Canning Vanilla Peach Jam Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is it safe to can white peach jam? ›

There is evidence that some varieties of white-flesh peaches are higher in pH (lower in acid) than traditional yellow varieties. The natural pH of some white peaches can exceed 4.6, making them a low-acid food for canning purposes.

It will last several weeks in the fridge, but can be frozen for up to three months. Obviously you can use the jam anywhere you like jam — on toast, in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, or on fresh biscuits.

Tips For Canning Peaches

Add a little lemon juice to each jar before adding the peaches to ensure you reach safe ph acidity levels for canning. Halved peaches take up for space in the jars than sliced. If you are planning on halving your peaches you may need to use more jars.

It takes about 5 good sizes peaches or nectarines (or about 10 plums) to fill one quart jar. An average of 171/2 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 11 pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints. A bushel weighs 48 pounds and yields 16 to 24 quarts ; an average of 21/2 pounds per quart.

CAUTION: Do not can white-flesh peaches.

The natural pH of some white peaches can exceed 4.6, making them a low-acid food for canning purposes. Currently, there is no low-acid pressure process available for white-flesh peaches nor a researched acidification procedure for safe boiling water canning.

White peaches don't have as much acidity making it difficult to preserve and cling peaches stick to the pit making them very difficult to separate so you'll likely lose a lot of good peach flesh in the process of trying to remove the pit.

Regardless of the type of jam or jelly you have on hand, it's important to know the signs of spoilage. According to Lee, this may include yeasty off-odors, fermented alcohol-like flavors, and mold growth, which may appear as white fuzzy patches inside the jar or on the product itself.

Lemon is crucial to balancing those sweet flavors, but it also helps the pectin to firm up the jam. It can be added at the start of the cooking process or towards the end, but what must be taken into account is that adding liquids to the jam mixture will inevitably require the jam to cook for longer.

You don't have to, but proceed carefully. "If you are really anti-pectin, you can omit it, but you'll need to cook the jam longer. Doing so will remove most of the water content in order to get it to set up properly and in turn, will result in a smaller yield," adds Wynne.

Almost all fruit contains some acid, but the natural amount of acid can differ between fruit types, and even from batch to batch of the same type of fruit. To ensure that my jam has a proper acid level to gel properly and limit bacteria growth, I always add lemon juice to a jam mixture.

Why do peaches turn brown after canning? ›

What Causes Peaches To Brown? Peach can be eaten after washing it. But if you are slicing and freezing peaches or canning them, it is nearly impossible to prevent them from turning brown. The browning process kicks because when you cut a peach, a group of enzymes called polyphenol oxidases (PPOs) are activated.

It may occur dur- ing the cooking process, or it may not be detectable until some weeks after canning and then continue in the can. It is not di- rectly associated with advanced maturity or excessive cooking, although these two factors can cause the fruit to be soft, and are confusing in borderline cases.

Clingstone. The pretty yellow peach flesh "clings" to the stone, and therefore the name. These are the earliest peaches to come in. Distinguished by their juiciness and sweet peach flavor, they lend themselves very well to jams, preserves and canning.

Freezing peaches is a little easier and quicker and produces wonderfully sweet and delicious peaches to put in your freezer. Canning peaches produces jars of peeled and halved peaches for your pleasure.

Processing time.

Process hot pack peaches in the water bath canner for the durations listed below, based on the size of your jars and your altitude: Altitude 0 to 1,000 feet: Pints, 20 minutes, quarts, 25 minutes. Altitude 1,001 to 3,000 feet: Pints, 25 minutes, quarts, 30 minutes.

You may be considering canning white peaches; however, this is one particular fruit that should not be canned using any type of canning method.

Should I use yellow or white peaches for canning? Definitely yellow. White peaches have a pH above 4.6 making them low acid and hot water bath canning will not destroy harmful bacteria. There is also no low-acid pressure canning process available for white peaches.

Over extended periods of time, however, changes in color, flavor, texture and nutrient content of home-canned jams and jellies is inevitable. A typical full-sugar fruit jam or jelly should be safe to eat if the jar seal remains intact and the product shows no visible signs of spoilage from molds or yeasts.

Usually that thin, white film is jelled foam. If your fruit was foamy in the sauce pan and you didn't skim the foam off, or if your mixture had a lot of air in it and you didn't do air releasing before putting the jam in the jars, the foam or tiny air bubbles rise to the top of the jar and form that white film.