My mother-in-law is now talking about picking peaches and bringing us some fruit to preserve. Gayle did some research and some family chatting and compiled her notes on peaches. But, the odd thing is, both my mother-in-law's family, my mother-in-law's mother-in-law's family and Gayle's family always included a peach pit in every quart. Why? Did it change the flavor or the acidity? Or was it mere food superstition?
FROM GAYLE:
I don't remember peaches being this much work1 I guess it's because there was many people. Sharon said she had to dip and skin them.
Peaches
From my Ball Book c 1974
It starts with the whole check, wash and heat the jars routine.
Sort wash & drain enough firm ripe peaches for one canner load. Fill water bath canner half full with hot water. Put canner on to heat. Prepare sugar syrup. (i'm sure mom made the light.)
Place peaches in wire baket or cheesecloth. Dip peaches into boiling water 1/2 to 1 minute to loosen skins. Dip into cold water. Drain.
Cut peaches in half, pit and peel. (You can slice, that's what mom did.) Scrape cavities to remove pink and red fibers because they might turn ugly brown in processing. Pack peaches into hot jars, cavity side down, layers overlapping. Leave 1/2 inch head space
Cover peaches with boiling hot syrup leaving 1.2 in headspace. It will take 1-1.5 cups syrup for each quart jar.
Run table knife gently between fruit and jar to release air bubbles. Add more syrup if needed
Wipe top and threads. Put on lid and band...tighly
Place in canner with hot water (not boiling). Water should cover 1 to 2 inches.
Process pints 25 minutes or Quarts 30 minutes after boiling
Let cool 12 hours before removing bands, checking for seal, and storing.
SYRUP
Light syrup
2 cups of sugar to 1 qt of water, yield is 5 cups.
Medium syrup
3 cups of sugar to 1 qt of water, yield is 5 cups.
Heavy syrup
4.25 cups of sugar to 1 qt of water, yield is 5 cups.
Measure sugar and liquid (either water or fruit juice) into saucepan. Cook until sugar dissolves. Keep syrup hot until needed, but do not let it boil down. Usually 1-1.5 cups of syrup are needed for each quart of fruit.
My colleague has a theory. When you want to store guacamole you save the pit and insert it into the guac so that it doesn't turn brown. Her theory is the same for the peaches. Who wants to eat brown peaches? Makes sense. There is some sort of enzyme in the pit that keeps it from discoloring.
ReplyDeleteSo I looked on line, didn't find anything. However I found this really nice canning site. http://www.simplycanning.com/canning-peaches.html I think you'll like her peach recipe because she subs honey for sugar.
Mama also used lemon juice or fruit fresh to keep them from browning.