It's that time of year. Colorado's Palisade peaches are arriving in stores and often on sale. Many of us wait for the opportunity to enjoy local produce, especially when it's a delicious peach. My daughter called last night and announced she's the recipient of 40 pounds of peaches. So what do you do when you have more fruit than you could possibly eat in one sitting? There are many answers to that question.
Canning, jellying, jamming, freezing, and drying are all options to try. My daughter is planning on canning and freezing most of her peaches (and hopefully sharing some with me). This week I juiced about 10 pounds of peaches to make jelly. Then I took the leftover pulp and made fruit leather in the dehydrator. How hard was that? Not at all. The juicing was a piece of cake. I have a steam juicer that converts pounds of cut fruit into cups of crystal-clear juice. You can also simmer fruit and water together for an hour or so and strain the slurry through a jelly bag to achieve the same result. The leftover slurry is spread on a dehydrator tray and dried for about six hours. Cut it into bite-size pieces and it's a great snack.
One pound of peaches provides about one cup of juice to make jelly. Three pounds of peaches makes about three cups of juice. Add that and pectin to five cups of sugar and you'll make five half-pint jars of jelly.
When canning, it takes about one pound of peaches to fill one pint jar. That same basic relationship between weight and volume is pretty constant for most fruit. Forty pounds of fruit will give you 20 quart jars to enjoy throughout the year. When it comes to peaches, that's a lot of golden deliciousness.
If you've never canned or made jam or jelly and are worried about starting now, just freeze your produce. You can cut peaches into slices or halves and freeze them in a bag or plastic container filled with water. You'll want to add one teaspoon of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to each quart of water to keep the fruit from darkening. Better yet, freeze them in a syrup solution of 30%-40% sugar. Later you can thaw them and pop right on top of your favorite vanilla ice cream or mix them in with your morning oatmeal.
If you're ready to take the plunge and want to can or jelly, there are many resources at your fingertips. I recommend getting a copy of the "Ball Blue Book". It's a book about home preserving that's published by the Ball company; the same one that sells canning jars and lids. It's sold at many stores and all over the internet and should become part of your library. Easy to follow directions will guide you through every step of the process.
There are many videos and recipes online too, but I caution you against many of them if you're just starting out. Preserving food is a serious topic. It's easy and fun, but if you don't do it right you can introduce deadly bacteria and toxins to you and your family. Only use recipes and procedures that are approved by the
USDA. State Extension offices offer great assistance in this area too. You can find online fact sheets from Colorado State University
here.
I hope this has you thinking about the benefits of home preservation. I love making dozens of jars of pickles, jams, and jellies and giving them out to friends and family at Christmas. Even if you only do it for yourself, you'll love cracking open a jar of delicious peach jelly in January and spreading it on a piece of toast as you look out over your frozen garden. It helps keep the spirit of gardening in your heart.
Enjoy.
It's that time of year. Colorado's Palisade peaches are arriving in stores and often on sale. Many of us wait for the opportunity to enjoy local produce, especially when it's a delicious peach. My daughter called last night and announced she's the recipient of 40 pounds of peaches. So what do you do when you have more fruit than you could possibly eat in one sitting? There are many answers to that question.
Canning, jellying, jamming, freezing, and drying are all options to try. My daughter is planning on canning and freezing most of her peaches (and hopefully sharing some with me). This week I juiced about 10 pounds of peaches to make jelly. Then I took the leftover pulp and made fruit leather in the dehydrator. How hard was that? Not at all. The juicing was a piece of cake. I have a steam juicer that converts pounds of cut fruit into cups of crystal-clear juice. You can also simmer fruit and water together for an hour or so and strain the slurry through a jelly bag to achieve the same result. The leftover slurry is spread on a dehydrator tray and dried for about six hours. Cut it into bite-size pieces and it's a great snack.
One pound of peaches provides about one cup of juice to make jelly. Three pounds of peaches makes about three cups of juice. Add that and pectin to five cups of sugar and you'll make five half-pint jars of jelly.
When canning, it takes about one pound of peaches to fill one pint jar. That same basic relationship between weight and volume is pretty constant for most fruit. Forty pounds of fruit will give you 20 quart jars to enjoy throughout the year. When it comes to peaches, that's a lot of golden deliciousness.
If you've never canned or made jam or jelly and are worried about starting now, just freeze your produce. You can cut peaches into slices or halves and freeze them in a bag or plastic container filled with water. You'll want to add one teaspoon of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to each quart of water to keep the fruit from darkening. Better yet, freeze them in a syrup solution of 30%-40% sugar. Later you can thaw them and pop right on top of your favorite vanilla ice cream or mix them in with your morning oatmeal.
If you're ready to take the plunge and want to can or jelly, there are many resources at your fingertips. I recommend getting a copy of the "Ball Blue Book". It's a book about home preserving that's published by the Ball company; the same one that sells canning jars and lids. It's sold at many stores and all over the internet and should become part of your library. Easy to follow directions will guide you through every step of the process.
There are many videos and recipes online too, but I caution you against many of them if you're just starting out. Preserving food is a serious topic. It's easy and fun, but if you don't do it right you can introduce deadly bacteria and toxins to you and your family. Only use recipes and procedures that are approved by the USDA. State Extension offices offer great assistance in this area too. You can find online fact sheets from Colorado State University here.
I hope this has you thinking about the benefits of home preservation. I love making dozens of jars of pickles, jams, and jellies and giving them out to friends and family at Christmas. Even if you only do it for yourself, you'll love cracking open a jar of delicious peach jelly in January and spreading it on a piece of toast as you look out over your frozen garden. It helps keep the spirit of gardening in your heart.
Enjoy.
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