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Canning Tutorials

Pectin-Free Peach Jam Tutorial

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Mr. Handsome and I are celebrating the new week with our fresh batch of homemade peach jam (on homemade bread, of course). Would you like to celebrate with us?

This year, we were so busy with moving and our trip to Canada that we hardly had time to eat any peaches. How sad is that?

Well, just last week, my in-laws got their hands on a few bushels and graciously shared some with us. Last year, I canned peaches (click here to view my tutorial), so this year I decided to do something a bit different…homemade preach preserves. (We ate about two dozen fresh peaches before canning the rest.) My recipe follows the old-fashioned method that does not require pectin.

Homemade Peach Preserves (Without Pectin)

Ingredients:
10 cups diced peaches (skin and pits removed)*
3 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
Pint or half-pint jars

*As a general rule of thumb: 1 pound of fresh peaches=3-4 medium peaches=approximately 2 cups sliced peaches

Directions:
Step 1: Put a large pot of water on the stove to simmer. This will be your water bath for canning, so make sure the pot is large enough to allow the cans to be completely immersed, with 2 inches of water above the lids.

Add as many jars, lids, and rims as will fit in the pot at one time
(with jars standing up). I added four. In order to fully sanitize, make
sure the water is simmering for 15 minutes. When finished sanitizing, turn off burner, but leave jars in hot water until ready to use. Side note: For extra sanitation, I run jars and rims (not lids) through the dishwasher before placing in simmering water bath.

Here is a note from the Ball/Kerr website
on sanitizing your canning lids: “Our Quality Assurance Team performed
comprehensive testing to determine the need for pre-heating lids.
Ultimately, we determined that it’s completely safe to skip pre-warming
lids in the canning process. While it’s still safe to simmer your lids
before use, you should never boil them. Our recommendation for over 40
years has always been to simmer (180°F) – not boil (212°F) – the lids.”

Step 2: Load your peaches into the sink, and rinse.

Step 3: Fill a medium-sized pot with water, and bring to a boil. Turn
heat down to medium, add several peaches, and cook for 1 minute. If the
water begins to boil, turn the heat down. Meanwhile, prepare a
medium-sized bowl of ice water.

Step 4: After peaches have been in the hot water for 1 minute, transfer peaches to ice water for 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Step 5: Remove peaches from ice water, and gently remove skin with your
hands. If your peaches are well-ripened, the skin should come off
easily. If it doesn’t, let peaches soak in the hot water bath for
another 30 seconds and then in the ice water for another minute.

Step 6: Dice peaches (removing pits), and add to a large mixing bowl. Per 10 cups of diced peaches, add 3 cups granulated sugar and 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice. Mix well with a wooden spoon. If time allows, cover the bowl of peaches, and leave it to sit at room temperature for an hour to enhance the flavor. If time does not allow, continue to the next step.

Step 7: Transfer peach mixture to a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Use the back of the wooden spoon to mash peaches against the side of the pan as they cook.

When peaches start to boil, begin stirring constantly. Continue stirring over medium heat until peaches cook down and reach jam consistency (25-50 minutes). To determine if jam is ready, place a small amount on a cold plate, and place the plate in the freezer for a few minutes. If it gels, the mixture is ready.

When peaches reach jelly consistency, remove empty jars, lids, and rims from hot water, and set on a towel. Fill jars with hot jam, leaving about 1/4 inch of space at the top. To release air pockets, run a butter knife or wooden skewer around the sides and through the middle of the jars.

Wipe rims of jars with a clean cloth, and place lids on each. Screw rims
on firmly (not too tight). Now it’s time to process your jam. Using
your tongs, place jars in your makeshift water bath canner. (Jars should not
touch each other.) The water level should be 2 inches above the lids.

Bring water to a boil, and boil 10 minutes (half-pint or pint-sized jars). If you live at an altitude above 6,000 feet, the National Center for Home Food Preservation recommends processing for an additional five minutes.

