Peaches are relatively easy to can. They don’t require a pressure canner, you only need to process them in a boiling water bath.
How to Prepare Peaches for Canning or Freezing
First – you need to peel your peaches. There are two ways to do this, if the peaches are nicely ripe, you can slice them in half, grasp the peach with both hands and gently twist. This will loosen the stone and make it easy to pop out without creating any bruising on your peach.
If you’d like to keep the counters clean and mess-free, place a cutting board inside a jelly-roll pan. This will help contain the juices and prevent sticky juice drips from spreading around.
Slip the edge of the knife at the skin and pull gently; the peel will slip right off. In the event that the skins do not pop right off, you have two choices, you can wait a few days until the peaches are ripe, or you can speed the process along with the boiling water method.
Bring a large saucepan to a boil and plunge the peaches ( a few at a time) into boiling water for 20-60 seconds. Remove them from the water and immediately plunge them into ice water for at least 2 minutes.
Finish peeling your peaches and place them in a large bowl of cold water; add 1/4 – 1/3 cup of Lemon juice or two tablespoons of Fruit Fresh. This prevents your peaches from darkening.
Note: Be sure to remove any dark spots, mushy pieces, etc. If the fruit is still good, you can use these pieces for peach jam.
Peaches are relatively easy to can. They don’t require a pressure canner, you only need to process them in a boiling water bath.
What Next?
Now that the peaches have been prepared, you can either can them or make any of hundreds of peach recipes. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Harvest Peach Jam– a lightly spiced peach jam
- Peach Delight – a thick preserve of peaches for use on pancakes, ice cream, or as a filling for muffins or Coffee Cake, etc
- Peach Halves
- Homemade Peach Pie Filling
Where to get Peaches?
Hopefully, you have access to a real farmers’ market, (not to offend anyone, but I’ve seen some pretty sad commercial markets claiming “Farm Stand Prices” over the last couple of years), but true farm stand prices such as a bushel of peaches for $20.
How to Prepare Peaches for Canning or Freezing
Equipment
Instructions
- Wash the peaches under cool running water.
- Cut each peach in half around the pit and twist the halves apart.
- Remove the pit from each peach.
- If the fruit is ripe, peel away the skin with the edge of a knife.
- If the skins cling, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil.
- Lower a few peach halves into the boiling water for 20 to 60 seconds.
- Transfer the peaches immediately to ice water and let them cool for at least 2 minutes.
- Peel off the loosened skins.
- Fill a large bowl with cold water and stir in the lemon juice, or use Fruit Fresh if preferred.
- Place the peeled peaches in the treated water until you’re ready to can or freeze them.
- Trim away bruised, dark, or mushy spots before preserving.
Recipe Size Alteration
💡 If you altered the ingredients above by doubling or tripling the recipe, you may also need to change the pan/dish size and adjust the cook time.
Notes
Prep and cook times are estimated from the stated steps.
Use ripe freestone peaches for the easiest peeling and pitting.
Refrigerate prepared peaches in the lemon-water mixture and use within 24 hours for best quality.
Freeze prepared peaches in proper freezer containers and use within 8 to 12 months for best quality.
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