Every summer, I make a point to buy a volume approximating my weight in peaches. I slice and freeze a bunch, can halves in light syrup and make sauce (like apple only peachy), butter and jam. Glorious peach jam! Peaches have become one of those fruits that is nearly always available, but they are only transcendent during the months of July and August. Those mealy, impenetrable fruits that you pay a small fortune for during the winter can’t possibly compare.
After the jump, you’ll find my basic peach jam recipe. I like to flavor mine with cinnamon and nutmeg, but you could also go with vanilla, a bit of bourbon, ginger, lavender, rosemary or thyme. I apologize for the slightly weird picture of the peaches floating in water above, but somehow, I didn’t manage to take a single picture of the jam-making process. I made my jam on a Friday night, after an evening of cocktails and sushi, so I must have been a little addled.
In other news, it’s been almost a week since I’ve offered a giveaway, so I do believe it’s time for another. I have a lovely little half pint jar of this peach jam for one lucky reader. If you want a chance at it, leave a comment. You have until Tuesday, July 28th at 5 pm to enter. Good luck!
Peach Jam
10 cups of peaches, peeled and chopped
6 cups of sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 lemons, zested and juiced
2 packets (1 box) liquid pectin
Fill your canning pot with water and begin to bring it to temperature. Wash your jars and rings in warm soapy water and set aside. Put your lids in a small pot of water and heat (but do not boil) in order to soften the sealing compound.
Add peaches and sugar to a large, non-reactive pot. Stir so that the peaches begin to release their juice and mingle with the sugar. Bring to a boil and add cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon zest and juice and let jam continue to cook for about fifteen minutes. If the fruit hasn’t broken down much after that time is up, use a potato masher or immersion blender (taking care not to burn yourself with hot jam) to break down the chunks. Add pectin and bring to a rolling boil for a full five minutes.
Turn off the heat under the jam and fill jars. Wipe rims and apply lids. Screw on the bands and lower into the water. Process in the hot water bath 10 minutes. When time is up, remove from water and cool on the counter. When the jars are cooled, check the seal by pressing on the top of the jar. If there’s no movement, the jar has sealed. Store up to one year in a cool, dark place.
Makes 6-7 pints (yield varies depending on width of pot, cooking length and juiciness of fruit).
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Would you be willing to share your peach butter recipe too? The jam recipe looks delicious.
This jam needs to be in my belly! I would love to win!
here’s my comment in hopes of winning your jam . . . even though I never win these things.
Is there a natural way to thicken the jam without using synthetic pectin? I remember reading about a strawberry jam that used lemon seeds (wrapped in cheese cloth) and peels as a thickening agent – would that work with the peach jam?
Sarah, store-bought pectin isn’t unnatural, it’s made from citrus fruit. However, if you want something a little closer to the earth, you can make your own pectin with green apples (google homemade pectin and you’ll find a number of recipes) or you can simply cook your peach jam down until it thickens. Also check out Linda Ziedrich’s The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves. None of her recipes use pectin. -Marisa
Oh, my – where have I been that I’ve not been over here! Have to check your dilly bean recipe out next, but really would love a jar of that fabulous peach jam. And now that Maryhill peaches are coming into their own, perhaps I need to try a batch of this. With bourbon, of course…
My grandmother’s peach jam recipe has been lost – this may be the replacement!
I have so many recipes saved from your blog now, it’s ridiculous. Please pick me for your peach jam!
looks like i have delicious plans for this weekend!
We’re just getting into canning and whatnot and this looks like a very tasty recipe!
Peach jam…..yummmmmmm.
I made this today and it smelled amazing – like apple cider.
I can’t wait to try it!
PS – I did all your measurements as called for but ended up with 12 half pints and a full pint. Out of curiosity, do yield estimations account for headspace?
I want to make peach jalapeno jam, but I’m having a hard time finding a suitable recipe. Do you have recommendations for making a pepper jam with fruit?