Use tongs to remove jars, and place undisturbed on a towel for 24 hours. (Make sure jars don’t touch each other.)

Lids should seal within 30 minutes. To check if they have sealed, press
down on each lid. If they don’t bounce back, they are sealed properly.
Jars that don’t seal within 24 hours should be refrigerated and eaten promptly. Enjoy!

Homemade Apple Butter Tutorial

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It has been several weeks since my sugar-free peach canning tutorial, so Mr. Handsome and I decided to take on another project: apple butter!

We found an apple orchard that was changing owners and selling golden delicious apples for $0.50 per pound, so we decided to stock up. In just 30 minutes, we picked 70 pounds of apples!

Our KitchenAid attachment didn’t arrive on time, so my dedicated hubby spent Saturday afternoon smashing apples by hand into a mesh strainer. After two hours of work, we ended up with two pints of apple butter.

Then on Monday, Mr. Handsome came home from a nine-hour day at work and barely even sat down before joining me in the kitchen for five hours. Using the KitchenAid attachment was WAY more efficient. By the time everything was said and done, we had made 35 pints of apple butter.

Working on the project with my man was a blast. He spent the first 11 years of his childhood on a 75-tree orchard and has lots of great memories making apple butter, applesauce, and apple cider with his family.

And now for the tutorial! 🙂

Homemade Apple Butter

Step 1: Load apples into the kitchen sink, and rinse. You will also need to sterilize your jars. This time, we ran our jars and rims through the dishwasher sterilize cycle and washed the lids in hot, soapy water. (We used pint-sized jars.)

Here is a note from the Ball/Kerr website
on sanitizing your canning lids: “Our Quality Assurance Team performed
comprehensive testing to determine the need for pre-heating lids.
Ultimately, we determined that it’s completely safe to skip pre-warming
lids in the canning process. While it’s still safe to simmer your lids
before use, you should never boil them. Our recommendation for over 40
years has always been to simmer (180°F) – not boil (212°F) – the lids.”

Step 2: Chop apples into quarters, and add to a pot of boiling water.

Step 3: Boil gently until soft, and remove from water using tongs. (We transferred ours into a colander with a bowl underneath to catch drips.)

Step 4: Process apples using the KitchenAid Food Grinder and Fruit/Veggie Strainer attachment.

If you don’t have a KitchenAid, you can smash apples through a mesh strainer by hand. Another method is to peel, core, and quarter the apples before boiling and then run them through a food processor after boiling.

Step 5: Dispose of core/peel waste, and transfer applesauce to a large pot. Add the following ingredients per ten cups of applesauce:

1/2 teaspoon cloves
1-1/4 teaspoons allspice
1/2 teaspoon ginger
4 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup white sugar

Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. When apple butter is HOT, remove from heat, and add to HOT, sterilized jars using a clean spoon. (Jars should be sitting on a clean towel while filling with apple butter.)

Leave 1/4 inch of empty space at the top of each jar. Using a clean knife, remove any visible air pockets.

Step 6: Wipe rims of jars with a clean towel to remove any drips. Place lids on jars, and screw rims on firmly (not too tight). Using a jar lifter/canning tongs ($3.00 in the Walmart canning aisle), load jars into waterbath canner (or a large pot that is tall enough to allow jars to be covered with 1-2 inches of water). Jars should not touch each other.

Bring to a boil, and boil for 10 minutes. If you live at an altitude of 1,000 feet or greater, you
will need to add to the processing time. Click here to see the Ball/Kerr altitude chat.

 

Use tongs to remove jars, and place undisturbed on a towel for 24 hours. (Make sure jars don’t touch each other.)

Lids should seal within 30 minutes. To check if they have sealed, press
down on each lid. If they don’t bounce back, they are sealed properly.
Jars that don’t seal within 24 hours should be refrigerated and eaten
within 7 days.

Have you ever made apple butter?

