Canning Peaches {How to Can Peaches}
An easy step by step tutorial on Canning Peaches. This recipe for how to can peaches is perfect for beginners and experienced canners alike. Instructions include low-sugar and no-sugar options.
Preserving peaches are one of the less labor-intensive foods to can. Sure, you have to peel them, but that can be accomplished fairly easily.
There is no saucing involved and you don’t have to wash any special equipment. I think what scares most people away from canning fruit at home, is the sugar involved! Soooo much sugar is recommended.
But I’m giving you options to make these canned peaches healthier.
can you can peaches without sugar?
Yes. That being said, sugar is used in canning for flavor, preservation, and color. Sweet food generally tastes better, keeps longer, and the color of the food stays bright and fresh.
Peaches have enough natural sugar and don’t need any sweetener added while canning to be considered safe. Your final product may look a bit different and have a shorter shelf life.
Personally, I walk the line between no sugar and low sugar for canning peaches and canning pears.
Please use your best judgment when altering any official canning recipe. Plan to eat the finished product within 9-12 months.
If you have a few jars that need to be used up, try your hand at making Peach Freezer Jam, Homemade Peach Ice Cream or use them to make a Peach Moscow Mule.
Do you have any leftover fruit hanging around? Don’t let them go to waste! Check out this post on Freezing Peaches for all the tips and tricks to preserve this delicious fruit.
syrup recipe for preserving peaches
Check out this guide below for your syrup choices. I’ve also made it a printable download because I’m a nerd. You can find it at the very bottom of this post.
Canning peaches with honey
Please note, if you’re using raw honey, any of the beneficial properties will be killed during the heating process. It’s more affordable to use regular honey for canning.
Canning peaches with juice
You’ll need 48 oz of juice per 4 pounds of peaches using a hot pack process.
Using frozen concentrated apple or white grape juice is a great and easy substitution for refined sugar syrup. Use one can of thawed concentrate mixed with three cans of water.
Which peaches are best for canning?
Most varieties will work for canning. You’ll find peaches come in two main types:
Freestone – when cut in half, the peach will separate easily from the pit. These make canning so much easier!
Cling – the peach flesh will “cling” to the pit, making it very challenging to cut them in half. If you use cling peaches for canning, you will likely be canning peach slices instead of peach halves.
For help with tackling the task of working with the cling variety, check out this post on How to Cut a Peach in 15 Seconds.
Can you use white peaches in canning?
At this time, the National Center for Home Food Preservation does not recommend you can white peaches. The ph levels vary too much, making them generally unsafe to can.
It is recommended you freeze white peaches instead of canning.
Canning Equipment List
Check out this in-depth post for a complete list of canning supplies.
- Peaches! You’ll need about 17 lbs per 7 quarts.
- At least two large bowls. You can never have enough bowls when canning.
- Large pot of water for blanching the fruit and a medium pot for syrup
- Canner: simple water bath canner, a pressure canner (which can double as a water bath canner), or even a huge stockpot with a rack in the bottom.
- Canning tongs/jar lifter
- Jars – quarts or pints.
- Lids and rings
- Wide mouth funnel
- Ice
- Sugar, honey, or juice
- Paring knife
- Cutting board
- Metal spoon
- Butter knife or plastic chopstick
- Comfortable shoes. Don’t do this barefoot. Your back will hate you.
- Clean washcloths and at least one thick clean towel.
Raw Pack for Canning Peaches
Raw packing simply means placing the peeled fruit in the jars without precooking them, filling the jars with syrup and processing them in the canner.
If you are canning your peaches without additional added sugar (sugar, honey, fruit juice), you must hot pack the fruit.
Raw packing is much faster than then a hot pack process, but there are some drawbacks. No matter how well you pack the jars, the density of the fruit will change during their time in the canner.
