Canning Peaches

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Ready to make the most of the season? Let’s start canning peaches and building up the fruit in your stockpile for winter!

Ready to make the most of the season? Let's start canning peaches and building up the fruit in your stockpile for winter!

Canning Peaches

Anyone that buys produce seasonally knows that to get peaches, you have about a 1-month window or less each year. We always use that time to find the best deal, stock up, and can peaches to have them fresh all winter long. Canning peaches is very similar to tomatoes when it comes to canning, except peaches are canned in a simple syrup.

Please check with your local extension office for any changes on times/temps/high altitude.

Peaches You Can Preserve

You cannot can white peaches as they do not contain enough acid to can with water bath. They are excellent dehydrated! You want yellow flesh peaches for canning.

When looking for peaches, choose some that are not quite ripe yet so they are still a bit firm. Also make sure they are a freestone peaches variety so that when you cut them open, the pit comes out easily. Clingstone peaches will be difficult to cut apart for canning but are great for fresh eating.

Peaches

What You Need for Canning Peaches

  • 17 pounds of fresh, ripe peaches
  • 7 quart jars or 14 pint canning jars
  • Simple syrup recipe (below)
  • Ice
  • Large Stockpot
  • Water Bath Canner
  • Canning Utensils (Jar lifters, air bubble remover, funnel, etc)
  • Lids and Rims

canning peaches

Instructions for Canning Peaches

Start by making a simple syrup. I use 14 cups of water to 2 1/2 cup of sugar. I use raw sugar instead of processed sugar. The color is a little different, but the taste is not affected. Keep this syrup on low on the stove so it stays warm.

This post is older and I now only can with honey or juice. For peaches, I do half white grape juice and half water to make a “syrup”. Apple juice has a little too much added flavor. White grape juice seems to work just right. You still need to heat it before adding it to the jars.

If you have any leftover syrup, you can put it in the fridge and use it for another batch.

canning peaches

Clean and wash up your peaches.

canning peaches

Place the peaches in hot water (I run a half-filled stockpot on medium heat while canning.) Leave them in the hot water for several minutes.

canning peaches

After you remove the peaches from the hot water with a slotted spoon, dip them into ice-cold water in a large pot or a clean sink. Leave them in the cold water for several minutes before you start peeling.

canning peaches

If you’ve kept them in the hot water and cold water long enough, the skins should peel off easily.

canning peaches

Slice the peeled peaches. Canning books will recommend cutting them in half or quarters to can but I cut mine into pieces because that’s how we eat them later.

canning peaches

Add the hot fruit to clean jars. (I like to run my jars through the dishwasher first since we store them outside.) Pack peaches in the jars as tightly as you can without squishing the peaches. I use a raw pack in my jars; otherwise the peaches get too mushy.

canning peaches

Add in the simple syrup to fill up the jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Remove any air bubbles and add more liquid if needed. Clean off the tops of the jars, removing any syrup before you add the lids and rims. Make sure the rims are screwed on fingertip tight.

canning peaches

Process the jars in a hot water bath canner with boiling water for 25 minutes. Adjust for high altitude. After the time is up, remove the canner lid, leave the jars for 5 minutes, and then remove them to dry.

Water Bath Instructions
Source SDSU.

Be careful not to disturb the jars while they are sealing after you remove them. I place mine on a flour sack towel on top of a cutting board on the counter to seal, cool, and dry after canning.

If you have some riper peaches, you might want to consider making Peach Cantaloupe Butter or Pear Sauce!

I like to rotate canned goods out every 3 years, but they should last for many years if properly canned and sealed.

peach kuchen recipe

How to Use Home-Canned Peaches

You can do many tasty things with your home-canned peaches besides eating them plain! Here are a few things to try:

Canned Goods

More Canning Recipes

Recipe Binder Post Promo

Canning Peaches

Learn how to can your own peaches at home!

Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword Canning Peaches
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 7 quarts
Calories 463 kcal
Creator Merissa

