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My mom makes the most amazing fruit preserves. We enjoy her garden fruit all year long this way. This peach preserves recipe takes a couple days; a longer process than most of the peach preserve recipes I’ve seen online but its worth the wait. It’s not watery like most of the recipes that rush the process.
This isn’t speed dating. You’ll get to know your peaches over a couple days and and be rewarded with some mighty fine preserves. If you are thinking about Christmas already (as I am), you can make preserves now, slap a label on in December and give them away as gifts to neighbors, co-workers, nursing directors (wink, wink) – I guess this means I can’t eat all of them myself.
Ingredients for Peach Preserves:
11 lbs peaches, rinsed (about 8 lbs after peeling and pitting)
4 cups granulated sugar, or more added to taste
1/2 cup lemon juice (from 3-4 large lemons)
What you will need:
- 5-6 pint-sized jars with lids. I purchased them at Walmart.
- Large Stock Pot (20Qt+) with Rack (or purchase a canner)
- Jar lifter to safely transfer the jars
How to Make Peach Preserves / Peach Jam:
To blanch the peaches:
1. Fill 2/3 of a large soup pot with water. Bring to a boil. Add peaches for 30 -45 seconds, then remove with slotted spoon or this OXO strainer
2. Peel the skin (most of them peeled easily by hand, but there were a stubborn few that required a knife), cut the peaches into quarters and remove pits.
Cooking the Preserves:
1. Place all peeled peaches in a large soup pot and squeeze in lemon juice. Drizzle well with 2 cups sugar, toss and drizzle again with the remaining 1.5-2 cups so the sugar reaches all the peaches. Here’s where you need to use your judgement.
If your peaches are very sweet, you may only need 3 1/2 cups of sugar total. You can add more sugar to taste while its cooking, so don’t panic at this step. You’ll do great!
2. Let peaches sit at room temp with the sugar for about 30min -1 hour, or until sugar is dissolved.
3. Place the pot over the stove uncovered and bring to a light boil, stirring to prevent scorching. Make sure if you see a light boil to stir because the whole pot may not be boiling, just the center. If it stops boiling after you stir it, continue boiling.
Once the whole pot is at a light boil, simmer for 10 minutes and turn off the heat. Let the pot stand uncovered until it is just warm to the touch or reaches room temp.
4. As soon as it cools, repeat step 3. You will bring it to a light boil a total of 5 times. This is why it takes 2 days to make. It’s really easy though. Definitely not rocket science to bring a pot to a boil and give it a few stirs :D.
You can go to work and come home then return it to a boil; there’s no “set” time that you need to be reboiling it. If 2 days doesn’t work for you, by all means, take 3 days. Preserves have plenty of sugar so they won’t spoil at room temp if you leave it on the counter overnight. If you want the preserves to have an even thicker consistency, you can boil it 6 times if you wish.
(Note: the fifth time you boil, bring it to a boil over a little lower heat and stir a few extra times to prevent scorching. Also, it thickens more as it cools.)
5. The last time you bring it to a boil you will want to transfer it to sterilized jars while it’s boiling hot.
To sterilize the jars:
- To sterilize your clean jars: wash them and let them dry in the oven at 215 for about 20 min or until completely dry. Boil the lids 5 min.
2. Transfer your boiling hot preserves to the jars using a glass measuring cup and a funnel (least messy method) leaving about 1/2″ space.
3. Screw the lids on enough to keep a tight seal in place but don’t over-tighten them since air bubbles need to be able to escape.
4. Place packed cans into the canning pot and cover with 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a boil and process 15 minutes. Remove from the pot with jar lifter and leave at room temperature undisturbed for 12-24 hours. You may hear a pop when the jars fully seal. After 24 hours, check that the seal has formed by pushing down on the center of the lid – it should not move at all. If the seal does not form, refrigerate preserves and enjoy within 3 months.
Tada!! You’ll make it and think “hey that wasn’t so bad.” Well, that’s what I thought the first time I made them.
Current Canning Guidelines:
Recipe updated in 2019 to reflect new canning standards. Previously we used the oven method. You can get up to date on the most recent canning guidelines here. It’s a great resource to answer frequently asked canning questions.