This often leads to something called “fruit float” in which the fruit will float to the top of the jar, leaving all syrup on the bottom. You’ll find this when you’re canning pears as well. There is nothing wrong with fruit float as long as your jars are still sealed.
Hot Pack for Canning Peaches
Hot packing involves cooking them briefly in hot syrup before packing the fruit into jars for canning. You’ll want to boil them in the canning syrup for about 2 minutes and then add them to your jars, ladling the hot syrup over the top.
The benefits of hot packing are that you typically can fit more fruit per jar, and the near elimination of fruit float.
Canning Peaches
*A printable and detailed recipe card is available at the bottom of the post.
CANNING PREP
Prepare your water bath canner by filling it with water. You just need to have enough water to cover the jars by 2 inches once the water is boiling.
Set the canner on the stove. Turn the burner to high. Once it reaches a boil, reduce it to simmer. You want to keep the water hot so that everything is ready when the fruit is.
Wash and sanitize your jars. You’ll want to keep them warm to avoid having them crack when placed in the canner. You can fill them with hot water, or place them on a tray in the oven at 200 degrees F.
Wash your lids and set aside in clean place. You no longer need to simmer lids in water to keep them sterile. Woot!
Wash your fruit. I just run them under water and rub my hands on them to give the fuzz a scrub. TWSS
Use a paring knife and cut the peach around the middle to separate.
Remove the pit
Put the halves in a large bowl of water treated with lemon juice or citric acid.
In a medium-sized pot, combine your sugar/honey/or juice and water to create the syrup. Pro tip: if you’re planning to do a large batch all at once, I use my crockpot to create and keep the syrup hot. It frees up space on the stove.
Add one layer of peaches at a time to a pot of boiling water for about 60 seconds. Once you can see the skin starting to come away from the flesh, it’s time to take them out.
Remove using a slotted spoon and place in an ice bath for 1 minute.
Use the slotted spoon to remove the peaches from the ice bath. Grab one and gently peel the skin back.
Proceed using either the raw pack or hot pack method mentioned above.
Add the fruit cavity-side (where the pit was) to your sanitized and warm canning jars. This is easiest done with a fork. Repeat with other peach halves until you have filled the jar. Pro tip: depending on the size of the fruit, each quart will fit about 3-3.5 peaches.
At this point, return your water in the canner back to a rolling boil.
Using a canning funnel, ladle hot syrup into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Headspace is the distance between the top of the food and the top of the jar. You may need to use a spoon to smoosh down the fruit a bit.
Using a long utensil (I prefer a plastic chopstick), remove all the air bubbles from the jar.
Clean the rim of the jar very well with a hot damp rag.
Place a clean lid on the jar. Add a ring, and tighten to fingertip tight.
Gently place your jars in the canner. Put the lid on, and set your timer. Pro tip: If you don’t have enough jars to fill the canner, consider Canning Water in a few jars to stock your emergency drinking water supplies.
Pints should process for 20 minutes, and quarts for 25 (see chart below). Pro tip: the water must return to a boil in the canner before you can start the timer.
Once the jars have processed for the appropriate amount of time, remove the canner from the burner, carefully take off the lid, and allow it to sit for 5-10 minutes. Pro tip: I tend to just slide it into the middle of my stove, as it weighs a ton.
Carefully remove the jars, and place them on a thick towel in a place where they can be undisturbed for 12 hours. The lids should start to pop within 20-30 minutes of being removed from the water.
That popping sound is music to your ears, as it tells you that everything has sealed. It’s a reward for all your work!
After the jars have rested for about 12 hours, press down in the middle of each lid. If it “gives” at all, the jar didn’t seal. Either enjoy it that day, put it in the fridge, or reprocess it.
Help! Why Are My Jars Leaking Juice?
If you find that juice has leaked out after they have sealed, you have experienced a common canning issue called siphoning. It happens to the best of us!
