Millions of Peaches…

…peaches for me!

Please tell me I’m not the only one who remembers that song.

 

Ashlee here really quick! You may remember my obsession with washi tape? Well, Pick Your Plum has rolls for $1.50!! Halloween colors and other fun fall prints!!! Woohoo! I just ordered 3!

It's Nat again...
My lovely mother-in-law, The Queen, picked up a million peaches from an orchard north of here.  We’ve spent several days together doing all sorts of home canning.  We still aren’t finished.  We still need to bottle pears, potatoes and more salsa.  It’s a lot of work, but it’s so worth it.

 

Today, we (The Queen and I) will show you how to bottle your own peaches.  Sadly, I am not allowed to show you a picture of her.  But, she’s lovely.  And I{heart}her!  You really should be jealous that your MIL isn’t as wonderful as mine.  Oh!  And?!  She has five boys, just like me!  :)

 

Moving right along…

 

Start of with clean, sanitized bottles, lots of new lids, and rings.  The rings don’t need to be new.  You can reuse them.  We have a few metal Miracle Whip lids that we’ve been using for almost a century!  :)  I kid.  It hasn’t been that long…

Make sure you check the tops of all the bottles to be sure they aren’t cracked or chipped.  If they are, toss ‘em.  They won’t seal.

You’ll also need a canner with rack (the canner holds seven quart jars), sugar, water, and peaches.  Millions of peaches.

The easiest way to peel all these peaches is to scald them first.  So, bring a big pot of water to a boil on the stove.

When it’s boiling reduce the heat so that the water is still really hot, then put in a few peaches for about a minute.

Fill up one side of the sink with cold water.

Take a picture of your cute baby.

WAIT!!!  THE PEACHES!!!  THEY’RE BOILING!!!

Carefully remove the peaches from the hot water with a big slotted spoon or tongs.  Put the peaches in the cold water in the sink.

You can keep scalding the peaches until you have enough to work with, or you can do it as you go.  Whatevs.

Cut the peaches in half.  Peel, pit, and slice the peaches and put them into the jars.

You can’t really see her knife.  Weird.  It’s there, trust me.  You can shake the bottle so that the peaches settle.  You can add more peaches that way.

Fill seven quart bottles with peaches.  Once the bottles are filled, bring 6 cups of water and 3 cups of sugar to a boil until the sugar is dissolved.  When the syrup is ready, fill the bottles with the hot syrup leaving a 1/2 inch space at the top of the jar.

Bring all the lids you’ll need to a boil.

While you’re waiting for the lids to boil, wipe off the tops of the bottles.  If you have anything stuck to the top, your lids might not seal, so make sure they’re clean.

Use a butter knife (or tongs) to get them out of the boiling water.

Place them on top of the bottles.

Add the rings, and make sure they’re on tight.

Oh goodness.  The Queen sure is strong!  :)

When your lids are on, and the rings are tight, place the bottles in the rack and lower it into the canner.

Fill the canner with enough water to cover the bottles.  Place the lid on the canner, put the canner on the stovetop and bring it to a boil.

You can process it on the stove, but we usually do it on the Camp Chef outside.  We tried that a few years ago and loved it.  We’ve never gone back!  :)

Once the water is boiling, turn the heat down.  Boil gently and steadily for 30 minutes.  Cooking times may vary depending on altitude.  Thirty minutes is the recommended time for 5,000 feet.

When the processing time is up, remove the canner from the heat and lift the rack out of the canner.  Use a jar lifter to take the bottles out of the hot water.

Let the bottles cool.

See?!  There’s that vintage Miracle Whip lid I was talking about!  Don’t worry.  There’s a new lid underneath it.

After the bottles have cooled, check the centers of the lids to make sure they’ve sealed.  If they haven’t sealed, the centers of the lids will not be depressed.  If they’re sealed, they won’t pop when you push down on the center.

If they’re not sealed, you have two options.  You can remove the lid, clean the top, put on a new (boiled) lid, replace the ring, and process again.

-or-

Put that bottle in the fridge and feed it to your kids as an after school snack.  Or just eat it yourself.  I won’t tell.

Once all of your bottles have sealed, you can move them and put them away.  But before you do that, stand back and admire your work!

Aren’t they pretty?!  :)

 

The Queen’s #1 tip for home canning is to use the buddy system.  It goes so much faster when you do it with a friend; even if you have to do twice as much so that you can split the goods.
Always.Can.With.A.Friend.