Canning peaches is a great way to enjoy their sweet, juicy flavor all year long.
Whether you have a surplus harvest or found a great deal at the market, preserving peaches at home gives you full control over ingredients while avoiding artificial preservatives.
In this article, I'll walk you through a safe and effective step-by-step process to ensure your peaches are properly canned.
You’ll learn how to select the best peaches, prepare them for canning, and safely process them using a water bath canner.
If you’re new to preserving food, you might also find our canning for beginners guide helpful before diving in.
Essential Equipment and Ingredients (Before You Start)
Before canning peaches, it’s important to have the right canning tools/equipment and ingredients ready.
Using proper equipment ensures a smooth canning process and helps maintain the safety and quality of your preserved peaches.
Equipment You’ll Need
- Canning jars (pints or quarts) + 2-piece lids/rings
- Boiling-water canner with rack (or atmospheric steam canner – follow manufacturer guidance)
- Jar lifter, bubble remover (plastic), wide-mouth funnel, ladle, clean towels
You don’t need to sterilize jars when the process time is ≥10 minutes; wash and keep them hot.
Ingredients for Canning Peaches
- Yellow-flesh peaches: ~17½ lb (ripe, firm). Do not can white-flesh peaches; freeze instead.
- Anti-browning hold: 1 tsp ascorbic acid per gallon water (or 6 × 500-mg vitamin C tablets/gallon).
- Canning liquid (choose one): hot water, 100% apple or white grape juice, or a sugar syrup below. Sugar improves flavor/shape but is not required for safety.
Syrups that make enough for 7 quarts (NCHFP Table)
- Very light (10%): 10½ c water + 1¼ c sugar
- Light (20%): 9 c water + 2¼ c sugar
- Medium (30%): 8¼ c water + 3¾ c sugar
- Heavy (40%): 7¾ c water + 5¼ c sugar
(Corn syrup or mild honey may replace up to half of the sugar. No tested maple-syrup formula.)
Need more info on home canning?
I’ve put together a whole series of step-by-step guides to help you fill your shelves:
7 Easy Steps for Canning Peaches at Home
These steps will walk you through the easy process of canning peaches at home, from preparing the fruit to sealing the jars.
Step 1: Select and Prepare the Right Peaches
Begin with ripe but firm yellow-flesh peaches. These varieties are approved for water bath canning because they have a reliably safe acidity level.
White-flesh peaches are not safe to can, as their pH can be too high; instead, freeze those if you want to preserve them.
A good canning peach should give slightly when pressed, but it shouldn’t be mushy or bruised.
Once you’ve chosen your peaches, wash them thoroughly under running water to remove any dirt or pesticide residue.
Step 2: Peel, Pit, and Keep Peaches from Browning
Peeling peaches is much easier if you use the blanch-and-shock method. To do this, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Use a knife to score a shallow “X” on the bottom of each peach, then place them into the boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds. Immediately transfer them to a bowl of ice water.
The skins will slip off easily with your fingers or a paring knife. After peeling, cut the peaches in half and remove the pits.
To prevent browning while you work, place the peeled peaches in a bowl of ascorbic acid solution (1 teaspoon of ascorbic acid powder or six crushed vitamin C tablets per gallon of water).
This keeps them fresh-looking until you’re ready to can.
Step 3: Prepare the Canning Liquid (Syrup, Juice, or Water)
You can preserve peaches in plain water, 100% fruit juice, or a sugar syrup.
Sugar is not required for safety, but it helps peaches hold their shape, color, and flavor over time.
To make a syrup, combine water and sugar in a saucepan and bring it just to a boil until the sugar dissolves.
For example, a light syrup for seven quarts is made with 9 cups of water and 2 ¼ cups of sugar, while a heavier syrup uses less water and more sugar.
You can also substitute up to half of the sugar with light corn syrup or mild honey if you prefer. Keep this liquid hot, as you’ll need it when filling jars.
Step 4: Use the Hot Pack Method (Best Quality)
Although peaches can be raw-packed, the hot pack method is strongly recommended because it produces better texture, prevents floating, and keeps peaches from losing liquid in the jar.
To hot pack, drain your peeled peaches from the ascorbic acid solution, then place them in a pot with your prepared canning liquid.
Bring everything to a gentle boil and simmer the fruit for a few minutes. While still hot, pack the peaches into clean, hot jars – placing halves cut-side down for best space efficiency.
Pour in hot liquid to cover, leaving ½ inch of headspace at the top.
Remove any trapped air bubbles with a bubble remover or plastic utensil, adjust the liquid level if needed, and wipe the rims clean before adding lids and rings.
Step 5: Load the Jars into the Canner Correctly
Fill your water bath canner with enough hot water so that when the jars are placed inside, the water will cover them by at least one inch.
For hot-packed peaches, the water should already be around 180°F before adding jars. Using a jar lifter, place the jars upright into the canner, ensuring that none are tilted or touching too closely.
Once all jars are in, bring the canner to a vigorous, rolling boil before you begin timing the process.
Step 6: Process Jars for the Recommended Time
Once your jars are loaded into the boiling-water canner, you’ll need to process them for the correct amount of time.
The length of time depends on both the jar size and your altitude.
It’s essential that the water remains at a full, rolling boil throughout the entire process to ensure your peaches are safe for long-term storage.
(If you’re new to this method, see our full guide on water bath canning for more details.)
