Peach Jam

Sunday morning, I pulled a couple bags of peaches out of the freezer to thaw, and then got stuff ready to make jam.

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Ingredients:

• 6 cups peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced; or frozen and thawed
• 4 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 packet (1.75oz) of low-sugar pectin
• 1/2 cup water

Yield: 8  – 12oz jars jam

Supplies:

• Large pot for processing (water bath) jars
• canning jars ( I used the 12oz size jars and filled 8 of them, so if you use a different size, just do the math to determine how many jars you’ll need)
• canning rings and lids to fit your jars
• magnetic lid lifter (for removing the lids and rings out of the boiling water)
• canning funnel (used when pouring jam into jar – it keeps the jar rims clean)
• jar lifter ( used to lift jars into and out of boiling water)
• small measuring cup or ladle

First, get your jars, lids, and rings ready. Wash them in warm soapy water, rinse, and then place in a pot large enough so that the water covers them.

Bring to a boil, and then remove pot from heat and set it on your work surface on a hotpad. Don’t drain. Leave jars, lids, and rings in pot. Spread a towel out near the pot.

Place your peaches in a large pot and use a potato masher to mash them up a bit

and then add the 1/2 cup water. In a small bowel, mix together the pectin and 1/4 cup sugar.

Remove the jars, lids, and rings from the water bath and place on towel. Keep the pot of water.

Stir the pectin mixture into the 6 cups of peaches, and bring to a full boil over medium to high heat stirring occasionally.

When it reaches a full boil (it continues to boil even when you stir it) add the rest of the sugar

and bring back to a full boil.

Boil hard and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat and place on a hotpad near the jars.

Skim off the foam, and discard. Place the jar funnel into the first jar, and using a measuring cup or ladle, fill the jar to within a 1/4 inch of the rim. Fill the rest of the jars.

Use a wet paper towel to clean any spills from the jar rims.

Place lids on jars,

and then tighten the rings onto each jar.

Use a hotpad to hold the hot jars when tightening the lids.

Using the jar lifter, return the jars to the large pot of water. Jars should be covered by at least an inch of water.

Place pot on stove and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and boil for 5 minutes if you live at an altitude between 0-1000 feet. (For 1001 – 3000 feet boil 10 minutes. For 3001 to 6000 feet boil 15 minutes. For 6001 to 8000 feet boil 20 minutes. For 8001 to 10,000 boil 25 minutes.)

Remove the pot from the stove, and place near the towel again. Using the jar lifter, remove the jars from the water

and place on the towel.

Allow to cool completely without touching or bumping them. The jar lids should “pop” indicating they have sealed. (See the little hill on the lid? It should disappear.) Any jars that do not seal should be refrigerated.

And you’re done!!

This morning, I opened one of the jars for a taste. I love the color – it’s the same as the peachy sunrises we’ve been getting lately.

And the taste was just right – very peachy and not too sweet!

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