Country Peach Preserves
Ingredients
Peach Preserves Ingredients:
- 11 lbs peaches, rinsed
- 4 cups granulated sugar, or more to taste
- 1/2 cup lemon juice, from 3-4 large lemons
What you will need:
- 5-6 pint-sized jars with lids
Instructions
To blanch the peaches:
- Fill 2/3 of a large soup pot with water. Bring to a boil. Add peaches for 30 -45 seconds, then remove with slotted spoon and drain the pot. Remove peaches immediately to a large bowl of cold water.
- Peel the skin, cut the peaches into quarters and remove pits.
Cooking the Preserves:
- Place all peeled peaches in a large soup pot and squeeze in lemon juice. Drizzle well with 2 cups sugar, toss and drizzle again with the remaining 1.5-2 cups so the sugar reaches all the peaches. If peaches are very sweet, you may only need 3 1/2 cups of sugar total. Add more sugar to taste while its cooking.
- Let peaches sit at room temp with the sugar for about 30 min -1 hour, or until sugar is dissolved.
- Place the pot over the stove uncovered and bring to a light boil, stirring to prevent scorching. Once the whole pot is at a light boil, simmer for 10 minutes and turn off the heat. Let the pot stand uncovered until it is just warm to the touch or reaches room temp.
- As soon as it cools, repeat step 3. You will bring it to a light boil a total of 5 times. Preserves have plenty of sugar so they won't spoil at room temp if you leave it on the counter overnight. If you want the preserves to have an even thicker consistency, you can boil it 6 times if you wish. (Note: the fifth time you boil, bring it to a boil over a little lower heat and stir a few extra times to prevent scorching. Also, it thickens more as it cools.)
- The last time you bring it to a boil you will want to transfer it to sterilized jars while it's boiling hot.
To sterilize the jars: wash them and let them dry in the oven at 215 for about 20 min or until completely dry. Boil the lids 5 min.
- Transfer your boiling hot preserves to the jars using a glass measuring cup and a funnel (least messy method) leaving about 1/2″ space.
- Screw the lids on enough to keep a tight seal in place but don't over-tighten them since air bubbles need to be able to escape.
- Place packed cans into the canning pot and cover with 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a boil and process 15 minutes. Remove from the pot with jar lifter and leave at room temperature undisturbed for 12-24 hours. You may hear a pop when the jars fully seal. After 24 hours, check that the seal has formed by pushing down on the center of the lid - it should not move at all. If the seal does not form, refrigerate preserves and enjoy within 3 months.
Filed Under
Signs of Spoiled Canned Food:
With any type of canning, we follow this advice: “When in doubt, throw it out”
Discard and do not eat or taste any canned food if you notice any of the following:
- the jar is leaking, bulging, or swollen
- the jar looks damaged, cracked, or abnormal
- the jar spurts foam or liquid upon opening
- the canned food is discolored, moldy, mushy, slimy, or smells bad
This is fine for stewed peaches. Which were fab over ice cream. However, if you’re looking for jam or preserves and not *conserves* get you some Pomona’s Universal pectin, and follow the instructions. I should have stuck with my tried and true. After much ado, a mixer, and some Pomona’s, I got the jam/preserves I was after.
Hi Karin, after boiling down following the full process, this is not like stewed peaches at all, but has a great concentrated flavor and texture. The idea with this recipe is a method to avoid adding pectin.
Question really. Looking at other no pectin recipes, you seem to be using 3-4 times as much fruit relative to sugar. 11 pounds of peaches is a lot of fruit to put in 5-6 pint jars.
Hi Marc, peaches are super juicy and with the entire process of reducing it down, it does become a more concentrated and super flavorful batch.
Marc,
I’ve made this recipe twice this summer and 11 lbs of peaches, was about 36 x-large “ripes.” I got 14 half-pint (8oz) jars, but I like my preserves a little more loose, so I cooked over 3 days a total of 4 times. I always sterilize more jars than I think I’ll need so they’re ready if needed. This recipe is WELL worth the wait. Patience pays off! I also add 1 heaping tablespoon of cinnamon at the first cooking and 1 Tablespoon of almond extract after the last boil cools down. SO GOOD. Thanks again, Natasha, for such a great recipe!