- Hot pack at 0–1,000 feet:
- Pints — 20 minutes
- Quarts — 25 minutes
- Raw pack at 0–1,000 feet (not recommended for quality):
- Pints — 25 minutes
- Quarts — 30 minutes
- Altitude adjustments (add extra time to the above):
- 1,001–3,000 feet — +5 minutes
- 3,001–6,000 feet — +10 minutes
- Above 6,000 feet — +15 minutes
Keep your eye on the canner as it processes. If the water ever drops below a full boil, you’ll need to bring it back to a boil and restart the timing for the batch.
Step 7: Cool, Check Seals, and Store Safely
When the processing time is complete, turn off the heat and remove the canner lid.
Let the jars sit in the hot water for about 5 minutes before removing them; this helps prevent liquid loss (siphoning).
Then, lift the jars straight out of the canner using a jar lifter and place them on a towel-lined surface, leaving space between each one.
Allow the jars to cool completely, undisturbed, for 12 to 24 hours. After they’ve cooled, check the seals by pressing the center of each lid.
A properly sealed lid will be concave and will not flex up and down. Remove the screw bands before storage, and place the jars in a cool, dark pantry between 50–70°F.
Properly canned peaches are best enjoyed within one year for top quality, although they may last longer if kept sealed and stored properly.
Ensuring Safety and Troubleshooting Issues
Using proper, tested methods keeps your peaches safe and high-quality.
Follow research-based canning directions exactly (don’t alter ingredients, jar sizes, or processing times) and always adjust for altitude as recommended in the peaches guide.
Follow USDA-/NCHFP-Approved Guidance
Use the NCHFP “Peaches – Halved or Sliced” process. Do not can white-flesh peaches; some varieties are too low in acid for safe canning. Freeze white peaches instead.
Signs of Spoilage (Do Not Taste)
Before serving, check every jar. Look for unsealed or bulging lids, streaks of dried food, rising bubbles, unnatural colors, spurting liquid on opening, or off-odors.
If anything seems off, do not taste – discard the jar safely.
If you want to dive deeper into safe home canning practices, check out the National Center for Home Food Preservation for trusted, research-based guidance.
5 Common Canning Issues (and How to Fix Them)
Even when you follow directions carefully, canning doesn’t always go perfectly.
The good news is most problems are common, easy to recognize, and often simple to fix. Here are a few canning issues you might run into – and what to do about them.
1. Floating peaches
Floating is a quality issue, not a safety one. Reduce it by hot-packing, packing fruit closely without crushing, releasing trapped air bubbles, and using a light to medium syrup rather than heavy.
(Fruit is lighter than heavy syrup.) Already-canned floating fruit is fine to eat.
2. Loss of liquid (siphoning)
Liquid loss can happen if bubbles weren’t released, jars were over-packed, the boil wasn’t maintained, or jars were removed too abruptly.
Don’t open sealed jars to add liquid back; product is still safe if properly processed and sealed.
To reduce siphoning, let the canner sit 5 minutes with the lid off before removing jars, and always de-bubble before lidding.
3. Cloudy liquid
Likely causes are minerals in hard water, starch from over-mature produce, or additives in salt. Use soft water and canning/pickling salt.
If jars develop a hard-water film, remove it afterward by soaking jars in 1 cup vinegar (5%) per gallon of water; NCHFP notes this as a cleaning step.
4. Jars didn’t seal
Cool jars 12–24 hours, then remove screw bands and test seals.
If a jar didn’t seal, you can reprocess it within 24 hours by reheating the food to boiling, refilling hot into a clean jar with a new lid, and using a hot-pack process.
Otherwise refrigerate and use within one week, or freeze up to a year (leave 1″ headspace).
Enjoy Fresh Peaches All Year!
Canning peaches at home is a simple and rewarding way to enjoy fresh fruit all year long.
By following these seven steps, you can confidently preserve peaches that taste just as good months later as they did the day they were picked.
With just a little time and effort, you can stock your pantry with jars of perfectly preserved peaches, free from artificial preservatives and packed with natural sweetness.
And once you get started, you might just find yourself canning peaches year after year!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can I can white peaches safely?
No, white peaches should not be canned using a water bath canner. Their pH level may be too high (above 4.6), which makes them unsafe for this method. Since there are no USDA-approved canning recipes for white peaches, it’s best to freeze them instead.
How long do home-canned peaches last?
When stored in a cool, dark place (between 50–70°F), properly canned peaches will stay fresh for 12 to 18 months. After that, they may still be safe to eat, but their flavor, texture, and color might start to decline.
What should I do if a jar doesn’t seal properly?
If a jar didn’t seal, you have two options:
- Reprocess the jar within 24 hours using a new lid and running it through the water bath canner for the full processing time.
- Refrigerate the jar and use the peaches within a week.
Can I use artificial sweeteners for canning peaches?
Yes, but results may vary. The National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) has tested canning recipes using Splenda®, which is heat-stable. Other sweeteners, like aspartame, may lose their sweetness when heated. If using artificial sweeteners, it’s best to add them just before serving instead of during canning.
Why are my canned peaches floating in the jar?
Floating peaches happen when there’s too much trapped air in the fruit, which is common with raw-packed peaches.
To prevent floating, try using the hot pack method instead of raw packing. If your peaches are already canned and floating, don’t worry – they’re still safe to eat. Just give the jar a gentle shake before using to redistribute the fruit.