Siphoning is typically caused by not allowing the jars to rest in the canner after they have finished processing. In the directions above, you’ll see that I recommend you remove the canner from the burner, remove the lid, and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
This is important as it allows the jars time to rest before being allowed to cool on the counter. Doing this process will significantly cut down on siphoning.
If you have siphoning in your jars, follow these steps:
- Check – are the lids still sealed?
- Look – have you lost more than half of the amount of liquid in the jar?
- Examine – does the fruit look fresh with bright colors?
If the answer to the above three steps is “yes!”, then they are safe to eat. If you lost quite a bit of syrup, the uncovered fruit will turn color more quickly. Plan to eat those jars first.
What if my jars don’t seal?
If you’ve correctly processed your fruit, and the lids still didn’t seal, you can reprocess them.
Double-check to make sure there are no:
- Chips in the rim of the jar
- Dried syrup or bits of peach on the rim (anything between the rim and the lid may prevent a seal.
Best practices would involve using brand new lids for the reprocessing. Set aside the old lids to use for dry storage (related: Pantry Essentials for the Home Cook).
If the jars don’t seal on the second attempt, you likely have a bad batch of lids or your canning process has a step missing. Email me and we’ll try to troubleshoot what is going on.
For unsealed jars, you can place them in the fridge. Eat the fruit within three weeks.
How long after preserving peaches can you eat them?
They are safe to eat as soon as the jars have cooled! Unlike a project like Refrigerator Dilly Beans, home canned peaches don’t need to rest before they’re ready to enjoy.
How long are canned peaches good for?
You can safely keep them for 9-12 months in the correct conditions (dark space, not too warm). Make sure to label all of your jars and use the oldest ones first.
Can I make canned peach slices?
Yes! If you’d prefer to cut your fruit into slices, that is absolutely fine. Think about how you plan to use them after canning. Do you want to eat them as is? If so, halved peaches will be the easiest and fastest way to can them.
If you use them in crisps, other desserts, or yogurt (related: Easy Instant Pot Yogurt) slices make a lot of sense!
Pro tip: with canning peach slices, you’ll need to put a bit more effort into removing bubbles from the jars. There will be more opportunities for “pockets” to occur in the jars, and those bubbles need to be removed for safety.
Pressure Canning Peaches
Some people may prefer to pressure can peaches, but a word of warning – it does take longer compared with water bath canning.
If you plan to pressure can your fruit, they would need to be processed at 6 PSI for 10 minutes in a dial-gauge canner or 10 minutes at 5 PSI in a weight-gauge canner. You can find a complete guide for pressure canning times and PSI information here.
More Pressure canning recipes You Might Like:
- How to Make Chicken Bone Broth
- Canning Tomato Soup (may also be canned in a water bath canner)
- Canning Pumpkin
More waterbath canning recipes you might like:
- Canning Applesauce – How to Can Applesauce
- Canning Whole Tomatoes (may also be canned in a pressure canner)
- Dill Relish – Canning Homemade Relish
- Canning Apple Butter
- Low-Sugar Strawberry Jam
- Canning Apple Pie Filling
- Canning Pears
- Blackberry Syrup
Check out my entire category of Canning recipes for more ideas and inspiration.
And there you have it. You’ve canned!!
Now you have two choices. Either celebrate this accomplishment by yourself or post it to social media and immediately start getting called a prepper by your so-called “friends”.
Not that I’m um, speaking from experience or anything… 🙂
<<<<click here to download your processing times and syrup cheat sheet>>>>
Making this recipe or others?
Post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #sustainablecooks. I can't wait to see your take on it!
An easy step by step tutorial on Canning Peaches. This recipe for how to can peaches is perfect for beginners and experienced canners alike.
Prepare your water bath canner by filling it with water. You just need to have enough water to cover the jars by 2 inches once the water is boiling.
Set the canner on the stove. Turn the burner to high. Once it reaches a boil, reduce it to simmer. You want to keep the water hot so that everything is ready when the peaches are.
