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I’m working at my grandparents’ peach stand in Holmes County, OH, for the summer, so why not talk about peaches? I was recently asked if I had ever canned peaches without using sugar, and I had to say no. We actually eat more frozen peaches than canned peaches, and the frozen ones we’ve done without sugar. However, I’d never tried canning peaches without sugar, so I mentioned the idea to my aunt (with whom I am staying for the summer), and she kindly made a jar of peaches with no sugar for me to try when she canned the rest of her peaches. It turned out just fine! So the very simple answer to the question I was asked is that yes, it is possible to can peaches using only water – no sugar involved. Please note that I have not tested how these peaches will hold up over time. Taking a suggestion from some friends, my mom just canned some peaches using water and a pinch of pure stevia extract powder in each jar (and a little Fruit Fresh – citric acid – too, I hope). I’ll have to see how those turn out and update you guys after the end of the winter! If you’ve ever tried canning peaches with no added sugar, comment below and tell us how you did it. I’m sure there are lots of people who would love to benefit from your experience.
Update as of 3/9/16 – we’ve been eating the canned peaches that my mom did last summer, and they’re awesome! They held up just fine without the sugar. Fruit Fresh is important to keep them a good color, and if you’re canning, can the peaches when they’re still a little bit firm. Not hard as rocks, just firm. Start with a good peach and you’ll end up with a good peach! Scroll on down in this post for some of my recommendations.
So there’s your canned-peaches-with-no-sugar post, but that’s not very long, so I’m going to give you some tips about peaches in general. Since I’m an expert and all that. I sell these things every day, 6 days a week, and this is the 5th summer I’ve done this. I’ve eaten a lot of peaches in my time.
Tip #1: never store a ripening or firm peach in a refrigerator. This will make it mealy and mushy and it won’t ripen properly (this is why peaches from grocery stores often don’t amount to much). Lay peaches out on your counter to fully ripen, then put them in your refrigerator if you haven’t eaten them yet.
Hint: a great way to tell when a peach is ripe is to see what color it is by the stem. A ripe peach is a nice golden color, while an unripe peach will have a green tinge.
Tip #2: you can can/freeze practically any good peach. Of course, there are some varieties that have superior color and hold up better than others, but as a general rule, any mid-season peach that has been properly cared for can be used for pretty much anything: canning, freezing, pies, jam, and fresh eating. A good peach is versatile!
My favorite varieties are any from the Prince collection: Fire Prince, Scarlet Prince, July Prince, Sun Prince, etc. They have awesome peachy flavor and plenty of sweetness and juice.
If I had to pick one…well, I would pick the Scarlet Prince. God sure did a good job on that one.
Tip #3: if you’re canning, do the peaches when they’re still a little firm. If you’re freezing, let them get plenty ripe.
Tip #4: when freezing, add a little citric acid of some sort to help prevent your peaches from turning brown (do this when canning as well; Fruit Fresh works well). Also, leave the sliced peaches exposed to air for as little time as possible and put them into the freezer immediately.
Tip #5: when canning, only cold pack the peaches for about 6-8 minutes (maybe even only 5 minutes if you wait for the water to come to a complete, rolling boil), then take the jars out of the water and invert to aid sealing. Do NOT cook the snot out of them for 15-20 minutes. If you find that your jars won’t seal, increase the time by a little bit. Find your happy medium that will allow your jars to seal while still leaving you with firm peaches, and remember that less is usually more.
Tip #6: don’t be afraid to try new varieties, and be sure to mark your jar lids so you remember what variety you used for future reference!
Staci Conway says
Would this work with agave nectar as the sweetener?
Briana Thomas Burkholder says
I’m sorry – I’m not familiar with agave nectar and don’t know if it would affect the end result, but I imagine it would be fine.
Christine Patten says
So, how exactly do you can peaches without sugar?
Briana Thomas Burkholder says
I’m sorry – this is a really old post that seriously needs an update. We just added stevia (to taste) and some Fruit Fresh to each jar of peaches + water, then canned them as normal. I hope to post a more detailed tutorial at some point, maybe this summer if I have time.
Christine Krueger says
I canned Palisade peaches from Colorado’s western slope last Saturday using only Fruit Fresh and monkfruit. I get my monkfruit from Lakanto.com. No, I don’t work for them. I used half a cup of the 1 to 1 monkfruit (which is a natural sweetener, sweeter than sugar) to four cups of water, with a heaping tablespoon of Fruit Fresh. They came out fantastic! 40 pounds of peaches got me 18 quarts and 3 pints of peaches.
Deborah says
I canned peaches only once. What I did was slice the peaches, can’t remember if I pealed them. Then I tossed them in lots of lemon juice, filled my quart jars up with the peaches and covered with white grape juice. I left I thought lots of head space and put them in the freezer. No canning involved. Worked great. But I had not left enough head space and my juice spilled out. They were much tarter then I would have liked. But my daughter loved them. I like the idea of using stevia. Might have to give that a try.
Mary Beth Martin says
I have canned peaches without sugar for a few years now. I mix 2 tsp. stevia with a gallon pitcher of water and then fill the peach jars. It works great! Even my husband, who does not care for the aftertaste of stevia, cannot taste the difference between the peaches canned with stevia and those canned with sugar. So now I don’t can any with sugar anymore. Another advantage of doing it this way is that I don’t mind when my children want to drink the syrup when the peaches are gone!
Briana Thomas says
Thanks for sharing!
Deborah says
Mary Beth when you said you used stevia. Did you use liquid or granular? Did you heat the water up first?
Mary Beth Martin says
Deborah, I used granular stevia which I bought from Berlin Seeds in Millersburg, Ohio. And no, I didn’t heat the water first – I just mixed it with cold water straight from the tap. Easy! 🙂
Melody says
Peaches do brown fairly quickly without any sugar… My sister did some and the result was brown peaches halfway through the winter. I have done it with unsweetened pineapple juice or apple juice or both together, which works great.
Briana Thomas says
Ugh, I was going to write in the post that we usually use some Fruit Fresh when canning and freezing (to help keep the peaches from turning brown). I just now edited the post to add that; thanks for the reminder. Did your sister use any? I’m guessing that a little lemon juice would do the trick too, but I’m not sure.
Melody says
I think she did but I’m not sure! I agree, lemon juice should do it! I’d like to try that!! Thanks for the great post, as always!
Tanya says
Lemon juice works great for keeping colour in peaches. Just add 1/4 tsp to each jar. Adding the peach pit to the jar before you can it adds a lot of flavour to your canned peaches as well
Loleta says
I have a daughter with serious allergies to many foods including both cane and beet sugas. I have been canning peaches for two decades without adding white sugar. I use white grape juice from concentrate diluted a little–i add an extra can of water.
One memorable year I bottled six dozen quarts of beautiful peaches in plain water. When eaten immediately, they were fine. However left to themselves, and eaten over the winter, the teaches has less and less flavor. I wouldn’t reccomend bottling peaches in straight water.
I generally bottle Lemon elberta peaches which are a good, sweet, free stone peach that grows well in the part of Utah where I live.
Briana Thomas says
Thanks for the tips, Loleta!
Lois Reed says
I have canned peaches using diluted white grape juice or orange juice. I like the white grape better.