Peach Freezer Jam

So, I know I declared that summer was officially over the other day.... but here's one way that I make sure that it's always summer in my freezer. I made ~20 cups of Peach Freezer Jam. I bit overboard you say? Well, I had about 1/3 of a bushel of peaches leftover from last week's farmer's market run and they all were turning really ripe at the same time. So, in about 45 minutes during naptime, I made jam. It's really easy. Here's how I did it.



I use Ball Fruit Jell Freezer Jam Pectin. I found it in the baking aisle of SuperWalmart near the gelatin. I've used it this year to make Strawberry Jam and Strawberry-Blueberry Jam. This was my first time making Peach Jam.


Here's how I peeled all of those peaches in about 10 minutes total. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Put in a few peaches at a time. Leave them in the boiling water for 30 seconds to a minute.

Put the peaches into ice water to stop the cooking.

The skin comes off so easily. Not only is this method super easy and quick, it leaves that bit of rosy peach flesh on the peach that usually would have gone into the scrap bin. It makes the jam have a rosier color.


I put the peaches right into the food processor with a Tbsp or two of lemon juice and pureed them. If you like your jam chunkier, you can just use a potato masher.



Measure out 4 cups per packet of pectin (there's 8 cups in the pot above). For thicker peach jam they recommend bringing the peaches to a boil before adding the sugar and pectin. Be careful though. This mixture was thick so when it boiled, it sent hot, molten peach pulp flying up from pot.


Add sugar (I used 1 cup per 4 cups peaches but the recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups), and the pectin. Stir really well. Follow the package directions.



Here's my kitchen with all of my counter space being used for "Peach Jam 2009". When I watched "Julie and Julia", I loved seeing how tiny the kitchens they cooked in were. I think if I had more counter space, I'd just find more junk to pile on it.

Here's a closeup of a peeled peach. Love that color!

After 4 batches of jam, I figured I had made enough so I put the leftover puree in a freezer bag to be mixed with applesauce next month and a bag of sliced peaches for a mid-winter crisp or pie.
***Note: The jam didn't set up very firm. It's thick enough to use and it's really tasty but next year I'll try cooking the peaches longer before adding thickener to see if it helps it to set better.**