Wash and sanitize your jars. You’ll want to keep them warm to avoid having them crack when placed in the canner. You can fill them with hot water, or place them on a tray in the oven at 200 degrees F.
Wash your lids and set aside in clean place. You no longer need to simmer lids in water to keep them sterile. Woot!
Use a paring knife and cut the peach around the middle to separate. Remove the pit. Put the halves in a large bowl of water treated with lemon juice or citric acid.
In a medium-sized pot, combine your sugar/honey/or juice and water to create the syrup. Pro tip: if you're planning to do a large batch of peaches all at once, I use my crockpot to create and keep the syrup hot. It frees up space on the stove.
Add one layer of peaches at a time to a pot of boiling water for about 60 seconds. Once you can see the skin starting to come away from the flesh, it’s time to take them out. Remove using a slotted spoon and place in an ice bath for 1 minute.
Use the slotted spoon to remove the peaches from the ice bath. Grab one of the peaches and gently peel the skin back.
Proceed using either the raw pack or hot pack method mentioned in the post.
Add the peaches cavity-side (where the pit was) to your sanitized and warm canning jars. This is easiest done with a fork. Repeat with other peach halves until you have filled the jar. Pro tip: depending on the size of the peaches, each quart will fit about 3-3.5 peaches.
At this point, return your water in the canner back to a rolling boil.
Using a canning funnel, ladle hot syrup into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Headspace is the distance between the top of the food and the top of the jar. You may need to use a spoon to smoosh down the peaches a bit.
Using a long utensil (I prefer a plastic chopstick), remove all the air bubbles from the jar.
Clean the rim of the jar very well with a hot damp rag.
Place a clean lid on the jar. Add a ring, and tighten to fingertip tight.
Gently place your jars in the canner. Put the lid on, and set your timer. Pints should process for 20 minutes, and quarts for 25. Pro tip: the water must return to a boil in the canner before you can start the timer.
Once the peaches have processed for the appropriate amount of time, remove the canner from the burner, carefully take off the lid, and allow it to sit for 5-10 minutes. Pro tip: I tend to just slide it into the middle of my stove, as it weighs a ton.
Carefully remove the jars, and place them on a thick towel in a place where they can be undisturbed for 12 hours. The lids should start to pop within 20-30 minutes of being removed from the water.
That popping sound is music to your ears, as it tells you that everything has sealed. It’s a reward for all your work.
After the jars have rested for about 12 hours, press down in the middle of each lid. If it "gives" at all, the jar didn't seal. Either enjoy it that day, put it in the fridge, or reprocess it.
Canned peaches will last for 9-12 months.
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Very useful
So glad it was helpful Melissa!
Hello I just did 12 qts of peaches in a pressure canner. I got my #s backwards, I canned at 8 min at 10# pressure at 4000 ft ele. They all sealed and look good. Are they safe to eat ? most will be in pies. Thanks in advance. I really like and use your site often. Don
Donald, I think you’re all set! 8 min at 10 psi is correct for 4000 ft elevation in a dial-gauge canner.
https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/peach_sliced.html
I’ve never heard of blanching peaches to remove the skin. We’ve always simply pared them with a knife. Have you used both methods? Does blanching them cause the peaches to be more mushy after canning than paring?
I’ve done both methods and if you’re processing a bunch of peaches, blanching them is 100% the way to go. It’s so much faster.
As long as you are parboiling them just until the skins start to lift up, and then immediately plunging them into an ice bath, there is no noticeable difference in texture.
As someone who has never tried preserving anything, this actually looks do-able. What a great tutorial! Now you’ve got me craving peaches (and singing that Peaches song from the 90’s)!
You can do it, Christine! Though someone from the UK messaged me and told me the price of canning jars over there and it was outrageous!
Hi there wondering what ratio of peaches you used for that much water and sugar? I have been looking for a recipe with a very light syrup rather than such a heavy one as is called for in so many recipes for canning peaches.
thanks!
