Before Heading Back To School, I Made Peach Vanilla Jam

What I do when I'm not blogging, or presenting, or teaching...

I make jam!  

Peach-Vanilla Jam!

If you have never made jam, 

here is an EASY step-by-step guide for making 

No-pectin Organic Peach-Vanilla jam:

It's time to run out and buy the ingredients & supplies:

4 pounds of nice, ripe peaches (organic is best)

2 - 3 cups of sugar (again, organic is best)

 juice of one lemon (you guessed it, organic)

 one vanilla bean (yep, organic) 

 a box of 8 oz canning jars (you'll need about 6 jars)

A canning funnel really helps when filling the jars.

  

That's it!  

Getting Started:

1.  Wash the jars & lids with warm soapy water, rinse, and set the jars (not the lids) in a pot of water.

Bring the water to a boil`and simmer for at least 15 min.  Carefully remove the jars and let them dry on a clean towel.  

2.  Heat another small pot of water (don't boil it) and place the lids in the warm water to soften the red rims.  Keep the lids and rims in the water until you are ready to use them.  

The largest pot has the jars in it, the little covered pot at the back has the lids & rims,
the front pot with the peaches is for blanching,
and the turquoise Dutch oven will be for making the jam.  

3.  Wash the peaches and blanch them in a pot of boiling water for about 1-2 minutes.  Then run them under cold water and the skin should rub right off.  Remove the stones and chop them to measure 5-6 cups.

Remove the peaches from the hot water and ...

... run them under cold water as you rub off the skin.

4.  Add the lemon juice to the peaches.

5.  Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds out and add them to the peaches.

First cut the vanilla bean lengthwise, then scrape the seeds out.

Scraping out the seeds.  Don't scrape too much, you'll get the vanilla fibers.

5.  Place the peach mixture and the sugar into a large pot.  You can add the vanilla bean pod to the pot too.  Bring it to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, string occasionally for about 2 hours or until the fruit has softened and is partially caramelized with a dark orange color.

Adding the sugar.  I know it's a lot, but it's less than most jam recipes
 and it's not like you are going to eat the entire jar in one sitting, right?  

Stir in the sugar.

6.  When done, discard the vanilla bean pod.

7.  Start heating up the large pot of water again and bring it to a boil.

8.  Using a canning funnel, fill each jar leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Wipe the rims clean with a clean cloth and hot water.  (I used both types of jars:  Ball jars with lids & rims and Weck jars from Williams-Sonoma, Sur La Table, or Amazon.  I LOVE my Weck jars and I use them all year for all kinds of food storage.  You just have to buy new rings each time your make jam.)

Use a canning funnel if you can.

Spoon the jam in.

Leave 1/4" headspace.

Add the lids & rims.
  I used Weck jars which have rubber rings
and glass lids with metal clips

 

After placing the rubber ring and glass lid on the Weck jar, you attach the 2 metal clips.

9.  Apply lids and rims and process:  Turn the head down and place the jars back in the pot of hot water and process for 15 min.  Make sure the jars are upright and completely covered with water.

You can see that I used both types of jars here.
It's hard to see the water, but they are completely submerged and covered with water.

10.  Remove the jars and let them cool for 24 hours on the counter.  Make sure you hear all of the lids pop when they are sucked down and make sure they don't pop up when you press them.  

That's it! 

You're done!

Make sure to refrigerate after opening.

A slightly distorted panorama picture.
I'm thinking of making more jam out of the Saturn peaches
that are sitting in the bowl on the raised dishwasher.

Have you made jam before?
If so, leave a comment and tell me what kind.

See you all tomorrow.
Reminder:  My ENTIRE TPT store is on sale through Aug. 1.

Palma :)