Learn How to Home Can Fruits From Your Garden

Fruits are generally canned using the boiling-water canner. However, some fruits can be canned with the pressure canner–like tomatoes and applesauce. One thing about canning fruit is that it tends to discolor while you are preparing them for canning. This can be prevented by adding some antidarkening agent(like Fruit Fresh) to some water and placing the fruit in it. You can also use lemon juice or ascorbic acid (vitamin C.) I have never used Vitamin C, so I don’t know how that would work.

Sometimes fruits need to be packed with a syrup made of sugar and water when canning. Of course sugar is not necessary for canning, but sometimes the syrup makes the taste and appearance of the fruit improve. You can make either light, medium or heavy syrup.

 

Recipe for Making Packing Syrup

 

  • Light Syrup
  • 2 cups sugar to 4 cups water will yield 5 cups syrup.

     

  • Medium Syrup
  • 3 cups sugar to 4 cups water will yield 5 1/2 cups syrup.

     

  • Heavy Syrup
  • 4 3/4 cups sugar to 4 cups water will yield 6 1/2 cups syrup.

     

    Steps in Canning With a Boiling-Water Canner.

  • Fill the canner with enough water to cover jars at least 1-inch over the tops.

     

  • Place the filled jars in the canner onto the rack. If water does not cover the tops of the jars by 1-inch, add boiling water. By adding boiling water to the canner, you will not lower the temperature of the water already inside of the canner.

     

  • Start counting the processing time as soon as the water around the jars comes to a full rolling boil. Keep the water boiling for the whole processing time. If the water boils down and begins to expose the tops of the jars, add more boiling water.

     

  • Process for the required length of time. Use the chart below to determine processing times and procedure.

     

  • Remove jars from canner when processing time is complete, and allow the jars to cool completely in an upright position. Check for a seal by pushing on the lid. If it pops up and down, it has not sealed. Refrigerate and eat within 2 days.

    Boiling-Water Canning Chart for Fruit

     

    Apples: Harvest and wash apples;peel and core. Prepare apples by slicing,coring or cutting in half. Treat apples with anti-darkening solution and drain. Boil apples in a light to medium syrup of sugar and water for 5 minutes. Pack apples and syrup into jars leaving a 1/2-inch headspace. Process pints and quarts for 20 minutes.

     

    Apple Rings: Wash and core apples, but do not peel them. Slice and use an antidarkening solution and drain. Add a few drops of red food coloring (optional) to a light to medium syrup mixture and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add apple rings;let stand for 10 minutes,then simmer for 30 minutes. Pack into jars leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Process pints for 15 minutes and quarts for 20 minutes.

     

    Applesauce: Wash, stem and quarter apples. Cook apples, with just enough water to prevent them from sticking, until tentder. Run apples through a sieve or food mill to extract pulp. If desired, you may sweeten to taste. However, sugar is not necessary. Bring applesauce to a boil until good and hot. Put applesauce into jars, leaving a 1/2-headspace. Process pints and quarts for 20 minutes. You may also use a pressure canner for canning applesauce: 
    Process pints for 8 minutes and quarts for 10 minutes, both at 5 pounds of pressure.

     

    Apricots:Peel apricots by dipping into hot water, and then cold–Skins will easily come off. Treat for darkening and then drain. Cook apricots in syrup or water for 3 minutes. Pack hot into jars and cover with the hot syrup or water you cooked them in, leaving a 1/2-inch headspace. Process pints and quarts for 20 minutes.

     

    Berries (not strawberries): Fill jar with berries and shake them down. Cover berries with hot sugar syrup or hot berry juice leaving a 1/2 headspace. Process pints for 10 minutes and quarts for 15 minutes.

     

     

    Cherries:Pit and prick skins. Bring cherries to a boil in syrup or water. Pack hot into jars and cover with the hot liquid they were boiled in, leaving a 1/2-inch headspace. Process pints and quarts for 15 minutes.

     

     

    Grape Juice #1: Wash and stem grapes. Cover with water and boil until skins are soft. Strain through damp cheesecloth and refrigerate juice for 24 hours. Pour off clear liquid and discard sediment. If desired, sweeten the juice to taste. Heat juice to boiling and pour hot into jars. Leave 1/4-inch headspace and process pints and quarts for 15 minutes.

     

     

    Grape Juice #2: Wash grapes and put 1 cup of raw grapes into a quart jar. Ladle boiled sugar syrup made of 1/2 cup sugar to 4 cups of water over the grapes. Leaving a 1/4-inchheadspace, process pints and quarts for 15 minutes.

     

     

    Nectarines and Peaches: Peel nectarines or peaches by dipping in boiling water, then cold;skins will easily slip off. You may need to use a knife to peel unevenly ripened fruit. Remove pits,cut in half, and treat for darkening. Drain and heat in boiling syrup or water. If fruit is really juicy, don’t worry about adding a srup to the fruit; just add sugar to it and bring to a boil. Pack hot into jars and leave a 1/2-inch headspace. Process pints and quarts for 20 minutes.

     

     

    Pears: Peel,cut in halves, and core. Treat for darkening and drain. Cook in boiling syrup or water until throughly heated. Pack hot into jars and cover with the liquid in which the pears were cooked, leaving a 1/2-inch headspace. Process pints for 15 minutes or quarts for 20 minutes.

     

     

    Tomatoes: Dip in boiling water, then cold water, and peel; skins should slip off easily. Cut in half or leave small ones whole, and pack into jars, pressing them down to make juice. Cover the tomatoes with their own juice and add 1 tablespoon of bottled lemon juice to each pint, or 2 tablespoons to each quart. (The lemon juice is added to insure there is enough acid inside the jar to kill bacteria.) To each pint jar, add 1/2 tsp. salt; add 1 tsp. salt to each quart. Be sure you leave 1/2-inch headspace, and process pints and quarts for 85 minutes. You can also process tomatoes in a pressure canner:Process both pints and quarts for 25 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure. Note from author: I prefer to use a pressure canner to can tomatoes and tomatoe juice; it goes a lot faster.

     

     

    Tomatoe Juice: Wash,remove stems, and quarter. Cook tomatoes and run them through a sieve or food mill. Bring the tomatoe juice to a boil and pour into jars. Add 1 tablespoon of bottled lemon juice to each pint and 2 tablespoons to each quart. Also, add 1/2 tsp. canning salt to each pint, and 1 tsp. to each quart. Leaving a 1/2-inch headspace, process pints for 35 minutes and quarts for 40 minutes. You can also process tomatoe juice in a pressure canner: Process both pints and quarts for 15 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.
Muhammad Ramzan Rafique
Muhammad Ramzan Rafique

I am from a small town Chichawatni, Sahiwal, Punjab , Pakistan, studied from University of Agriculture Faisalabad, on my mission to explore world I am in Denmark these days..

Articles: 4630

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