Thanks for the comment, however I was asking about the ratio of fruit to sugar. This recipe calls for 11 pounds of peaches and maybe 4 cups of sugar. Most of the other similar recipes called for nearly as much sugar but only 3-4 pounds of fruit – and the recipe suggests the yield is only 5 or so pints, so something does not compute. I’m thinking that 11 pounds of fruit might require almost 3 times as much sugar as the recipe calls for.
hi marc, the amount of sugar used is individual taste but what changes with it is the period of preservation. this recipe calls for 20% which is on the low side so it may not have a preservation period of 1-2 years as compared to a jam/preserve that uses 50-70% of sugar, even with canning. however, peaches are so sweet on their own it would be unthinkable to add more than 30-40% of sugar, with a little more lemon to add some acidity so as to prolong the preservation period. as for the yield, peaches have high water content so yield is therefore much less than say banana jam lol. hope that helps :))
I would like to know why you just don’t let it come to a rolling boil and stir for 10 minutes and then remove? I don’t understand the purpose of doing it 5 times. Thanks
Hi Marilyn, it is the natural way of thickening the preserves rather than adding pectin. The flavors also become concentrated as it thickens and the taste can’t be beat.
Thank you for your reply. It did turn out great. It did take me 3 days but well worth it. Just a trick i picked up a while back. If you have too much froth, just add a tablespoon of butter and stir. It makes it go away.
I haven’t tasted them yet, I just canned the peaches. So I’ll rate it in a few. I do have a question. My peaches are not as orange as pictured, they are somewhat darker. Should I be concerned?
Without being there it is hard to say, as long as they are still fresh and have good flavor they should be good.
Hi Natasha. Thank you for the peach preserve recipe. I did it and it took me 3 days to finish the recipe you provided. My grown up kids loved it so much. But they told me, which I expected to be, that the preserve was not thick enough. Even I added more sugar to than the recipe asked for.
But what I did, also to what your recipe, I filled some of the jars with chunky peachs, then I left some in the pot and I actually puree the rest of the mix. My kids loved it as well and the said that these jars where thicker than the chunky preserves.
No, I didn’t try any of them yet. I’m afraid if I start eating from them, they’ll be gone fast. Lol.
Thank you again for the recipe
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
I made a batch of strawberry jam last month. Then i made a batch of peach jam a few days later. I use the liquid pectin recipe. Fast and easy. I do not water bath or oven heat. I simply pour the hot mixture into sterilized jars and seal with hot lids and rings. They seal every time.
I’m so glad you enjoyed that, thank you for sharing that with me!
I’m totally confused. After you place the packed jars in the oven @350, there seems to be a next step. Boiling in water? Should I follow the “current canning guidelines” which are listed next?
Hi, we use the oven method. Current guidelines recommend processing the cans in water rather than the oven method. You can choose which processing method you are more comfortable with; either the oven or processing them in water as written out in the “current canning guidelines” section. I hope that makes sense!
Hi! If properly sterilized/sealed, can these be kept in the pantry? Or do they need to be refrigerated?
Hi Katie, if they are canned as instructed, the jars should form a seal and be safe stored at room temperature on the shelf.
Hi Natasha! This recipe sounds and looks great! Could I use it for apricot preserves as well?
Hi Daniela, I haven’t tried making apricot preserves this way but it should work also. You might add a little more lemon juice or add it to taste. Also, we have this apricot raspberry recipe here you may enjoy.
Loved this recipe last year and will probably do again. My tree literally exploded with peaches. So many, it’s hard to keep up with them. I’ve only lost a few, but I’ve picked or have dropped off the tree well over 350 peaches (yes, I’ve counted) and the tree still looks like I haven’t picked anything yet. They all look beautiful, but are still too hard for using, eating, canning, etc. So I leave them there until they are ready or the higher ones fall off.
Wow! That’s amazing Jodie!! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
wonderful recipe, tastes delicious and the colors are gorgeous. Question: why was my yield less than half the listed yield in the recipe? thanks
Hi Sophie, the most likely reason is using less peaches or someone came and ate half because it was just so good! 😉
Holy cow! I did it. 7 hours later I have produced 11 jars of beautiful peach jam. The lids all made that little point in the middle-that means they are sealed correctly, right?? I’m crossing my fingers! I loved your directions. Thank you!
Hi Jennifer, thank you for that awesome feedback! We left notes in the recipe to check the top. You want to be able to press the top on the lids and is should not pop up or down. I hope that helps
Yes, I had that backwards. When I turned them right side up after cooled they were all flat except 1 which you could pop up in down. 10 out of11 were flat.
