Bo_Berrin,
I hope your father is ok. When I was visiting my parents one summer, and away from my usual equipment, I made peach freezer jam. I just bought the sure-jell for reduced sugar recipes and made it like I usually would when I do boiling water bath. Except I just put it into plastic containers and froze it instead of canning in jars. Worked fine for me. There is also special freezer jam pectin that doesn't require cooking.
Melly

I just followed the directions on the little insert that comes with the pectin.

Can you just freeze the peaches and worry about jam later?

I know me........I'd screw up even the simplest of recipes if I was worried about someone in the hospital!

Just another idea.
Deanna

I was going to suggest that too. If you have the room, you could prep the peaches, mash and mix with fruit-fresh per the recipe instructions, measure out in amounts for a batch of jam and then freeze. If you have more room, you could also add the correct amount of sugar for each batch.

Then later all you have to do is pull a container out, thaw and proceed with the recipe.

But considering your dad's accident, Deanna's suggestion is lowest-risk.

Carol

These are great suggestions, and I wasn't aware that I could just prep and freeze the peaches and make the jam later, if necessary. Thanks so much! That could come in handy with two more waves of peaches coming ripe.

Unbelieveably, after firemen and police struggled for an hour to extricate my dad from the wreckage, he walked out of the hospital hours later, extremely bruised and sore, but apparently without any serious injury! What a blessing!!! I'm still shocked. My sister sent me the link to our parents' news station and I saw the video coverage of the wreck. A policeman at the scene said it was amazing everyone survived.

Apparently, I'll be free to jam all I want (and then some!) tomorrow, because my Dad is just fine. (((happy sigh)))

Thanks, y'all.

It is great to hear your father was so fortunate. I can imagine what a huge relief that was.

Now you can jam to your heart's content. And maybe the other information about freezing will still come in handy at a later time.

Carol

If the peaches are really ripening too fast, place them in the fridge. It should hold them a few more days.

Hey, everybody--just wanted to thank you for helping me out in a crazy time. Dad is doing GREAT--after being T-boned broadside by a car going 60 mph, and being pinned in his vehicle for over an hour while the crews cut him out, he walked away with only bruises.

With the information you all gave me on this thread and others, I made two kinds of peach jam and they're both DELICIOUS.

Carol, I made the "Peach Preserves for Cold Mornings" which you referred to on a different thread. OMGoodness! I couldn't find 2 red savina habaneros, so I used four regular habaneros. POW! It's got a kick! It's melting the glass jars from the inside, but the family loves it--even the kiddos! It reminds us of fireball candy--no actual pepper flavor, just hot sweetness.

I put a lot of peaches in the fridge, and they're still good. Thanks again for the help in a scary time.

It's nice to get the update. My father was in a similar sort of wreck a few years ago. Ended up in the ditch with his car totaled. He went to the hospital for observation then walked out. What a miracle.

That is a great recipe, isn't it? I wouldn't go more than the 4 peppers you used because there's no added vinegar in the preserves to raise acidity. Also, don't reduce the sugar or try this with a canned low-sugar spread. The sugar binds the water and that's important for safety.

Carol

Bo, I just thought, speaking of added acid so peppers can be increased, that you might be interested in this recipe; you can sub any hot peppers you like up to the 1 cup maximum or do a mixture of hot and mild peppers for a more complex "heat hit":

Jamlady's Original Hot Mango Jam with a Hot Picante Peach Jam variation.

5 cups sugar
2 3/4 cups peeled, chopped mangoes
1 cup seeded or unseeded chopped jalapeno peppers
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 1 3/4-ounce box regular powdered pectin
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice or lime juice or 1/3 teaspoon citric acid
1/2 teaspoon butter (optional)

Blenderize the peppers and vinegar. Mix the lemon juice, butter, chopped mangoes, pepper mixture and pectin in a pan and boil for 1 minute. Add the sugar; boil for 1 minute more. Check the set. BWB 10 minutes.

Hot Picante Peach Jam - Use peaches instead of mangoes and ripe, red jalapeno peppers. The resulting jam will be orange-colored.

Carol

Carol, interesting that your dad went through something similar. I think God allows those things to happen (and keeps us protected from harm within them) for a purpose--maybe to let us know a tiny fraction of what He protects us from each day so we know how loved we are, and how dependent we are, though we sometimes think we're self-sufficient. Maybe different people get different messages, too. Still, it's all good.

Thanks for the added info on the peppers/acidity. I'm definitely trying the recipe you've just posted, and I think I'll go with the variation, since I like peaches better than mangoes, and I have so many of them!

I'm also going to try something else, but I don't know if it will work. I like the flavor/texture of the uncooked freezer jam, but I want it spicy. I think I might put the cooked habanero/orange mixture from the "Cold Mornings" recipe in the fresh peach freezer-jam recipe and then freeze it. It may work, or it may flop, but if it flops, I think I'd still be able to use it as a glaze. We'll see!

Thanks again for all your help!

I don't see any reason why it wouldn't. Most freezer jams are awfully high in sugar and pectin, so there should be some leeway.

I read somewhere (can't remember the source) that the capsaicin in the peppers is also a kind of preservative, so that a pepper-jam or jelly will keep in the fridge up to a year after opening.

Carol