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Peach Preserves
Cling-stone peaches are better than free-stone, for they keep their shape better. Wash, peel, and remove the stones if desired. If the stones are removed, cut the peaches in quarters. Use three-fourths pound of sugar, and three-fourths cup of water to each pound of prepared fruit. Boil the sugar and water for ten minutes. Skim, add the fruit and cook rapidly until it is transparent. Seal in clean hot jars.
A plain open-kettle preserve in which the peaches are cooked whole or quartered in syrup until they turn translucent. Everything depends on the syrup ratio and on not stirring the fruit to pieces.
- The ratio, in cupsThree-fourths pound of sugar per pound of fruit is roughly 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar to each pound of prepared peaches. Three-fourths cup water per pound gives a thin syrup that thickens as the fruit gives up its own juice.
- Clingstone peachesClings hold together in syrup because the flesh is firmer and more fibrous where it grips the pit. Most supermarket peaches now sold fresh are freestone; if that is all you have, use fruit that is ripe but still firm, and expect softer, more broken pieces.
- PeelingCut a shallow cross in the base, drop the peaches into boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds, then into ice water. The skins slip off without cutting away flesh.
- "Cook rapidly until transparent"This is the hinge. The fruit turns from opaque to glassy when the syrup has penetrated it; how long that takes varies with the fruit, the pan, and the heat. Stop there; longer cooking browns the sugar and shreds the fruit.
- Do not stirShake or swirl the pan, or press the fruit gently under the syrup with a spoon. Vigorous stirring breaks the fruit down toward jam.
- SkimmingThe scum that rises when the syrup first boils is foam and impurities. Skimming it off keeps the finished jars clear; a small knob of butter added at the end will disperse any that reappears.
- Sealing"Seal in clean hot jars" describes open-kettle canning, which current practice has replaced. Ladle into hot sterilized jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace, wipe the rims, apply lids, and process in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude.
- YieldThe recipe gives no yield; four pounds of prepared peaches with the sugar and water called for will fill roughly seven or eight half-pint jars.