Best ever and so easy! Yes, it takes longer but worth it. Love how it doesn’t require additional pectin, too. Just don’t go off and forget about it like I did the first time! After the 3rd heat, I turned it on early Saturday morning BEFORE COFFEE and forgot about it!! Burnt it completely up! Yes, I cried! But I made two more batches! I do have a question though. The first successful batch turned out perfect. The next batch is much more runny. Since there isn’t any added liquid, I’m not sure why this happened. The peaches in that last batch were actually less ripe than the batch that set up better. Thoughts? Still tastes great though!
Oh dear, I’m so glad you loved the recipe. I think I would cry too after burning preserves. One way to save it if it does scorch on the bottom is first, do not stir and just pour it into a different pot leaving the scorched/burned part on the bottom. If the rest of the mixture doesn’t smell or taste burnt, it is salvageable. Just do not try to stir if it scorches or the burnt smell and flavor will take over the whole batch.
I have made this before and love it. So does everyone I have shared it with. It is so easy. I have even cut the recipe in half due to lack of peaches. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review Shaun!
Hey Natasha, this appears to be the recipe I was looking for. Any thoughts on added jalapeno or habanero peppers to make a spicy version? When to add to the mash, how much to add, etc.?
Hi Steve, I honestly have never tested that so I can’t make a recommendation on that.
Would this work in a crock pot?
Hi Lisa, I haven’t tried this in a slow cooker so I can’t say for sure. Without testing it in the slow cooker, I can’t say for sure how that would work or how long you would need to keep it in the slow cooker to get a thick enough consistency.
I can’t remember the cooking show I saw it on, they did something somewhat similar. She put the chopped up fruit and sugar in the pot, brought it to simmer, took off the heat and let it sit (I forget how long, but long enough to form some juice) Then she drained off the juice into another pot which she cooked until it started to thicken some (like a loose syrup). Then she added the fruit and any further juice that had come out of it to the pot and cooked to a jam. There was lemon juice, but I don’t remember when she put it in. I dont use exact recipes for my jams and I put some lemon in at the beginning and then near the end. The acid in the lemon brings the pectin and the lemon at the end freshens up the taste.
That sounds like a great method! Thanks for sharing!
What is the texture like? I would like to have a velvety smooth texture to can. Recommendations on when to purée the peaches? After the last boil? Before the first? What do you think? Thanks!
Hi Crystalynn, I haven’t tried that but I think they could be pureed even earlier on in the process, that way you could see when they reach the consistency you are looking for.
I am looking forward to trying this but I have a question: I have my own peach tree and every year it’s produced peaches many of them end up wasted because I simply can’t eat them all and I’ve wanted to try making something with them. Result: wanting to make jam. Since I’m using my own home grown peaches, and I’m not buying a set LB serving, roughly how many peaches would you guess for this recipe? Knowing will allow me to account for any leftover peaches I may have. Thank you!
Hi Tay, I didn’t count the peaches but really the safest and most reliable way would be to weigh the peaches since not all peaches are the same size.
Can this method be used for other fruits?
Hi, Dorothy, I haven’t tried this many other types of fruit but I think it’s worth trying! Varying fruits have varying amounts of pectin naturally so some you may not have to cook as many times. You might google the difference between different fruits before starting. If you experiment, let me now how you like it! 🙂
Worked beautifully scaled down because my family ate more of the peaches fresh from the tree than I expected. I’ve been doing something similar with strawberries for many years and everyone loves it. No recipe because it depends how juicy the strawberries are – I start with a couple of cups of sugar and add more if it seems to need it. With raspberries it turns out a bit pippy if you use this method – or at least that’s what the family say. Method makes a good green tomato/ginger/apricot jam too -there are a couple of Belgian recipes of this type. And italians make pumpkin jam this way
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Hello there! One question- I notice that you have in the recipe an oven step and then the more traditional canning instructions with boiling water. Usually I have seen one method or another for canning, so is it necessary to do both? I have not canned peaches before, but I know some fruits can be more finicky than others (i.e. tomatoes).
Hi Jen, pick whichever method you prefer. They will both work and only one method is necessary.
I bought peach jam that turned to sugar on the top. Why does that happen?
Hi Pat, there are several factors that cause that. The crystals form when the liquid evaporates. Was the container sealed properly?