A longer process time? Not sure what you mean by that. Peaches are low-acid and low-pectin so getting them to set well with no commercial pectin and reduced sugar is not likely. You can in theory cook the jam long enough to evaporate out sufficient water for a thicker mixture but it's not truly jelled and there's a risk of over-cooking and the loss of freshness of taste. The set of a jam requires a specific ratio of acid+sugar+pectin. So in a sense you're asking mother nature to break her own rules. While some reduction of sugar is possible it's likely the best result will be a softer set preserve. The other option would be to improve the setting qualities by mixing the peaches with a higher-pectin fruit or fruit juice, like apple. You can, in fact, make your own natural pectin base from apples or citrus and then use it in your jams. Carol

I've made several batches of Splenda jams and jellies. I don't notice a big difference between the Splenda ones and the regular sugar except, the color doesn't keep as much with the Splenda ones. AND I do use the low sugar pectin. I don't use the Ball, mainly because I buy bulk. I found mine in an Amish store, it's call Dutch Jell Lite, and there are recipes for it online. Ball has a pectin calculator which works very well for several fruits and after you tell it, what fruit, whether jam or jelly, and what pectin you want to, will give you recipes for full sugar, reduced sugar, low sugar and sugar free. Keep in mind that the less sugar, the more fruit you will need per jar. This is strictly from experience.

sylwia, I make all my preserves either all fruit or low sugar. My Dad was diabetic and I made them for him, but found that I like them better than those big jars of fruit flavored sugar and pectin that I used to make! I use the old fashioned long cooking method without any commercial pectin because I find the commercial pectin expensive and inconsistent, plus I can double a batch and reduce sugar that way. I usually just crush the fruit into my pan, add apple juice or water, whatever "flavors" I want, and start cooking. I add almond extract to cherry, I've added rum to peach conserve, Cointreau or orange is nice with blueberry, etc. Cinnamon is good in apple jelly or apple butter, ginger is nice with apricots. I sweeten to taste but never use more than a cup or two of Splenda or Equal if I add it at all. Anyway, when it nearly reaches jell point (between 218 and 220), I use the "frozen plate" test for thickness. That's just putting a plate into the freezer for a few minutes, dabbing a dot of hot jam onto the plate and putting it back in the freezer for a minute. If it's thick enough I stop cooking it. When it gets close, I usually turn off the heat under the jam because I've gotten a couple of batches of nice taffy from overcooking, along with a couple of "caramelized" batches. Some fruits are low in natural pectin, so I normally add a little lemon juice, although the last batch of apricot jam I made I added the zest of a whole lemon and got a relatively nice apricot/lemon marmalade but it wasn't what I was trying to make, LOL. Sometimes I don't get a good "gel" because of the lack of natural pectin, those fruits I just cook until they are thick, although they come out more like a fruit butter than a jam/jelly/preserve. I have used Splenda or Equal in place of sugar too, but have found that they seem to get sweeter as they set, so that is a "taste as you go" process and I stop adding sweetener when it's a little less sweet than I want it to be in the end. Also, no sugar preserves do not keep as well as the full sugar types, they will mold more quickly after opening, so I always can them in half pint jars to be certain they get used up before spoiling. I always waterbath mine because it's easier for me to waterbath the jars for 10 minutes than to sterilize them all instead, and I don't like to deal with wax because it's messy, hot and I've had it catch on fire. So I slap rings and lids on the jars of hot jam and into the water for 10 minutes. I don't worry so much about exact amounts because fruit is a high acid food and you can't contract botulism. That said, jam and preserves can mold and you can get sick, I would never scrape the mold from jam and eat the remainder of the jar, although that's what Grandma did. You can also buy Pomona's Pectin, which will jell water, I swear. I don't like the odd, chalky texture/flavor I get with Pomona's and I find it a PIA to mix this part with that part and keep this part in the fridge in water, etc. Ball and Sure Jell now have no sugar/low sugar pectins too, and they have recipes inside the box. I haven't used them so I can't tell you how well it works. With me it was trial and error until I got it right and be prepared to have a couple of batches of fruit topping that never sets up at all, LOL. Keep trying and it'll work, I promise. Good luck, and happy canning. Annie

would it then also stand to reason then that I could take any of the other fruits Ball says don't need lemon juice, food process them into pulp, combine them with honey in the same ratio as the recipes above, but add half, little or no pectin, follow the same boiling and processing instructions, and call it sauce? With a couple of provisions. First the natural pectin amount will vary from fruit to fruit and degree of ripeness. So consistency could be an issue if you don't use the pectin. If that doesn't matter then second provision - high acid fruits only. Learn your fruit pHs and when in doubt, add lemon juice or citric acid. You'd need avoid using (or would have to add lemon juice) with any of the borderline or low-acid fruits like figs, mangoes, windfall apples, melons, some berries, etc. See https://foodsafety.wisc.edu/business_food/files/Approximate_pH.pdf Third, degree of desired sweetness will vary from fruit to fruit of course so amount of honey needed may also vary. And do keep in mind that using honey does have some provisions of its own - pasteurization, not for babies, tends to crystalize, etc. We prefer using the Ball Lo-No sugar pectin for all our jams and in most cases we add no sugar OR honey as we prefer the 100% fruit flavors of jams. Wife and I have tried the Pomona several times but neither of us really care for the mouth feel it results in so Ball Lo-No is our go-to pectin. Dave