Canning Peaches

Home canning isn't difficult and canning peaches is a great way to preserve delicious summertime peaches.

These canned peaches can be stored in your pantry and used yearlong.

Home canning

Canning peaches is a great way to preserve peaches. This step by step recipe is easy enough for beginning canners and a practical recipe for experienced canners.

Canning isn't difficult, but there are some important steps to follow in order to ensure quality and safety.

When you can your own peaches, you are in control of the amount of sugar added as well as the processing. When you know exactly how your food has been made, it's something to feel good about.

This recipe allows you to can your peaches in quart sized jars or pint sized jars. You can also select canning peach slices or canning peach halves. The number of jars produced with each batch is up to you.

Your only limitation is the size of your water bath canner. My canner will hold 10 quart sized jars. It's a massive canner. I also have a smaller canner that will hold 7 quart sized jars.

Determine the number of jars your canner can hold and the amount of peaches you have to can and then get busy canning!

If you are new to canning with a water bath, this How to Water Bath Can is a great place to start with how to safely use your canner.

Another great canning recipe is this Peach Pie Filling!

Ingredients

The only ingredients you need to make home canned peaches are fresh yellow peaches, sugar and water.

If available, use freestone peaches. Freestone means the flesh is not connected to the seed. Cling peaches can also be used, but the flesh does cling to the seed making it a bit more difficult to remove the seed.

White peaches are not recommended for home canning. They have a lower acidity level than yellow peaches. Both white and yellow peaches are perfect for freezing peaches!

Canning syrup

Canned peaches are packed in a syrup made from sugar and water. The amount of sugar you add is up to you.

For peaches, I usually make a light or a very light syrup.

Syrup	Sugar	Water
Very Light	1 ¼ cups	10 ½ cups
Light	2 ¼ cups	9 cups
Medium	3 ¾ cups	8 ¼ cups
Heavy	5 ¼ cups	7 ¾ cups

Step by step directions

• Wash jars in dishwasher or with hot soapy water. Rinse well.
• Wash canning lids with hot soapy water. Rinse well
• Prepare canning syrup by boiling water and sugar together
• Peel peaches. Some peaches can be peeled with just a paring knife. Most will need to be blanched into boiling water for 1 minute and then into an ice bath. The skins should just slip right off.

• Slice peaches in half, remove pit and then slice into wedges or leave as halves

• Place peaches in prepared jars
• Pour hot sugar syrup over peaches. Fill jars leaving ½ inch of headspace (space between top of liquid to top of jar)
• Remove air bubbles by gently tapping jar against the counter or by carefully sliding a plastic knife around the sides of the jar
• Wipe rim of jars with a clean cloth and place lids on top and then screw on rings

• Place jars in a water bath in a water canner. Make certain water level goes over jars by at least one inch. Place lid on canning pot during processing time.
• Boil jars in water bath for 25 minutes (adding additional time for your elevation)

• When time goes off, turn off heat and let jars sit in the hot water bath for 5 minutes. This helps prevent siphoning, the liquid escaping from the jars.
• Remove jars from water bath and set on a cooling rack
• Let jars sit, undisturbed until fully cooled. Then check seals.
• Remove rings from jars and wash outside of jars to remove any residue that may occur from canning
• Label and date jars and store in a pantry or a cool dark place

Canning tips

• Use fresh, ripe peaches that are free from blemishes and bruises (If there is just a small blemish or bruise, it's okay to slice it off after peeling the peach)
• Plan on 3-5 peaches per quart jar. This will vary depending on the size of your peaches.
• You can use quart or pint sized jars. The processing time is the same.
• Use wide mouth jars or regular jars. I like to use wide mouth when I'm doing peach halves.
• Inspect your jars before using. Don't use if the rim has any nicks or cracks or if there are any cracks in the jar.
• Use new lids for canning
• Keep your canning area clean and sanitized
• If jars didn't seal, refrigerate jar and use right away. Do not store in pantry.

Elevation time adjustment

It is crucial that you adjust your processing time according to your elevation. If you are located anywhere above 1000 feet above sea level, please add the following time to your total processing time.

I live at about 2500 feet above sea level so I add 5 additional minutes for a total of 30 minutes. This is time that your jars are in the water bath with the water boiling.

Altitude Feet	Increase Processing Time
1,001- 3,000 3,001- 6,000 6,001- 8,000 8,001-10,000	5 minutes 10 minutes 15 minutes 20 minutes

Recipe Faqs

Serving suggestions

These peaches are great eaten straight out the jar along with some of the juice. They can also be used for baking! I use my canned peaches for making my peach muffins and can also be used in these peach bars.

If you have extra peaches and want a fun recipe to try, check out this homemade peach liqueur! The finished product makes great gifts during the holidays!

If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop

Be certain to check out all my home canning recipes!

Listen to the podcast episode that tells you have to make this recipe!

Resources:

National Center for Home Food Preparation