Wizardnm and Readinglady - your peach preserves recipes please

lsr2002

15 years ago

Nancy and Carol, I don't want to admit how long I have been looking tonight for the thread that Nancy started on peach preserves that she made and Carol posted a slightly different recipe. Both recipes had standing time with the fruit and sugar I think. Carol's reference may have been to a Christine Ferber recipe.

I was given enough homegrown peaches to make a batch or two and both of those recipes sounded great. Now that I have had the benefit of Carols help with jelling point temp. and other suggestions when I made the strawberry jam, I am confidant that I can do the peach without cooking it over two hours and still winding up with syrup as I did last year.

Please, either repost the recipes or a link to the thread. Was it here, on Harvest, on the RE? I've tried to search them all through GW and Google with no luck.

When will I ever learn to save recipes the FIRST time I see them?

Thank you both,

Lee

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Comments (18)

readinglady
15 years ago
Here you go. I posted the Ferber recipe with my notes on Harvest two or more years ago. Now it looks like there's a lot of discussion about the preserves but not the recipe itself.

I attached a Harvest thread discussing the preserves, preserves in general and also RuddMd's recipe for Peach Preserves for a Cold Morning, which is a lovely recipe also.

On these Peach Preserves I did make a note to myself. I used firm-ripe peaches and ended up near the end straining out the peaches to avoid overcooking, cooking down the syrup to the jell point and then returning the peaches. It turned out a very pretty preserve with a great color. The set was that of a traditional preserve, a bit "soft."

Peach Preserves

Recipe By : Christine Ferber
Categories : Canning & Preserving Jams & Jellies

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 3/4 pounds peaches -- (2 1/4 pounds/1kilo net)
3 3/4 cups sugar -- (800g)
juice of 1 lemon

Blanch and peel peaches. Cut in halves and then each half in sixths. Place in water with vegetable whitener or Fruit Fresh.

In preserving pan, combine peach sections, sugar, lemon juice. Bring to a simmer, then pour into a bowl. Cover with parchment; refrigerate overnight.

Next day, bring to a boil, stirring gently. Skim. Continue cooking on high (boil) about 5 minutes, stirring continuously. Check set.

Seal.

Yielded 5 8-oz. jars and a 4-oz. jar
Description: from Ferber's "Mes Confitures" p. 173

This was Annie's comment from an email. I don't think she'll mind if I include it. It gives you some ideas about reducing sugar, if you want to give that a try.

I made your peach preserves tonight, and they are SOOO good. I used a whole peck of peaches and only 3 cups of sugar, plus the lemon. It made 7 half pints, but those peaches cooked down thick into a "peach essence" kind of. Not a noticeable sweet jam, but a very "peach-y" one. I definitely need to make more of those!

Happy preserving,

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Peach Preserves Question
wizardnm
15 years ago
Lee, here's the recipe that I posted.

Chunky Peach Preserves

3 pounds freestone peaches
ice water
5 cups sugar
2/3 cup strained fresh lemon juice, or more to taste

Cut an X in the rounded end of each peach. Bring a saucepan full of water to a boil over high heat. Have ready a bowl of ice water. Add peaches a few at a time to the boiling water and blanch 30 seconds, then transfer to the ice water to stop the cooking. When cool, lift out and peel. The skin should peel back easily from the X.

Cut peaches into wedges about 1/2 inch thick, then cut each wedge in half crosswise. Transfer to a large bowl, add sugar and lemon juice and stir well. Let stand several hours or overnight, stirring two or three times, until sugar dissolves and mixture no longer tastes grainy.

Transfer to a large pot, bring to a simmer over moderately high heat and simmer, skimming any white foam that collects on the surface, until peaches are tender and syrup thickens slightly, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, cover and let rest overnight to "plump" the fruit again.

