Spiced Peach Jam

Someone went crazy and bought a 25 pound box of peaches at the farmers market, since they were $1 a pound. And then as usual, had them all go ripe at once. Yeesh! But, that just encourages me to get canning, eh? Spiced peach jam was up first…..

Spiced Peach Jam

Ingredients:

• 5 1/3 cups mashed peaches, pealed and pitted – see below (measure after mashing)
• 4 Tbsp bottled lemon juice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 6 Tbsp Ball® Real Fruit™ Classic Pectin
• 4 cups granulated sugar

Directions:

Wash canning jars, with bands and new lids, in hot, soapy water. Rinse well, and drain on a clean kitchen towel. Bring a large pot of water to boil, take off stove, add in clean jars and keep covered.

Fill canning pot halfway with water, bring to a near boil, then let simmer.

Peel and pit peaches, place in a large bowl of water, with extra lemon juice or Fruit Fresh. Once all peaches are ready, drain peaches. Mash peaches with a potato masher and measure, then stir in bottled lemon juice.

Following directions on pectin container, measure and put peach mixture in a large pot, stir in pectin and spices. Bring to full rolling boil over high heat (a boil that doesn’t stop when stirring). Stir in sugar quickly, return to a full rolling boil, cook for 1 minute after it returns to the boil. Take off the heat.

Drain jars using tongs, place on a clean kitchen towel. Ladle the hot jam into the bars, using a sterilized canning funnel. Leave a ¼” headspace.

Dip a clean paper towel in hot water, then run around the top of each jar. Place a lid on each jar, then a band, screw on finger tight.

Turn canner up to high, place jars in water bath rack, lower rack into water. Water should cover by 1 – 2″, if not add a bit more from the other pot that held the jars. Bring to a rolling boil, covered, process for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, carefully remove jars, placing on a clean dry kitchen towel to cool.

Once cooled, check again that seals are down (you should hear the Ping! as each one seals). Gently remove bands (wash, dry and store for your next project. While they look nicer on, if they have water inside from processing, they can rust. If you are giving away your canned items, you can always slip one back on), note on jar or lid what is in jar with a date. Store in a dry/cool/dark area and use within a year.

As always, if you ever go to use a canned item and the lid is not sealed anymore, or bulging, discard it immediately!!!!!! (I have only ever lost one jar in all my canning, so don’t fret!) If you are using a different brand of pectin, be sure to read their directions and to follow them.

Made 9 half-pints, expect to get about 4½ cups worth of jam, so you can vary jam jar size if you wish.

Note:

Use only bottled lemon juice. Fresh lemon juice acidity can vary.