Canning Peaches

On Sunday I went to the local farmers market and procured 4 tubs of ripe, juicy peaches fresh from a local farmer.  They were perfectly round and had the deepest red blush and they smelled like a refreshing summer day.  It's nice to be able to get peaches that are picked just as they become ripe because they have so much more flavor than the peaches in the local chain grocery stores that are picked green and ripen in warehouses. 

The next day canning commenced.  We started by filled the canning pot and putting it on to boil.  Next we filled a smaller pot with water to boil for skinning the peaches.  As that reached the boiling point I made up a bowl of ice water and began to wash the peaches.  Since we had a good number of peaches we processed them in batches. 

First they go into the boiling water bath for two minutes.  Next they were transferred to the ice water bath.  After a few seconds in there the skins slipped of easily.  Once they were skinned they were cut into slices which is easier said than done.  Those peaches are slippery little suckers without their skins!  When it was all said and done we had two heaping bowls of peach slices.

 

The next step involved making the syrup for the peaches.  It is really much easier than it sounds.  All I did was mix 2 1/4 cups of sugar with 5 1/2 cups water.  I stirred until all the sugar dissolved and then put it on the stove to boil.

 

Once the canning jars were ready I removed them from the water bath and we filled them with the slippery slices, packing as many as we could into each jar.  Then we topped them off with the boiling syrup, wiped the rims and put the lids on securely.  Next they went back into the boiling water bath where they happily bubbled away for the next 25 minutes. 

 

When time was up I took them out of the canner and let them cool on the counter until their lids popped, letting me know they all sealed well.  All in all we canned ten pints of peaches today....not bad for a few hours work..

 

 

Not only do I love the way these jars of beautiful summer freshness look, but I love knowing exactly what went into making them.  The only ingredients are peaches, sugar and water, and that is all I really want in the something like this.  When I open one of these cans on a cold winter night, I will appreciate the afternoon that I spent making them as well.