Canning peaches produces the most tasty peaches you may ever taste. It’s the perfect way to enjoy this jewel of the summer to enjoy all year long.
Once you eat these homemade canned peaches, you will never buy a store bought can again. I promise. So if you like store bought canned peaches, don’t try this at home.
What types of peaches to use
Really any yellow type peach that is good for eating or cooking will work well for canning. Do not use white-flesh peaches. Peaches with white flesh are less acidic (have a high pH) which makes them unsuitable for canning. Even pressure canning at this time. More research will need to be done testing acidification of white peaches, according to the National Center for Home Food Preservation. If you have white peaches, freeze them to preserve them.
Choose perfectly ripe, mature peaches. Freestone peaches are easier to pit than clingstone peaches.
New to canning? Start with our comprehensive article on “How to Can Everything“. It will walk you through all of the dos and don’ts related to canning.
How many do I need?
17½ pounds (about 12 quarts of fruit) for a full canner of load of seven quarts. 11 pounds (about 7 quarts of fruit) for a canner load of 9 pints.
Canning peaches can be done in a few different ways. Hot pack or raw pack. You can use a water bath canning pot or pressure canner to process the fruit to make them shelf stable.
New to canning? Start with our comprehensive article on “How to Can Everything“. It will walk you through all of the dos and don’ts related to canning.
Hot pack versus raw pack
Hot pack simply means that you blanch to peaches for a few minutes before they are added to the hot jars hot.
Raw pack is simply peeling the peaches and adding them to the hot jars. Then covering with hot syrup.
There are pros and cons of both methods. Raw pack is less time consuming and you will use one less pot. There is generally the risk of fruit float. Fruit float does not affect the safety at all. This occurs due to the peaches having more air in the fruit itself.
Hot pack peaches will not have a tendency to float. The air spaces have been replaced by water from the cooking process. You will need one extra pot to clean up. More fruit usually fits into the jars.
Hot pack is generally recommended over raw pack for the best flavor.
Types of syrup
Quantities of water and sugar in syrups
- very light syrup – 6½ cups water to ¾ cup sugar
- light syrup – 5¾ cups water to 1½ cups sugar
- medium syrup – 5¼ cups water to 2¼ cups sugar
- heavy syrup – 5 cups water to 3¼ cups sugar
- honey syrup – 1 cup honey to 4 cups water or juice
- juice – you can use apple or white grape juice instead of water to make syrup.
With most canning recipes that require the use of liquids, it’s a good idea to give the jars a quick rinse before storage. Sometimes the syrup (or food) may siphon (see more below in the section ‘What is siphoning’) out and leave a sugar residue on the outside of the jar where mold can grow.
What you need
- peaches – mature yellow fleshed peaches. Use either halved peaches or slice your pieces.
- sugar, honey or frozen apple juice, white grape juice If you choose honey, use regular honey, not raw honey. It is cheaper and the raw honey will lose all of it’s health benefits with the heat from the canning process. Use apple or grape juice at a ratio of 1 can of juice to 3 cans of water.
How to can peaches
Hot-pack method
Step One
Set up an ice water bath. Just a large bowl of ice water.
Step Two
Slice a x on the stem end or bottom of each peach.
Add them to boiling water. Blanch for 30-60 seconds
Step Three
Remove from boiling water and place in the ice bath until cool enough to handle.
Step Four
Slip skins off of peaches.
Step Five
Halve peaches. Remove pit. Add to bowl with water and lemon juice or citric acid solution.
Step Six
Make your canning syrup and add peaches. Heat to boiling.
Step Seven
Remove peaches with slotted spoon and add to jars. Place halved peaches cut side down.
Step Eight
If peaches land in jars with cut side up, and they inevitably will, flip them over with a wooden spoon or a fork.
Step Nine
Ladle in syrup leaving ½ inch headspace. (the space between the top of the food and the rim of the jar.
Remove air bubbles with bubble tool or wooden or plastic chopstick.
Step Ten
Thoroughly wipe the rim of the jars with a damp paper towel. You want to make sure to get any syrup residue off of the jar.
Add jars to canning pot with your jar lifter. Cover the pot and bring to a full rolling boil. Start timer. Process jars for 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts. See recipe below for altitude adjustments.
Raw-pack method
Do not raw pack peaches if you are not using additional sugar, honey or juice. Raw packing requires the sugar to be safe.
After step five above, slice fruit or add halved fruit to the jars cut side down. Make your syrup and pour directly over the fruit. Remove air bubbles, wipe jar rims add two part canning lids.
Place in canning pot. Process for the required amount of time. Let the jars sit in the hot water for 5 to 10 minutes.
Although canning peaches raw pack is perfectly safe, there are a few drawbacks. You will definitely experience fruit float, which isn’t really a big deal but the flavor of the peaches will be inferior to hot packed peaches.
Pressure canning
You can also use your pressure canner to make these peaches shelf stable.
Prepare fruit and jars exactly as you would for water bath canning (see step by step photos above).
Why did my jars lose syrup? / What is siphoning?
Siphoning is a common occurrence that sometimes happens when canning. Happens to the best of us.
It’s due to a large difference in temperature and/ or air pressure during the canning process. It is more prevalent when using water or syrups rather than solid products such as jams.
There can be a couple reasons why siphoning happens, even with jars that have sealed. The most common reason is not letting the jars rest in the canning pot after they have finished processing.
