Mostly Water by Mary Odden

Author:Mary Odden
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Red Hen Press

Canned Peaches

Patsy says get the ripe fruit from the tree right before you start. The peaches should be a little firm, she says—not green and not too ripe either. She and Cliff like the variety called “Improved Elbertas,” a freestone peach. In eastern Oregon, these are ready in early September. A bushel, in a basket if you are lucky enough to see one anymore, will produce twenty to twenty-five finished quarts of peaches. The amount depends, Patsy says, on how tightly you pack the peach halves into the jars.

She writes, “You need clean, hot quart jars. Wide-mouth jars make the work much easier. Jar lids and rings, sugar, water, a big water canner, canning tongs and funnel.

“You have some choice to make about how sweet you want your canned peaches. We like a light syrup, which is two cups of sugar to every four cups of water.

“Start by washing the fruit under hot water, which helps when you start to peel the skin away. Peel the peach, cut it in half, and remove the pit, and put it in the jar with the inside of the peach facing downward. Repeat until the jar is full. Tap the full jar on a folded cloth or hot pad until some of the peaches slide farther down the jar, making room for more peaches. Continue until the jar is full up to the neck of the jar. At this point you can add the hot syrup to the peaches, leaving a little room for expansion at the top. Apply a hot lid (put lids and caps in hot water in a pan on the stove when you start peeling so they will be ready for this stage). Cap each jar snug with a ring, and repeat until you have all the jars that will fit in your canner.

“Your canner should have a wire divider to keep the jars from directly contacting the bottom of the kettle. Pour hot water over the packed jars in the canner until the water is above the lids. Cover the kettle, turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Then adjust the heat to a steady boil for thirty minutes, twenty-five minutes if you are doing pints instead of quarts.

“Using the tongs, carefully remove the hot jars of peaches, placing each on a counter with towels under and on top, out of a draft. Wait for the jars of peaches to seal and cool—you will hear each jar lid pop down and seal as it cools.

“When the jars are cool, check to make sure they are sealed, and then wash any stickiness off the outside with soap and water. Remove the now-unnecessary rings if you wish. Date the jars and store them in a cool dark place until you need them. They will keep two to three years on the shelf.

“Repeat this process until you are happy with the final quantity and/or you are out of fruit.

“Cliff and I have great memories of growing and picking the

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