orange food week, part 2: canning peach butter

[moominmolly]

First, I have to say, I really love those crazy canners, Bernice and Paul. Seriously. Not only do they have recipes for just about anything I'd want to can, I can also check out everything they've canned since 1966. Note that occasionally, they have no canning record for the year because they were working in China.

M: Look. Everything they've canned for the past FORTY YEARS.
D: I love the internet.
M: Me too!
D: Like, "What's In My Closet?"!
M: I don't know! Let's ask THE INTERNET!

Anyway. Yeah. I love these folks.

So! Tonight's canning steps:

- Buy asston of peaches (done earlier)
- Peel and quarter 18 peaches. Save the peels in an extra bowl. This is easier, apparently, if you blanch the peaches first, but I'm lazy.
- Simmer the peach bits in water until significantly mushier than when you started.
- Ladle into a blender and puree.
- Pour into crockpot.
- For every 2 cups peach puree, add 1 c sugar. I had about 10 cups puree. Woo!
- Add: generous dose of brandy, clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir.
- Turn crockpot up to high and leave alone for a few hours, stirring in a rather desultory way from time to time.

[time passes. go take a shower and watch cirque du soleil video with dilletante.]

According to the Nolls, peach butter wants to be canned for 10 minutes. According to epicurious, things canned for 10 minutes or longer do not have separately-boiled jars. So:

- In canning bath, bring jars to a boil. Turn back down to just below a simmer (keep the water hot, but not TOO hot)
- Boil the lids separately, quickly, and leave them in hot water.
- One at a time, bring the jars out of the canning bath with tongs, and ladle peach butter in to within 1/2" of the top.
- Wipe jar threads clean.
- Add jar lid (with tongs! TONGS!) and ring, and replace jar into water bath.
- Repeat until you've put all the peach butter in jars.
- Turn the heat up to high.
- When the water reaches a boil, turn it back down to a slow boil and boil for the appropriate time.
- After they've cooled, press the little button thingy in the center of the jar lid. If it stays down, the jar is sealed and can be put wherever you want! If it pops back up, refrigerate and eat quickly.
- Celebrate!

Side note: if you save the peach peels in a bowl, you can puree them afterwards with orange juice, a splash of lemon for tang, and maybe those Frozen Gobbets of Mango from Trader Joe's you've got left in the back of the freezer. Then pour into leftover Fresh Samantha bottles and enjoy fibery mango-peach nectar at your leisure. Not only is this tasty, it means you don't have to obsess about cutting as little flesh as possible off when you peel the peaches, since you're going to eat it anyway.

Why am I obsessed with orange things this week? No idea! I even bought orange-flavored Mr. Clean.

Anyway, off to shower.

Comments

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Okay, so! I did a couple this way, last night, and sure enough, the little seals popped down and they look all snug and secure. So EASY! But, hm, here's what I don't know: *how* sterile must the jar lids be, and how quick do I have to be when doing it this way? I found that I was MUCH slower at getting the jar lid out with my crappy jar tongs and putting it on the top of a filled jar than I was at getting the jar itself, filling it, and wiping it. How do I know when I'm creating a hazard? Do I have to be lightnin'-quick, or am I just competing speed-wise with the old and arthritic?

I mean, I can be kind of hazardous. I don't want to tempt fate.

[nex0s.livejournal.com]

the lids should be boiled for 10-15 minutes, like any other lids. i usually do that just as my simmering time is ending.

i dunno when you are creating a hazard. i know that i haven't had a single jar go off though. i've probably canned a total of about 75 jars of stuff in my life. *shrug*

i think you just have to be quick enough to get it all done while it's REally Hot. don't forget, most air is realively sterile. it's the SURFACES of things that aren't.

a'course, if you sneeze directly into the jar, prior to lidding it, you may have a problem :)

n.