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Canning Apricots
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Canning Apricots

Canning apricots is one of my favorite ways to capture the essence of summer fruit and enjoy it all year round. Whether you're adding them to baked goods, spooning them over ice cream, or enjoying them straight from the jar, canned apricots make a sweet treat that will brighten up your winter pantry.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Additional Time20 minutes
Total Time20 minutes

Ingredients

  • Apricots
  • Sugar
  • Water

Instructions

  • Wash, halve, and pit the apricots. Optionally, treat with lemon juice to prevent browning.
  • Combine the sugar and water (or juice) in a saucepan (see notes for quantities). Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
  • Place jars in boiling water for 10 minutes to sterilize. Keep the lids simmering in a separate pot of hot water.
  • Pack apricot halves into hot, sterilized jars. Pour warm syrup over the fruit, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace.
  • Wipe jar rims, add lids and bands, and tighten the bands until fingertip tight.
  • Process in a water bath canner.  Times for raw pack are for 25 minutes for pints and 30 minutes for quarts.  For hot pack, times are 20 minutes for pints and 35 minutes for quarts. For pressure canning, process for 10 minutes at 6 lbs pressure.  Be sure to adjust for altitude, see notes below.
  • Let jars cool completely, check seals, and store.  Properly canned and sealed jars can be stored on the pantry shelf indefinitely without spoiling, but quality starts to deteriorate after 12-18 months.  Refrigerate after opening.

Notes

For a canning batch of 9 pints, you’ll need about 10 pounds of apricots as harvested. For a 7-quart batch, you’ll need around 16 pounds of fresh fruit.
Adjust the syrup sweetness to suit your preferences, using anything from extra-light to heavy syrup.  Here are the sugar and water amounts for various syrups.

For a 9-Pint Canner Batch, you'll need the following amounts of sugar and water for these syrup types:

  • Extra-light syrup: 3/4 cups sugar to 6 1/2 cups water 
  • Light syrup: 1 1/2 cups sugar to 5 3/4 cups water
  • Medium syrup: 2 1/4 cups sugar to 5 1/4 cups water
  • Heavy syrup:  3 1/4 cups sugar to 5 cups water
  • Extra-Heavy Syrup: 4 1/4 cups sugar to 4 1/4 cups water

For a 7-Quart Canner Batch, you'll need the ollowing amounts of sugar and water for these syrup types:

  • Extra-light syrup: 1 1/4 cups sugar to 10 1/2 cups water 
  • Light syrup: 2 1/4 cups sugar to 9 cups water
  • Medium syrup: 3 3/4 cups sugar to 8 1/4 cups water
  • Heavy syrup:  5 1/4 cups sugar to 7 3/4 cups water
  • Extra-Heavy Syrup: 6 3/4 cups sugar to 6 1/2 cups water
For a lighter option, you can substitute the syrup with fruit juice such as apple or white grape juice.

Altitude Adjustments

The altitude adjustments for canning apricots are as follows:

For Raw Pack Waterbath Canning Apricots:

  • For 0 to 1,000 feet in elevation: 25 minutes for pints and 30 minutes for quarts.
  • For 1,001 to 3,000 feet in elevation: 30 minutes for pints and 35 minutes for quarts.
  • For 3,001 to 6,000 feet in elevation: 35 minutes for pints and 40 minutes for quarts.
  • For 6,001 and above: 40 minutes for pints and 45 minutes for quarts.

For Hot Pack Waterbath Canning Apricots:

  • For 0 to 1,000 feet in elevation: 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts.
  • For 1,001 to 3,000 feet in elevation: 25 minutes for pints and 30 minutes for quarts.
  • For 3,001 to 6,000 feet in elevation: 30 minutes for pints and 35 minutes for quarts.
  • For 6,001 and above: 35 minutes for pints and 40 minutes for quarts.
For Pressure Canning Apricots, the times are always 10 minutes, for both pints and quarts, and for both hot and raw pack.  The pressure changes with altitude.

With a dial gauge canner such as a Presto, the pressures are as follows:

  • For 0 to 2,000 feet in elevation: 6 pounds
  • For 2,001 to 4,000 feet in elevation: 7 pounds
  • For 4,001 to 6,000 feet in elevation: 8 pounds
  • For 6,001 to 8,000 feet in elevation: 9 pounds
  • Above 8,000 feet: 10 pounds

With a Weighted gauge canner such as an All American Brand, the pressures are as follows:

  • For 0 to 1,000 feet in elevation: 5 pounds
  • Above 1,001 feet in elevation: 10 pounds