I’ll be honest in that it varies based on the weight of the peaches, etc. For 8 quarts I probably use about 1.5 times the syrup recipe.
What peaches do you prefer to use for canning?
Anything that is labeled as “freestone”. Those are the ones where the pit pops out easily. The kind most readily available about our farmer’s market is “Elberta”.
looks pretty easy and doable!
Looks easy and doable
Interesting. I recently did a guest post (I’m not a blogger … just a canner!) on canning peaches in just WATER! This is how my Mom has always done it, and I’ve been doing it for years. If you go digging on official canning sites you can find reference to sugar not being necessary for preservation – just for color taste. I put a tiny bit of citric acid or Fruit Fresh into the bottom of each jar, raw pack my blanched/peeled peaches, top with boiling water and process. Summer. in. a. jar. 🙂
https://www.theprairiesmoke.com/2017/09/11/canning-peaches-in-water/
Thank you for sharing Devonna! I’ve canned in water before, and I didn’t have great results. But it definitely could have been user-error. Plus, our garage stays so warm and that is where we keep our canned goods.
Thanks for the post. There’s is nothing better than a perfectly ripe peach, is there?? My husband and I can amazing organic peaches we order from amazing WA state each year and EVERY TIME time they end up over-processed. Like, “you can’t pick them up with a fork” over-processed. The only thing I’ve come up with is that the canner takes too long to come back to a boil before I begin the timer. Tell me, while you are packing each jar, where are the other jars sitting? Mine sit in a 200-degree oven until they are all full to keep them hot. Could this be the cause of mushy peaches? I’m paranoid a jar will break in the canner (it’s only happened once) or they will lower the canner temp too much, so I keep them as hot as possible through the process.
A few questions for you. What kind of syrup are you using? Are you doing a raw pack or hot pack?
For peaches, my jars are sitting on the counter full of hot water. I use the jar in the oven method for certain types of canning, but not peaches.
I’ve tried both light syrups (one time with sugar, one time with honey) and one time plain water. All 3 were cold pack. Same results every time – sloppy peaches. I’m wondering if the peaches are too ripe when I can them?? I’m canning them at the same ripeness that I would choose to eat them, but maybe I need to can them when they are a little firmer?
Are you processing in a water bath canner or pressure canner? Are you doing 25 minutes processing time? The peaches I can are ripe enough to eat, but not so ripe that they’re hard to handle.
Yup, quarts in a water bath canner, for 25 minutes…but that doesn’t include the amount of time it takes to get the water back up to boil once I take the lid off and add my first jar. It takes me so long to get all 6 jars filled with fruit and syrup and I set each jar in the canner as I fill it…is that right? Or should I leave filled jars on the counter and put them all in the canner at once?? The directions are never clear on this step! I always worry my jars won’t be hot enough when they enter the canner, hence the use of the oven.
Ok, ding, ding, ding we have solved the problem! Yes, you need to put all the jars in at the SAME time and then start the countdown.
I fill a jar with peaches and then ladle in the hot syrup. Then I take the next hot jar (you could remove it from the oven at this point. I just dump the hot water out of it), fill it with peaches, and then put the syrup in. Continue until I have 7 quarts done. THEN I clean the rims on all of them, THEN I put the lids on all of them, THEN I do the rings for all of them. The whole time this is going on, the lid is still on the canner. I open it just one time and put the jars in. It is easier to keep the water from dropping too much temp that way.
I think if you try the above method, your peaches will stay much fresher.
Presto! So you rely on the hot syrup to keep the glass hot enough to prevent breakage. I didn’t think you could do that. I’ve only had one jar break in the canner with my method and it has me completely paranoid!! Thank you SO much for your time!!!
I do. I have a few jars break every canning season (with all various products), and I just consider it part of the deal. It happens, and you can clean the outside of the other jars and call it a day. 🙂