Ingredients

  • 17 pounds fresh peaches
  • simple syrup recipe

Instructions

  1. Start by making a simple syrup. I use 14 cups of water to 2 1/2 cup of sugar. I use raw sugar instead of processed sugar. The color is a little different, but the taste is not affected. Keep this syrup on low on the stove so it stays warm.
  2. This post is older and I now only can with honey or juice. For peaches, I do half white grape juice and half water to make a "syrup". Apple juice has a little too much added flavor. White grape juice seems to work just right. You still need to heat it before adding it to the jars.
  3. If you have any leftover syrup, you can put it in the fridge and use it for another batch.
  4. Clean and wash up your peaches.
  5. Place the peaches in hot water (I run a half-filled stockpot on medium heat while canning.) Leave them in the hot water for several minutes.
  6. After you remove the peaches from the hot water with a slotted spoon, dip them into ice-cold water in a large pot or a clean sink. Leave them in the cold water for several minutes before you start peeling.
  7. If you've kept them in the hot water and cold water long enough, the skins should peel off easily.
  8. Slice the peeled peaches. Canning books will recommend cutting them in half or quarters to can but I cut mine into pieces because that's how we eat them later.
  9. Add the hot fruit to clean jars. (I like to run my jars through the dishwasher first since we store them outside.) Pack peaches in the jars as tightly as you can without squishing the peaches. I use a raw pack in my jars; otherwise the peaches get too mushy.
  10. Add in the simple syrup to fill up the jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Remove any air bubbles and add more liquid if needed. Clean off the tops of the jars, removing any syrup before you add the lids and rims. Make sure the rims are screwed on fingertip tight.
  11. Process the jars in a hot water bath canner with boiling water for 25 minutes. Adjust for high altitude. After the time is up, remove the canner lid, leave the jars for 5 minutes, and then remove them to dry.
Nutrition Facts
Canning Peaches
Amount Per Serving
Calories 463 Calories from Fat 27
% Daily Value*
Fat 3g5%
Saturated Fat 0.2g1%
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 1g
Sodium 143mg6%
Potassium 1344mg38%
Carbohydrates 111g37%
Fiber 17g71%
Sugar 92g102%
Protein 10g20%
Vitamin A 3591IU72%
Vitamin C 45mg55%
Calcium 44mg4%
Iron 4mg22%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Make sure you check out all the free Canning and Preserving Recipes we have on Little House Living! And don’t forget to check out The Canner’s Cookbook, it has recipes on how to use all your home canned goods!

I recommend a Presto Pressure Canner and the book Putting Food By for all your canning projects!

Have you ever tried canning peaches? How many jars would you like to do each year?

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Me and Kady

Merissa has been blogging about and living the simple life since 2009 and has internationally published 2 books on the topic. You can read about Merissa’s journey from penniless to now on the About Page. You can send her a message any time from the Contact Page.


 

This blog post on Canning Peaches was originally posted on Little House Living in August 2012. It has been updated as of August 2023.

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26 Comments

  1. This is just the way we did it when i was growing up, only we used sooo much more sugar in the syrup!! I am trying to use less sugar now that we are eating healthier. Have you ever tried just adding pineapple juice to the jar of peaches? I did it one year and the family really loved it!

  2. My husband and I canned peaches yesterday. I used the ball book one of the things that I wasn’t doing that they had in the instructions is after the processing time is up you leave the jars in the hot water bath for 5 min.. This helps to eliminate the juice from frothing over. I’ve had a problem with this in the past that extra 5 min. was a huge help.

  3. I canned with beet sugar. That is what they use in lieu of cane sugar in Germany. I think I will try your syrup. Thanks

  4. I like the simple presentations you make with your articles, the close-up pictures, and the tips, i.e., the olive oil candle in the half pint jars, and the peach canning recipe. I’m going to try both of these! Thanks!

    1. You could but they would turn out mushy and it wouldn’t be worth the extra time. Water bath canning works just fine for peaches since they are a higher acidity level.

  5. I read that you had to start out with cold water in the water bath then wait till it boiled to start timing. Is this true or can I add jars with hot syrup to boiling water bath

    1. Yes, as long as the jars already have warm syrup in them it’s ok to add them to an already warm bath. You just wouldn’t want to add cold jars to a warm bath so they don’t crack on you. 🙂

  6. The peaches are cheap this week, and there’s a special on Mason Jars!! Seems like the right time to do this…although i have diabetes and canned peaches are so sweet….Could i use an alternative??

  7. How do you keep the peaches from turning dark in color after they sit for several months. should they be soft or firm

    1. I haven’t had much trouble with peaches turning colors after canned…do you put sugar in them? Canned peaches are the same texture as cooked peaches, they are soft but not mushy.

      1. Thank you, I use a simple syrup, They seem to be darker toward the top of jar. I followed the ball book recipe

  8. How many quarts does the recipe make? I know you mentioned 2 or 3 lbs. per quart, but didn’t know the final quart count. Thanks!

    1. It will depend on how many pounds of peaches you start out with. Depending on how you pack your jars you may have some syrup left over but I just store the leftovers in the fridge for the next batch.

  9. I dint do a syrup on my peaches. I cut directly into jars packing as full as possible with damaging fruit. I add 1/2 cup of sugar directly into jar shaking it down in. Then fill jar to 1/2 inch head space with boiling water place lids and rings and process in my canner as recommended

  10. I am diabetic, so, no sugar/syrup for me. I saw someone mentioning using honey to sweeten the peaches. I use raw honey often. If possible, I’d like to know exactly how much honey is added to each quart jar, please.