Another common reason is that the jars are not hot when the hot food is added. Make sure that your jars are hot when the food is added. Then fill your jars and get them into the canning pot as soon as you possibly can to avoid the jars cooling at all before placing them in the boiling water.
It can also be beneficial to just have the canning pot at a high simmer, not a full rolling boil when adding the hot jars into the pot. Then, once all of the jars are added, crank up the heat and getting the pot boiling. Once it’s boiling you can start your timer.
Carefully remove all of the bubbles to reduce siphoning also make sure you have the proper headspace for the product you are canning. If a recipe calls for ½ inch headspace (the space between the product and the rim of the jar) do not fill it to ¼ inch headspace. This can definitely cause siphoning.
What if I experience siphoning?
Siphoning does not mean that all of your hard work will be lost but there are a few steps to take to ensure that the food you are storing is safe for your family to consume.
- Check your seal. Press down in the center of your canning lid. The lid should not flex up or down, if it does it must be refrigerated and consumed first.
- Does your food still look fresh with bright colors?
- Have you lost more than half of your canning liquid?
Even if you lost a lot of your canning lid but the jars are sealed and the colors are still good, they are perfectly safe to eat. Keep in mind though that if you lost a lot of the liquid and the food is exposed, it will lose color quickly and should be used first.
Try to follow these simple steps to avoid siphoning but know that you will still experience siphoning on occasion.
Pro- Tip: When canning, choose a reputable source for your recipe. The National Center for Home Food Preservation is one and the other is the USDA Complete Guide to Canning.
All of the recipes on this site are based on one or both of these trusted sources. We just do a more thorough job showing you how to do it, step by step.
More peach recipes
More canning recipes
- Canning Whole Tomatoes
- Canning Tomatillos
- Beets for Canning
- Canning Potatoes
- Kosher Pickles
- Canning Venison
Helpful Tools
- canning pot
- Canning tool set
- quart canning jars
- canning lids
- canning bands
- extra large bamboo cutting board
- saucepans
- paring knife
Canning peaches is the perfect way to preserve this delicious summer fruit.
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I hope you enjoyed the recipe today!
Enjoy. And have fun cooking!
Canning Peaches | How to Can Peaches
Ingredients
- 11 pounds peaches
- 6½ cups water
- ¾ cup sugar For very light syrup. See notes for other syrups
- lemon juice or ascorbic acid to deter browning
Instructions
- Prepare water bath canning pot. Fill it wit enough water two cover the jars with one inch of water. Note. Jars will take less water to cover them when they are full. When water begins to boil, lower heat to a simmer.
- Wash, clean and heat jars and lids.
- Start a large pot of water boiling to blanch peaches in.
- Set up an ice water bath. Add ice and water to a large bowl, set aside
- Cut a slit in the blossom end of each peach (the side opposite the stem)11 pounds peaches
- Drop peaches into boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds to loosen skins. Remove with a slotted spoon to the ice bath.
- Set up another bowl with water and lemon juice (1 tablespoon per cup of water) or ascorbic acid solution. See manufacturer's instructions for the ascorbic acid.lemon juice or ascorbic acid
- Once peaches are cool enough to handle. slip off skins.
- Cut them in half and remove the pit. Either place them in the acidifier halved or slice them if you prefer and add the slices to the acidified water.
- Prepare your syrup in the pot you used to blanch the peaches. Add peaches to syrup in batches and bring the syrup to a boil.6½ cups water, ¾ cup sugar
- Add peaches to jars. Load halves with the cut side down. Or load slices in jars with a slotted spoon.
- Ladle hot syrup over peaches.
- Remove air bubbles with a bubble removing tool or a plastic or wooden chopstick.
- Wipe the rims of jars clean with a damp paper towel.
- Center lids on jars. Screw on bands fingertip tight.
- Load jars into your canning pot with your jar lifter.
- Apply lid on pot. Bring the water back to a boil. Start timer. Process pint jars 20 minutes. Adjust for altitude. See recipe notes below.
- Remove canning pot from the heat and remove lid. Allow jars to rest in the hot water for 5 to 10 minutes before removing them to a kitchen towel on your counter.
See all of my favorite tools and gift ideas on my New Amazon Store!Check out Binky’s Amazon Store!Notes
- very light syrup – 6½ cups water to ¾ cup sugar
- light syrup – 5¾ cups water to 1½ cups sugar
- medium syrup – 5¼ cups water to 2¼ cups sugar
- heavy syrup – 5 cups water to 3¼ cups sugar
- honey syrup – 1 cup honey to 4 cups water or juice
- juice – you can use apple or white grape juice instead of water to make syrup.
Nutrition
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Originally published October 10, 2022.
Carrie Robinson
This is such a smart way to preserve peaches to enjoy all year round! It was a piece of cake with your recipe. Thanks! 🙂
Beth Neels
Thanks Carrie. We’re glad the article was helpful.
Nikki
I’ve never attempted to can peaches before. With your step-by-step directions I know I can do this. Looking forward to having peaches year round.
Beth Neels
It’s great to have freshly canned fruits in the pantry! Thanks Nikki.
Chenée
I’ve always wondered how to get started canning fruit and peaches are my favorite! So glad I found this!
Beth Neels
Glad it was a help to you Chenee.
Tayler
This is so helpful! I can’t wait to can peaches next summer!
Beth Neels
Good luck Tayler, let us know how it goes.