I just made some peach jam, but it doesn’t appear to have gotten super thick in the finished jars. Is that okay? Will it thicken over time or stay sort of soupy? I followed a Ball recipe and used one box of pectin to about 8 cups of chopped peach.
[...] 2 C peaches and cream blended into a mush (see this peaches and cream recipe) or 1 C peach jam (try to find high quality jam with lots of real peach pieces or, if the season is right, make your own peach jam) [...]
how would you go about adding another flavor to your peach jam? for example could you add a puree of another fruit and at what point would you add it?
Sylvia, if you just want to add another fruit to the peach jam, I would simply cook them down together from the very beginning.
On my way back to Florida last week, I stopped in Georgia and bought some beautiful just-picked peaches. I made your peach jam recipe yesterday, and although the flavor is delicious, the jam turned out runny. I’m no super-experienced jam/preserves canner, but the only deviation I made from the recipe was adding a little bit of almond extract and reducing the amount of cinnamon because of concerns that it would overpower the fresh peach flavor, so I’m not sure exactly what went wrong. The consistency is not so thin that I’ll throw it away, but it definitely is not as thick as it should be. And I did my canning in the morning, so no cocktails were imbibed
Suggestions on what happened???
I made peach jam 2 yrs ago that didn’t set up so well, kind of runny as you say. Turned out my family loved it as pancake syrup! now this year they are asking me to make some more peach syrup??
Pat, the tricky thing about cooking jams is that there are just so many variables. The level of humidity in the air, the length of time you cook the jam, the width of your pot and how much sugar exists in the fruit can all impact the set of your jam.
Your recipe looks great; we have a peach tree here in Brooklyn New York (I know, nobody believes us until they see it) that yields hundreds of peaches, so I am always looking for good recipes. I made some jam last year and waved a little bit of lavender (tied up in cheesecloth) through the cooking fruit, infusing it with a little bit of interesting flavor. Not for everyone, but most people liked it. Anyway, I will try your recipe out, since my kitchen is so crammed with baskets of peaches that I can’t turn around in there!
Oh, and just to touch on the comments by other readers about runny jam: the cooking time is not exact; some of it depends on your fruit (the ripest peaches contain the least natural pectin) and the other variables you mentioned like humidity. To test jam for setting, one method is to put a spoon in the freezer and use it to test the set when I think the jam is done by dribbling a tiny bit of hot jam into the cold spoon, letting it cool down and then seeing if the cooled jam is thick or runny. It also doesn’t hurt to use a candy thermometer, but in general I find that any jam has to cook on a light boil for forty minutes in order to gel. Also, make sure to leave the jars alone for 24 hours, you can break the set by sloshing them around too early!
I picked peaches for the first time this past weekend and I’ve just finished jamming some and canning some. My question is not directly related to that, though. Since I know you go to Mood’s, I wonder if you (or anyone you know, or anyone else who might read this) have asked them how much they spray. Peaches’ position at #2 on the pesticide dirty dozen list is freaking me out a little, making me reconsider whether I should eat like 5 fresh peaches a day until I run out.
I just made this recipe yesterday (fabulous peaches here in South Carolina this summer), and waited 24 hours to comment so I could test the set — and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Simply wonderful jam, with just exactly right spices, perfect thickness, and flavor was superb. I’ll be putting up several more batches to enjoy this winter.
I didn’t see any other commenters note one problem, though: the instructions say to cook ‘peaches, sugar and water…’ together, but there’s no water listed in the ingredient list. I took a guess and used one and a half cups, and that worked out fine.
I’ve been reading your blog since last summer, but this was my first time using one of your recipes. Thanks so much for your efforts and your reporting!
This was a great recipe. I have a Messermeister peeler that peels anything, even the ripest peach! No cooking needed, so easy!
10 cups of sliced peaches is equivilant to how many pounds of whole peaches? I don’t have the equipment to do a lot at a time, and the farmer I buy peaches from doesn’t usually have bushels of peaches available. I have no idea how much to buy.