Canning Peaches in a Makeshift Canner Without Sugar

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I absolutely LOVE peaches. We are blessed to live within 30 minutes of three you-pick peach orchards and have made several trips to each of them over the past six weeks.

While enjoying a fresh-picked, free-stone peach in mid-July, I started thinking how wonderful it would be if peach season lasted all year. “I ought to can some of these delicious peaches so we can pull them out in the dead of winter and be reminded of summertime,” I thought.

Canning was a new experience for me, so I did lots of research and talked with other ladies. After some trial and error, I came up with a wonderful recipe that uses honey instead of sugar. Hope you enjoy this tutorial. Don’t have a canner? No problem at all. I used a large pot. 

Peaches should be well-ripened but not rotten or overly ripe. If your peaches are still firm, place them in large paper bags (only one layer per bag) and fold closed.

*Photos 1 and 3 were taken by my talented sister-in-law Mae. Due to technical difficulties, I lost a few of my pictures. If you need clarification, please feel free to ask. 🙂

How to Can Peaches in a Makeshift Canner
(Without Sugar)

Step 1: Put a large pot of water on the stove to simmer. This will be your water bath for canning, so make sure the pot is large enough to allow the cans to be completely immersed, with 2 inches of water above the lids.

Add as many jars, lids, and rims as will fit in the pot at one time (with jars standing up). I added four. In order to fully sanitize, make sure the water is simmering for at least 15 minutes.

Here is a note from the Ball/Kerr website on sanitizing your canning lids: “Our Quality Assurance Team performed comprehensive testing to determine the need for pre-heating lids. Ultimately, we determined that it’s completely safe to skip pre-warming lids in the canning process. While it’s still safe to simmer your lids before use, you should never boil them. Our recommendation for over 40 years has always been to simmer (180°F) – not boil (212°F) – the lids.”

Step 2: Load your peaches into the sink, and rinse.

Step 3: Fill a medium-sized pot with water, and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium, add several peaches, and cook for 1 minute. If the water begins to boil, turn the heat down. Meanwhile, prepare a medium-sized bowl of ice water.

Step 4: After peaches have been in the hot water for 1 minute, transfer peaches to ice water for 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Step 5: Remove peaches from ice water, and gently remove skin with your hands. If your peaches are well-ripened, the skin should come off easily. If it doesn’t, let peaches soak in the hot water bath for another 30 seconds and then in the ice water for another minute.

Step 6: Remove pits, and slice each peach into 5-6 slices. I also removed the red areas around the stone. In a medium-sized bowl with a spout, mix 2 cups of hot (not boiling) water,  4 teaspoons of lemon juice, and 1/8 cup of honey.

Remove sanitized jars, lids, and rims from water bath using Ball Jar Lifter canning tongs ($3.00 in the Walmart canning aisle). Place on a clean towel.

Fill each jar with peaches. (Only fill to the bottom of the threads.) Pour water-lemon-honey mixture into each jar, leaving 1/2 inch of space at the top. Take a spoon and press down on peaches to release any air pockets. Add more liquid if necessary.

Wipe rims of jars with a clean cloth, and place lids on each. Screw rims on firmly (not too tight). Now it’s time to process your peaches. Using your tongs, place jars in your makeshift water bath. (Jars should not touch each other.) The water level should be 2 inches above the lids.

Bring water to a boil, and boil 25 minutes (pint jars) or 30 minutes (quart jars). If you live at an altitude of 1,000 feet or greater, you will need to add to the processing time. Click here to see the Ball/Kerr altitude chat.

Use tongs to remove jars, and place undisturbed on a towel for 24 hours. (Make sure jars don’t touch each other.)

Lids should seal within 30 minutes. To check if they have sealed, press down on each lid. If they don’t bounce back, they are sealed properly. Jars that don’t seal within 24 hours should be refrigerated and eaten within 7 days.

What are your thoughts on canning? I’m curious to know what types of fruits/veggies people in different regions of the U.S./world have canned.