High Acid Canning (Peaches)
Like most farms, Goodness Grows often has an abundance of various types of food at different times of the summer. It often gets to the point where (even with three boys), they cannot either consumer or sell all of their produce. The solution, of course, is to can the excess. This way the food does not go to waste and the canned goods provide nutritional and culinary variety in the winter.
There are two different kinds of canning: high acid and low acid. This post will cover how to can high acid foods like tomatoes and peaches. There will be another post in the future about canning low acid foods like beans, corn, and meat. If you are interested in learning how to can food, I highly recommend you buy The Blue Book of Preserving by Ball (they make all of those glass jars people use to can).
This book is so good, it is the one Dawn uses when she cans. In this post, I will talk about canning peaches. However, the same ideas apply to all high acid foods. For the exact recipe for other foods refer to the Blue Book of Preserves or the internet.
Liane is so happy we are canning peaches.
The first thing you need to do when canning peaches is peel the peaches. Don't worry, you don't have to try to peel a peach with a paring knife. There is a trick that works much better. It actually works with almost anything with a thin skin. Put the peaches in a pot of boiling water and let them sit for 30 seconds to a minute (the time depends on the type of produce you are trying to peel).
Then dunk the peaches in a pot of cold water.
After this, rub the skin and it should come off quite easily.
After the peaches are peeled, cut them in halves or quarters and put them face down in jars.
Justin (a WWOOFer) was our head peach cutter and jar filler.
Make sure there is at least a half inch of space at the top of the jar. This is called headspace.
This is way to much headspace. Clearly Justin needs to cut some more peaches.
For vegetables, this would be the time when you add boiling water. For fruit though, you need a syrup. Combine sugar, water, and corn syrup in a pot and heat until completely dissolved.
Then ladle syrup into the the jars, making sure to leave a half inch of headspace.
Gently shake or tap the jars on a counter to remove air bubbles. Finally, put lids on the jars and place in boiling water for 25 minutes for quarts and 20 minutes for pints.
Once the jars have been in the boiling water for the appropriate amount of time, remove them and wait for the lids to seal. To tell if a jar has sealed, press down on the center of the lid. If it flexes then it is not sealed.
Aren't these jars just peachy?
