Peach Pie Filling
While I have made plenty of pie fillings before, for some reason I never canned peach pie filling. I will definitely do it again. It’s not that difficult and it makes it wonderfully convenient to make peach pie and other peach desserts year round.
There are a few steps before you get to putting the mixture into jars and canning. You’ll need to peel and slice the peaches. I have a nice sharp peeler, so I just peeled them. You might have to blanch them in boiling water to get the skins off. The peaches are sliced and blanched in boiling water for a minute then set aside while you make the clear gel mixture. Have everything else ready before you prep the peaches. Jars washed, boiling water bath simmering and ready to go.
It might sound like a lot of work, but it really isn’t. I had the jars of pie filling in the canner pretty fast. After you are done processing the pie filling, leave them in the canner 10 minutes. Pie fillings are notorious for siphoning. That just means they bubble out of the jars after processing. The 10 minutes really helps. My peach pie filling did not siphon at all. All 6 jars sealed just fine.
The color is so pretty and I know I will be enjoying these long after peach season is over.
So here is the recipe. Enjoy.
Peach Pie Filling
10½ cups peeled, sliced peaches- I started with 9 very large peaches
1 t. Citric acid or ¼ cup lemon juice to prevent the peaches from browning
3 c. sugar
1 cup plus 1 T. Clear Gel – cook type
2¼ c. cold water
½ t. cinnamon, optional
¾ c. lemon juice
Start by washing jars and lids. Set aside. Set water bath canner over medium heat and start heating up water in it- water should be deep enough to cover jars by 1-2 inches. Set a soup pot on the stove, add a gallon of water and start heating it up.
Wash and peel peaches. I found my peaches were firm enough that I just used a good peeler to do the job. You can blanch the peaches in boiling water for a minute or two and chill down, the skins also slip off easy. As you peel the peaches you want to set them in acidified water to prevent browning. I used citric acid in about a gallon of water in a large bowl. Once the peaches are peeled, cut them in half, remove the pits and slice in ½ inch thick slices. Return to the bowl of water. Once the gallon of water on the stove is boiling, drain the peaches and add them to the boiling water. Leave them in the water for 1 minute, then drain, cover with a towel to keep warm and set aside. In a large saucepan, heat together the sugar, Clear Gel, cold water and cinnamon, if using. I used the same pot I blanched the peach slices in. Stir constantly. Mixture gets super thick. Once it starts bubbling, add the lemon juice and cook one more minute. Add the peaches. Stir them in gently and cook over low heat just until the peaches are warmed through. Ladle mixture into pint or quart jars. Leave an inch of headspace. Wipe rims and attach lids and bands. You should end up with 6 pints or 3 quarts.
Place jars in canner. Once water comes to a boil, start timing. Process pints or quarts 30 minutes. 35 minutes if your elevation is 1,000-3,000 ft. Once the time is finished, turn off the heat and leave jars in the canner 10 minutes before removing. Place jars on a towel or cooling rack. Once they cool down, check seals. Yield 6 pints or 3 quarts.
Adapted from NCHFP recipe.
