A little help please. Picked up a peck plus of Georgia peaches (O'Henry and Jersey)

M

marilynfl

Moderator
The O'Henry's are baseball-size and there is 32 of those.

The Jersey's are softball size and there are 5 of those.

I need to go shopping for sugar and pectin for jam and pie filling....does anyone know how much fruit (cup-wise) I'll get out of this? I am horrible about running out mid-whatever (not enough jars, not enough sugar, not enough lemon, not enough pectin, not enough patience, etc).

Or is weight a better way to go with this? I recall the recipes inside the pectin box give smashed fruit quantities...and I'm always short on that. I don't want to start peeling and cutting this stuff up until all the equipment and ingredients are available.

If by weight, is that before or after peeled and pitted?

 
I did read a good hint: put prepared pie filling in an empty pie pan, freeze it, then put

the frozen filling in a bag and pop that back into the freezer. Use whenever you're ready for a pie: drop the frozen filling right into the shell.

Of course, I have NO ROOM in my freezer.

 
I used to freeze peach pie filling like that with an old recipe from

Farm Journal freezer book. If you line the pie pan with cling wrap, it’s easy to remove and wrap up tightly before dropping it in the bag.

Not sure about the peach yield. The California peaches I buy here are huge. I use them to make crisp where amount doesn’t need to be precise but I estimate 3 of them sliced is close to four cups. Looking at my grocery receipt, I see they weighed 10-12 ounces each. Geesh! The peaches off the tree we had when I was a kid were about the size of todays lemon.

 
Freeze ripe peaches whole with skin on

then slight defrost, peel by rubbing, slice slightly frozen, eat/use. Colleen

 
I hate jam. I hate jelly. I hate Certo. I hate Sure Jel. I am in a foul, sticky, jammy

messy mood right now and my kitchen looks like a dirty bomb went off. And the floor still feels sticky, even though I washed and polished it.

Ball canning company, I hate you as well. You were complicit in this disaster.

(deep breathe)

Okay...that didn't work. I don't feel any better now that I've pointed the finger at everyone else and blamed them because...because I'm still stuck with 12 jars of un-jam, un-jelly stuff, some of which were processed TWICE with added pectin.

Unfortunately that leaves 3 fingers pointing back at me. And the middle one is laughing.

 
Well, I did end up with jars of *Peachy Bourbon Syrup* (Wild Turkey mates w/ GA Peach)

...the strained off juices from a failed batch of jam.

Of course, with my luck, THIS stuff WILL set up now that I want syrup.

 
I can tell you a no fail delicious peach jam

Puree enough peaches in your blender to get one quart--skins and all. Follow the sure jelly directions for jam which is about using 5 or 6 cups of sugar.
Be attentive to the boiling time of one minute AFTER your mixture is at a boil you can't stair down. It takes a little while to get to that.
I sterilize jars by heating in oven for 2 hours at200. I boil lids in water while cooking jam.
Here comes what folks will naysayers but it has worked for me for 55 years. Pour hot jam in sterile jars put on lid and screw top and seal. Turn upside down for 2 hours. Test seal by tapping top for a dull sound and seeing a slight longevity in middle

 
Mine was 4.5 Cups of puree with 7.5 cups of sugar plus pectin plus lemon juice.

Fruit, sugar, lemon to full roiling boil.
Add pectin, bring back to full boil.
Bottle.

 
I dub thy 12 jars of un-jam, un-jelly stuff Ice Cream Topping AKA . . .

cheesecake topping, yogurt flavoring, tea sweetener (Iced Blueberry Tea!), pancake syrup, Blueberry pie enhancer, fruity barbeque/grill baste. . . you get my drift here.

If you want the stuff thicker for some applications, open that jar, dump in a sauce pan, add 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon cornstarch to 1 cup dumped, mix well, cook till glossy and use.

More than one way to name that un-thickened fruity stuff! smileys/smile.gif

 
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