, so thanks for the info!
Krystal – each food is different, and is preserved for different amounts of time, and some foods must be pressure-cooked in order to be safe. I am no expert, but with a little searching online you can find more answers. This is a great post – and preserving food is so much fun!
Green beans, carrots etc must be processed in a pressure cooker.
No, green bean dont have to be in a pressure cooker. I canned and use a water bath canner for green beans, they turned out great.
I agree…..after research, you should not use hot bath for green beans…..can get very sick…..I blanch and freeze…..or you can pressure cook!
Green beans and other non -acid foods MUST, MUST be canned in a pressure canner to be safe.
Canning green beans or most vegetables, meats and fish have to be pressure canned at much higher temps to kill botulism.
Botulism is real and absolutely deadly.
Please check out https://pickyourown.org/allaboutcanning.htm , or https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html
for tested and approved methods of home canning.
Why do I read so much about having to use a pressure cooker for green beans? Both my Grandmothers canned green beans. They were great; and no, they did not even own a pressure cooker. I can my every year. None of us have ever gotten sick from eating them. I process them in boiling water for three hours.
For years I’ve used unsweetened white grape juice for the liquid in canning peaches. They are sweet enough for those that like sweeter than natural sweet, but not syruppy sweet.
You can use unsweetened pineapple juice instead of the water. They taste yummy. You can also use just a light syrup with evaporated cane juice….still sugar, but less processed. The sugar is actually what preserves the color and texture of the fruit.
Just thinking it’s not such a great idea to let the juicy, ripe peaches bob in the SAME cold water as you put them in right after blanching. Since I am peeling them, I do not wash my peaches before blanching. AND that’s a lot of water to use to lose a lot of that yummy peach juice! Why not put them into a fresh bowl or pan of cold water after peeling them – then use that clean water as the water you boil and to which you add the lemon juice? Love the humor in your post. Thanks for letting us know we can preserve peaches without the added sugar we do not want!
I would add raw honey to the lemon water since it doesn’t spoil and is nature’s sweetener.
So if I did want to add a sweetener during the canning process, how would you recommend going about it? I have a husband with a sweet tooth, and knowing him, he’d as soon get a can of peaches with HFCS at the grocer than eat mine if they weren’t good and sweet!