Peach Jam

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Homemade peach jam is a real treat, and this recipe has you covered for both a small batch and a full batch recipe.

Prep Time10

Cook Time5

Canning Time (Optional)10

Total Time25

Author: Ashley Adamant

Ingredients

Small Batch Recipe

3 cups chopped peaches fully ripe, and peeled before chopping
3 Tbsp. Ball Flex Batch Pectin or 1/2 box Sure-Jell
3 1/2 cups Sugar
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

Full Batch Recipe

6 cups chopped peaches fully ripe, and peeled before chopping
6 Tbsp. Ball Flex Batch Pectin or a full box of Sure-Jell
7 cups Sugar
1/4 cup Lemon Juice

Instructions

Start by peeling and pitting the peaches, and then chopping them into small chunks about 1/4 to 1/2 inch in size.
If canning, prepare a water bath canner, jars, lids and rings before you start cooking the jam.
Place the chopped fruit and lemon juice in a deep-sized jam pot. Be
sure that it doesn't come up past halfway full before you start
cooking, as the jam will foam up, and you need that extra space.
Turn the heat on the stove to medium-high and cook the peaches for a few minutes so they start to release their juices, mashing the peaches for a smoother jam or leaving them whole for a chunky jam.
Stir in the pectin (but don't add the sugar yet).
Ensure the pectin is fully dissolved, and boil the jam for 1 minute.
After a 1 minute boil, add the sugar, and stir to dissolve.
Return the mixture to a full rolling boil and boil 1 minute.
Remove the peach jam from the heat and ladle into prepared jars.
For a freezer jam, use straight sided freezer jars and leave 1 inch headspace. If canning, use canning jars and lids, and leave 1/4 inch headspace.
If canning, process the jars in a water bath canner for 10 minutes (or 15 minutes if above 6,000 feet in elevation). Once the processing time is complete, turn off the heat and allow the jars to sit for another 5 minutes before removing them to cool completely on a towel on the counter.
After 12-24 hours, check seals and store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator for use within the next few weeks.
Properly canned and sealed jars of peach jam will maintain peak quality on the pantry shelf for 12-18 months, but be safe to eat so long as they're sealed. Refrigerate after opening.

Notes

The total amount of peaches needed for this recipe depends a bit on how efficient your are in peeling them, and whether they're clingstone or freezestone. In general, you'll need about 4 good sized peaches for a half batch (1 1/2 to 2 pounds as purchased), or 8 for a full batch (3 to 4 pounds as purchased). If your peaches are smaller, you may need 10-12 to get the batch.

Low Sugar Peach Jam

Generally, a "classic" peach jam has quite a bit of sugar, and if you've had homemade peach jam (or even store-bought, if you can find it), you know that it's quite sweet.

This recipe uses either Ball Flex Batch Pectin measured by the tablespoon, or regular Sure-Jell pectin measured by the half or full box.

You can make peach jam as a low-sugar jam using a low-sugar pectin (such as Sure Jel Low Sugar in the pink box), and in that case, your yield will just be a bit less. Use the same amount of fruit to pectin (so that'd be 6 cups chopped peaches to 1 full box of low sugar pectin, or 6 Tbsp. Ball flex batch low sugar pectin).

From there, you can decrease the sugar to as little as 1/2 cup, or you can substitute honey or maple as the sweetener.

If using Pomona's Universal Pectin, the instructions are different, and you'll need to follow the directions on the box. It has more parts, including calcium water to activate the pectin, and the pectin is mixed with the sugar before it's added (rather than the pectin first, then the sugar).

Liquid Pectin

I generally don't recommend using liquid pectin because it doesn't set as well, and it contains other preservatives that I just don't want in my jam. It also requires astronomical amounts of sugar to activate. That said, some people prefer it and that's all they have on hand. In that case, you'll need 4 cups chopped peaches to 7 cups sugar, and 1 pouch liquid pectin.

With liquid pectin, the pectin is at the end. Add the sugar, peaches, and lemon juice to the pot and bring it to a boil, and then add the pectin to finish the jam.