Drain the fruit in a sieve set over a bowl. Taste the syrup and add more lemon juice if it seems too sweet. Return the syrup to a pot and cook over moderately high heat until it reaches 220F 105C). Or test for jamlike consistency by spooning a little onto a chilled saucer, then returning the saucer to the freezer for a couple of minutes to cool the syrup quickly. It should firm to a soft jelly consistency.

Return the peaches and any collected juices to the pot and cook a couple of minutes more, until mixture returns to 220 F (105 C). It will seem thin.

Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes, then spoon into clean, hot jars to within 1/2 inch from the top. Wipe rim clean with a towel dipped in hot water. Place lids and rings on jars and seal tightly.

Cool and refrigerate for up to 3 months. Or, for longer storage, place just-filled jars in boiling water to cover by 1 inch and boil 15 minutes for half-pint jars, 20 minutes for pint jars.

Transfer with tongs to a rack to cool; lids should form a seal.

Nancy
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annie1992
15 years ago
Carol, I need to make some more of those peach preserves. Although I don't have to reduce sugar for Dad's consumption now, Elery is hypoglycemic and sugar can give him a horrendous headache, so I still lower the sugar as much as I can.

I think my only jam making this year is going to be your pear preserves, these peach preserves, some of Nancy's maple apple jam and some Habanero Gold.

Annie
lsr2002
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you so much! Once I searched for "chunky" peach preserves I found both the recipes where I had recently seen them on lindac's "windshield" thread! That was one of the very few threads in the last six pages of posts that I didn't open last night.

I'll be making preserves this aternoon.

Lee
Terri_PacNW
15 years ago
I just started a batch of Nancy's recipe.
I didn't measure the peaches..just cut up what I had. Used the lemon juice in the same fashion. And the sugar to taste. We'll see what tomorrow or tonight holds for cooking.
I loved the fact that I just had to cut into wedges on the pit, then run my knife around the middle and viola chunky diced peaches.

Nancy,Do I have to refrigerate this at any point before BWB?
lsr2002
Original Author
15 years ago
My batch is started too. I had a little over a kilo net of peach chunks and added the juice of two large limes (regular lemons are $1.09 each here) and a little less than 800 gm of sugar. I'm using the method that Nancy posted with the two drying out periods.

And thanks to Colleen's suggestion of cutting down a wide mouthed water bottle, which works beautifully as a funnel, I won't be swearing if I decide to use the little Italian jars.

I'll be watching for an update from you Terri.

Lee
wizardnm
15 years ago
Terri...to me overnight means 9-10 maybe even 12 hrs. If you had to hold them longer then I'd refrigerate. Otherwise, no refrigeration necessary.

Hope they turn out for both of you...have fun!

Nancy
lsr2002
Original Author
15 years ago
I just finished the first cooking and my peaches are in a clean wide bowl under a mesh screen cover. I'm looking forward to finishing the preserves tomorrow.

Lee
jessyf
15 years ago
According to Ferber, the 'maceration' or holding the fruit (generally brought to a simmer) in sugar overnight is so that the sugar can better penetrate the fruit.

That being said I tried doubling or even tripling a batch once. It didn't cool fast enough for me to refrigerate safely.

Does anyone have an opinion on maceration? I skipped that step when Gina came over to do figs. I also don't use all her sugar - usually about 1/3 the amount she calls for. Its just too sweet for me.
annie1992
15 years ago
I also cut the sugar by at least half, sometimes more. If I cut it too much I don't get a true jell but it'll thicken as it cooks, more like fruit butter. And I always make a double batch, sometimes a triple batch, as long as I have the canner going anyway, it comes out fine.

Anyway, I always macerate, and I don't refrigerate the fruit while it's sitting in the sugar. It's fruit and sugar, sugar is a mild preservative and I leave fruit on the counter in a bowl for a couple of days before I eat it usually so I don't worry about the refrigeration for those several hours. I usually start the maceration in the morning before I leave for work and cook the jam when I get home, 9 or 10 hours later. If it's a Friday night, I'll start the fruit about midnight and cook jam at 8 a.m. the next morning but I'm not really a morning person, so that's not ideal for me.