[...] autumnal weekend, and I am preparing for winter like a rusty red Chickaree squirrel….by canning peach jam with vim and vigor. I have buckets of fuzzy peaches from the Civic Center Farmer’s Market, and am [...]
Just finished making some of this jam tonight–the flavours are amazing just hoping it thickens up a bit over night. Thanks for this! So delicious!
[...] news in my canning woes. While spending the day battling my slow cooker I also made Marisa’s Peach Jam. It turned out perfect! I know peach season will soon be over. I’m hoping to can more peaches [...]
Having just finished putting up another batch of peach jam, I have to ask: How do people produce peach jams that are bright orange? Yes, I have used lemon juice and Fruit Fresh. My peach concoctions are always an orangey-RED. Still pretty and everything, but I’d love to have something preserved that is orange in the jar. My peaches do have a good bit of red flesh, and I’ve been tempted to cut that center part away just to see if I wind up with the color I want then.
i just made a batch of peach jam tonight and realized AFTER making it that i didn’t bring the jam back to a boil after adding the sugar. the jams aren’t setting, and look very liquidy in the jars. Is the second round of boiling necessary for safety, or is it a thickening agent? is it possible to cook those jams further, or should they be thrown out? any advice would be great!!
That second round of boiling post-sugar addition is what really activates the setting process. You could certainly un-jar the jam, bring it back up to a vigorous boil and re-can it. You will have to use new lids, though.
[...] was able to make a batch of Peach Jam, also from Food in Jars. There were some peaches left, so a half batch of OMG Peach Salsa, from [...]
Made 11 more jars today… i don’t use the nutmeg and i ladle off half before i add the cinnamon… so that i have half that tastes more cobblery and half that tastes more peachy!
going picking tonite for white peaches at my fields orchard. sooo excited and will be trying your recipe.
thanks for sharing
Just bought 50 pounds of FRESH picked peaches from the orchard and I am excited to get started on this year’s canned goodies!!
[...] a try. I used a combination of two recipes, one that came with the pectin I bought, and one from here, but really I just sort of winged it. So here [...]
[...] a try. I used a combination of two recipes, one that came with the pectin I bought, and one from here, but really I just sort of winged it. So here [...]
Sounds great! A litte bourbon with peaches is right up my alley – I don’t drink but eat… well now!!!
My daughter has this wonderful peach tree in her back yard I have already made four peach pies now I am going to make peach jam, can’t wait to try your recipe!!!
Oh yummm!! Just finished making this recipe this week. Cannot wait to break into those jars this winter! Took your suggestion and added a touch of vanilla~ the aroma is unbelievable. I think this will also make a great filling for turnovers. Another great recipe!!
Do I have to use liquid pectin or can I use powdered pectin?
Thanks!
Powdered pectin will give you a far firmer set than liquid pectin does.
Marisa- met you a year ago at class you did at Terrain. We were the guys from Indianapolis. Just tried this recipe tonight with fresh Michigan peaches. The immersion blender turned the fruit into a beautiful jammy texture. This might be my new favorite recipe. Hope to share on my gardening blog- with a link to your site!
Mario! I remember you guys well! I am SO glad to hear that you like that recipe and I can’t wait to see it on your site. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment!
I use the No Sugar Needed powdered pectin with 1 box to 6 cups of peeled, diced peaches. I cut them up and drop them into a gallon of water to which 3/4 cup lemon juice has been added, to keep them from darkening. I mix 1/4 of sugar with the pectin and add that to the peaches (drained of the liquid) in a large pan. Cook until it comes to a full, rolling boil. Add 4 cups additional sugar and bring to a boil once again and cook for 2 minute. The secret to getting the jam to set well is not to overcook. The longer the pectin cooks, the less it jells the jam. An immersion blender would be a good item to use to break up the large pieces of peach, or you can use a food processor before you start the process. The No Sugar Needed pectin allows you to use a smaller amount of sugar or sugar and Splenda if you wish.
Oh noes! I forgot the lemon, but added gin (http://www.withaglass.com/?p=268) Will they be ok?