Getting Off The Grid - Pickled Peaches and Peach Jelly

July 12, 2017

This year was not a good year for the peach crops in Alabama, most of the peach farms were low to no peaches and the lucky ones did have a hefty price tag. No matter how much this household loves peaches I will not pay that inflated price for my states peaches. So I shopped Aldi`s grocery store and got my peaches shipping in from California for the low price of .99 per pound. I home canned several wonderful peach products for us to enjoy for the next twelve months, Pickled peaches and peach jelly are two I will talk about today. 

Home canning peaches is an easy canning job. Most people scold off the peelings but I prefer to do things differently, to get the most out of the fruits, I hand peel! By hand peeling I can get one more peach product from the fruit, with no waste, plus scolding is a harder way in my opinion. 

What do I do with the peelings? I make jelly! After all there is a lot of flavor in the peels and you also have that tiny amount of peach still on the peel when you do it by hand. 

Most of the time I work with five to ten pounds of fruit at a time so not to be overwhelmed.

Peach Jelly

How And What to do :

First of all, I always wash and sterilize my jars and get the lid and rings ready before I do anything. Next I make sure I have hot water waiting in the canner, whether water bath or pressure canner.

Wash the peaches in cold water, making sure that the fuzzy is all gone. 

Next I peel the peaches, putting peels into one large cooking pot and the peach into another large vessel, bowl or cooking pot, with cold water and fruit fresh to keep them from turning brown.

When I get them all peeled I cook the peelings over medium heat, just covering them with water and stirring every now and then. When the peel looks light brown in color and the juice is a reddish color they are done. Strain off the peels and use the juice to make your jelly. 

Using the Ball liquid pectin, I just follow the directions for plum jelly. 

BUT where the recipe states it makes 5 half pints I got 9 half pints, so have your jars and lids ready, just in case.

Store jelly in a cool space til used. 

Pickled Peaches

This was always a favorite on the holiday dinner table when I was a child and the recipe was passed down to me from wonderful cooks dating back to around early 1900`s. They are tangy from the vinegar and sweet from the sugar, with that spicy taste from the cloves and pickling spices. 

I made a mixture of sliced pickled peaches and whole pickled peaches, both are delicious just the same but the sliced cooks faster.

How to home can pickle peaches :

You will need : 

Pint and/ or quart  home canning jars

Lids and rings for each jar

2 1/2 cups of white vinegar

2 1/2 cups of white sugar

3 tablespoons of pickling spices

1 tablespoon of whole cloves (I used ground cloves, this will make the liquid dark)

Peel peaches and set them aside in cold water with fruit fresh.

In a large cooking pot add the vinegar, sugar and spices and bring to a boil.

Drain the water and fruit fresh from the peaches.

Add peaches to the hot liquid carefully and cook till a fork inserts easily into the peach. 

Remove from the heat and fill jars to 1/2 head space.

Wipe rims of jars clean and apply lids.

Process 30 minutes in a water bath. 

Store in a cool place. 

NOTE : peach colors vary, some are white and some are deep yellow. Its just different type of peaches but the taste are the same.

By Andria Perry

Photos By Andria Perry