canning peaches

It's peach season! And while peaches are cheaper than they are for the entire year, I thought this would be a perfect (and seasonal and local and good-for-us) time to try canning them.

The most helpful tutorial I found online for canning peaches is here.  I'll leave you with a short summary version from my own canning adventures, but it would be a good idea to read the longer version.

Blanche the peaches to easily take the skin off, slice them, and put some lemon juice on them to keep from going brown.

Heat up some water (you won't need as much as you think), and add sugar as you bring it to a boil.  When the water reaches a boil, add the peaches and boil for 5 minutes. Put the lids in a small sauce pan with some water, but make sure the water doesn't boil. You want the sticky stuff on the lid to be sticky, not falling off and ineffective.

With hot jars and hot peaches, load the peaches into the jars.  Use a butter knife to run along the inside of the jar to release air bubbles.  Add juice to the jars if necessary.  Don't leave too much space.

Put the jars back in the canner, fill up until the jars are completely covered and have an extra 1 - 2 inches of water on top, put the lid on, and process for 25 minutes (for sea level locations.)

Voila! Canned peaches!