A Question About Peaches

[Tony from Ohio]

I just bought a 1/2 bushel of Michigan Red Haven peaches, and was wondering if anyone knows if I can just take the peaches and water and cook this down to a preserve-like state without using pectin and sugar. These peaches are so sweet and tasty I don't want to pollute the flavor with sugar if at all possible. I also want to give some to friends with diabetes and don't want then to have to worry about a sugar factor when eating. Will this work or will I just be cooking alot of good peaches down to mush? Any help would be appriciated, these babies are hitting peak flavor and time is becoming of the essense.

[LC]

Tony, I don't see that as a problem. A couple of thoughts.....

I frequently dice unpeeled peaches and cook them down (slowly and carefully) to an apple butter consistancy. I start in a heavy soup pot and move on to a crock pot. Because I am frequently using underridpe peaches I finish off by adding sugar to taste.

Without sugar the peaches will darken sooner than with sugar. With NO sugar added freezing might be the best idea.

Good luck and give a holler if you have questions as you go along.
LC

[Disastercat]

What LC said, the main reason for adding lots of sugar in canning was to make the fruits safer. During WWII, they tended to become even sweeter (in the UK anyway) because if you have at least 1/2 sugar to 1/2 fruit you have pretty much made preserved candy. You can water bath can sweet fruit with no added sugar, but if you have to can it (rather than freeze) you might want to try pressure canning or try making wonderful peach "rollups" if you a deyhdrator.

[Summerthyme]

The big thing is... you probably won't get "jam" or "jelly" out of this. As long as you're ok with that... go for it. You'll likely get some approximation of a "peach butter" or maybe even something like "applesauce".. but "peachsauce" instead.

If you want to make jam without sugar, you certainly can... but you need *some* form of pectin to get that "jell". If you can find "pomona pectin" locally, buy a box or two and try it... it's the best way to make "no sugar" jam I've found.

BUT... if you make jam with no sugar added, it won't hold flavor or color very well at room temp. I'd never try that and then try canning it like I do regular jam. Freeze it, and it will probably be wonderful.

(old time recipes to make "jam" out of fruit which is naturally low in pectin always call for crab apples (or peels from tart apples) or other fruits which are naturally high in pectin.)

Summerthyme

[Belle]

I've seen sugar free pectin at Walmart, near the canning supplies. If I'm not mistaken, it was made by Sure-Jel.

I know that pectin is sugar free, but this one didn't require any sugar to make jam. I just don't know how else to word it.

You can make peach jam by adding 1 cup of white grape juice to 5 cups of peaches, 2 T. lemon juice, and the no-sugar-needed pectin. Boil for 1 minute, then ladle into hot jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Put on the lids and process in HWB for 10 minutes.

[Tony from Ohio]

Thanks for the input. I took it upon myself to go ahead and see what I'd get. Just cooking the peaches in water only resulted in stewed peaches. I took it a step further and added some sugar, this really made a difference in the taste, brought the peach flavor out more. Then, still not satisfied, I mashed the peaches down and wound up pureeing them in the blender. I did 1/2 really smooth and the other 1/2 a little more intact, resulting in what you've all talked about, peach butter more or less. I finished it off by cooking it down over high heat until I got the desired thickness. All I can say is this stuff really has great intense peach flavor lol. What I was attempting tho was something along the jam line to freeze, I guess I'll take the remainder of the peaches and get the sure gel and go from there. Also am going to try the suggestion I read about freezing whole peaches for later use, sure would be nice to make a peach pie in December that tastes like peaches instead of bland nothing. Thanks again for the input. :smile:

[momof23goats]

I've seen sugar free pectin at Walmart, near the canning supplies. If I'm not mistaken, it was made by Sure-Jel.

I know that pectin is sugar free, but this one didn't require any sugar to make jam. I just don't know how else to word it.

You can make peach jam by adding 1 cup of white grape juice to 5 cups of peaches, 2 T. lemon juice, and the no-sugar-needed pectin. Boil for 1 minute, then ladle into hot jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Put on the lids and process in HWB for 10 minutes.
I agree with Belle on this one.
And the lemon juice will stop the peaches from getting dark.

[Disastercat]

I use Sure Jell to make no sugar, low sugar or splenda based jams and it works well. It also keeps for years (no matter what the box says) my mother-in-law brings it over from Dallas every so often. I do think that freezing is a better option for "peachbutter" but it does sound good. If it were me, I might experiment with part of the batch and add a few spices just for interest and then see which version we all liked best. Its too cold here for peaches and I do miss them, we get them in from Italy but it just isn't the same somehow.

On other hand, we get lots and lots and lots of apples...

[Belle]

Disastercat, what is Ireland's weather like, compared to US states? Or is it more like northern Canada? Michigan gets pretty cold and snowy, but they grow peaches there.

[Southwind]

Thanks for the thread, I am still wrestling with the last rock hard gassed peaches that I ended up buying. Still ticks me off. Guess I'll crock pot them for peach butter.

[momof23goats]

you know I have cooked them down before and added just a tablespoon or so of apple pie spice, and made peach butter, it is wonderful. If it needs to be sweetened you can use splenda or honey.

[betsy baker]

When I can peaches, I cut them up and add a touch of citrus fresh. It's plain old vit. C, but it keeps them from turning brown. Busy day today. I have a bushel of Missouri peaches and two apple trees ready to be picked. This year with all the world events going on, I have canned more than ever.

[Tony from Ohio]

Thanks once again for all the useful input. Today I finally got around to cutting up and freezing the remaining peaches I have, gonna make some wonderful pies down the road, also took a dozen of the nicest peaches and froze them whole to see how this works out, I need a bigger freezer lol. It'll soon be apple time here in this part of Ohio, looking to get a few bushels of different varieties for drying and freezing, I don't know about yall but, I'll take a Winesap or McIntosh over a red delicious anyday! Thanks again, my peach butter turned out great, and btw, I posted a really easy brownie recipe sometime back, if ya like chocolatey brownies you need to check it out, super simple with excellent results.

[momof23goats]

glad to hear your peach butter turned out great.

[Animal Lover]

Thanks for the input. I took it upon myself to go ahead and see what I'd get. Just cooking the peaches in water only resulted in stewed peaches. I took it a step further and added some sugar, this really made a difference in the taste, brought the peach flavor out more. Then, still not satisfied, I mashed the peaches down and wound up pureeing them in the blender. I did 1/2 really smooth and the other 1/2 a little more intact, resulting in what you've all talked about, peach butter more or less. I finished it off by cooking it down over high heat until I got the desired thickness. All I can say is this stuff really has great intense peach flavor lol. What I was attempting tho was something along the jam line to freeze, I guess I'll take the remainder of the peaches and get the sure gel and go from there. Also am going to try the suggestion I read about freezing whole peaches for later use, sure would be nice to make a peach pie in December that tastes like peaches instead of bland nothing. Thanks again for the input. :smile:
Hi, I have had very good luck with slicing peaches and apples and just spreading them on a cookie sheet, sprinkle tiny bit of sugar, pop in freezer all spread out. When totally frozen take em out, work quick and put into freezer bags. That way you will have very fresh, just picked peaches for your pies. We had a very old orchard on our farm and I did all our fruit that way, even berries, then you could just pop out of the bag the amount you wanted and put the rest back in the freezer. Good luck. AL