My obsession with canning continues.
(Sorry, I tried to post this last week before I went on a week-long wilderness skills building course but there was a glitch with the system. Happy Canning!)
Summer is winding down and I am taking every chance I can get to stuff fresh produce in jars and freezer bags.
I hit up my aunt for her peach recipe. The details are below. There have been a few questionable experiments with strawberries. I will let you know how they turn out.
Happy canning.
Aunt Susan's peaches.
About three dozen ripe peaches. Your fingers should be able to dent the flesh, but not be super soft.
Cane or raw sugar.
12, 500 milliliter canning jars with sealing lids.
A canner.
Lots of clean pots and clean dishcloths.
Ascorbic acid. (Powered Vitamin C)
Make sure you work on clean surfaces and sterilize the jars. A dishwasher works for the glass and you can pop the lids into a pot of boiling water on the stove for a minute or two. (I am sure opinions differ on that point, but that is what I did.)
First mix sugar and water in a pot and bring to a boil to make sure the crystals melt. Then turn off pot. The ratio we used was 2 cups sugar to 6 cups water.
To skin peaches drop them into boiling water for about 20 seconds, then into a cold water bath. After a few seconds in the cold water the skins should slide off easily.
Place 1/8 of a teaspoon of ascorbic acid in the bottom of the jars.
Top with cut peaches. Then fill with sugar syrup up to the bottom of the neck of the jar. You want the room because they contents will expand.
Wipe rim of jars with clean cloth. If you have any bits of peach or sugar on the rim they wont seal.
Screw on lids, hand tight is fine.
Bring water in canner to almost boil. Put in jars with the tops covered in water. Bring to a boil and let bubble away for 25 minutes.
Remove with tongs. (The ones at Canadian Tire are awesome. I am extremely clumsy and managed to make it through this burn free)
Place jars on baking rack to make sure air circulates as they cool.
Listen for the popping sound. That means the jar has sealed.
Final step: Try to refrain from going on a peach bender and eating them all before the end of the month.
I just finished a basic canning course a couple of weeks ago and am about to start getting some stuff in jars. I have a few friends that are into it also and they all have their specialty. It will work out well if all of us do up something and then spread it around so we have a bit of everything. Great experiments!
Posted by: Frank | 09/12/2011 at 09:07 AM