Annie
Terri_PacNW
15 years ago
Well, the bowl sat out over night..I tasted it...tastes yummy..not to sweet..still peachy..getting ready to strain the fruit from the juice, and get all the canning stuff out..

Be back in a bit.
Terri_PacNW
15 years ago
I cooked it up to 220F..This batch I'm just going to put in the fridge..it only made 1 half pint, 4 mini half pints, and a bit in a dish. I added a piece of used vanilla bean to my dish.
I didn't feel like getting out the BWB canner and heating up the house more than it is now..
September is warm so far!
napagirl
15 years ago
Can someone tell me where to find the Brown Sugar and Rum Peach Jam recipe?

While searching GW for something else, I stumpled on a thread that mentioned this jam and it sounds wonderful. Of course I don't have any peaches now but I'd like to have the recipe for next year. Hopefully by next year I'll have a finished kitchen (we're in the middle of a remodel).
Thanks, Sharon
readinglady
15 years ago
Here it is:

Peach Jam With Brown Sugar and Rum

Makes 6 half pints
6 cups frozen peach slices, thawed
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice (2 lemons)
3/4 cup dark rum, preferably Jamaican (divided)
2 cups granulated sugar

Wash 6 half-pint jars and keep hot until needed. Prepare the lids as manufacturer directs. Combine the peaches with the brown sugar, lemon juice and about half of the rum in a large pot and stir the mixture well. Stir well, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Pour the fruit mixture into large, heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover the pan, reduce the heat and simmer until the fruit chunks start turning translucent, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring several times. If the jam becomes too thick before the fruit clarifies, add 2 or 3 tablespoons water.
Add the granulated sugar and cook the jam rapidly over medium-high heat, stirring almost constantly, until a spoonful placed on a chilled saucer and refrigerated for a few moments wrinkles instead of running when the saucer is tilted sharply. (Remove the pot from the heat while testing.) Stir in the remaining rum and cook the jam for 2 minutes, stirring.

Ladle the boiling-hot jam into 1 hot jar at a time, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe the rim with a clean, damp cloth. Attach the lid. Fill and close the remaining jars. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

-- Adapted from "Fancy Pantry" by Helen Witty
(Sharon Maasdam)

*Note: For Mango Jam use 6 cups peeled, chopped firm-ripe mangos and 6 tablespoons strained fresh lime juice in lieu of the lemon.

My Note: Although the recipe doesn't mention it, this jam benefits from aging on the shelf to mellow.

Carol
napagirl
15 years ago
Carol,
Thanks so much for posting the Peach Jam With Brown Sugar and Rum recipe. Can't wait to try it when I finally get my new kitchen!
Terri_PacNW
15 years ago
Napagirl, I love the above recipe...I also love Nancy's Chunky Preserves......They both are DELISH...
I've been using either the Brown Sugar/Rum or Chunky on my english muffin half on weekend breakfasts...I've got other jams....but these are just so good...
KatieC
15 years ago
Jessy got me started with her vanilla fig jam. Last year it was apricot with gewurztraminer with vanilla bean from Mes Confitures. This year I tried one very much like Nancy's chunky preserves but with vanilla beans. It's a pretty soft jam (5# fruit:5 c. sugar), but omg it's good.

Two batches of that, two batches of Cold Mornings and a batch of peach chipotle jam. I'm almost ready for Christmas, hehe.
Terri_PacNW
15 years ago
Katie, I agree about adding the vanilla bean..I did that with the container of 'leftover' from Nancy's Chunky preserves..and wow..what a wonderful thing tucking that 1" bean did to the flavor!
Next time I make a batch, I'll tuck a small bit of bean in every jar!

Wizardnm and Readinglady - your peach preserves recipes please

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Wizardnm and Readinglady - your peach preserves recipes please

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