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Making and canning your own apricots is easy. Here's how to do it, complete instructions in easy steps and completely illustrated. In the winter when you open a jar, the apricots will taste MUCH better than anything you've ever had from a store, and by selecting the right fruit, it will use less sugar than store-bough. Also Apricots can be packed in very light, light or medium sugar syrup. They can also be packed in water, apple juice or white grape juice.
Prepared this way, the jars have a shelf life of about 12 to 18 months, and aside from storing in a cool, dark place, require no special attention. If you'd rather freeze your fruit, see my page on how to freeze apricots. Even easier than canning and they will taste just like fresh.. but it does take up space in the freezer.
And here are some great and easy apricot and apricot desert recipes!
1 water bath canner (a huge pot with a lifting rack
to sanitize the jars of apricots after filling (about $30 to $35 at mall
kitchen stores and local "big box" stores, but it's usually cheaper
online from our affiliates) You CAN use a large pot instead, but the
canners are deeper, and have a rack top make lifting the jars out
easier. If you plan on canning every year, they're worth the
investment.;
OR
a Pressure Canner
You can use either with this recipe. The processing times for each are
given in the recipe.
The most important step! You need apricots that are sweet, and to make the work easier, cling-free (also called freestone). This means that the apricot separates easily from the pit! Same with nectarines, and this doesn't apply to cherries or plums. Don't miss the apricot picking tips page!
Choose ripe, mature fruit of ideal quality for eating fresh or cooking. They should not be mushy, but they also should not be rock hard: just as ripe as you would eat them fresh.
After this step, I'll just refer to "apricots" but it applies to plums, pears, cherries and nectarines.
You can pick your own, or buy them at the grocery store. But for large quantities, you will find that real* farmer's markets, like the Farmer's Market in Forest Park, Georgia have them at the best prices.
It takes about 5 good sizes apricots or nectarines (or about 10 plums) to fill one quart jar. An average of 171/2 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 11 pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints. A bushel weighs 48 pounds and yields 16 to 24 quarts ; an average of 21/2 pounds per quart.
* - not the cutesy, fake farmer's markets that are just warehouse grocery stores that call themselves farmer's markets.
Apricots must be packed in a solution of water and sugar or fruit juice. It's up to you which to use. Sugar is added to improve flavor, help stabilize color, and retain the shape of the fruit. It is not added as a preservative. Sugar solution is much less expensive (unless you have a supply of cheap grape juice), so I usually use a light solution to keep sugar (and the added calories) to a minimum.
Sugar Syrup | |||
Syrup | Sugar | Water | Yield |
Light | 2 cups | 6 cups | 7 cups |
---|---|---|---|
Medium | 3 cups | 6 cups | 6 1/2 cups |
Heavy | 4 cups | 6 cups | 7 cups |
To prepare syrup, while heating water, add sugar slowly, stirring constantly to dissolve. Bring to a gentle boil and keep it simmering. After preparing the liquid syrup, keep it hot (but not boiling).
How much solution to make? That is hard to say. Everyone packs the apricots in the jars a bit differently and that obviously and directly affects the amount of solution needed. You can store any unused solution in the fridge or freezer, and boil it again for use in the next batch.
This is a good time to get the jars ready! The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize" cycle. Otherwise put the jars in boiling water for 10 minutes. I just put the lids in a small pot of almost boiling water for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" (available from target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online - see this page) to pull them out.
I'm sure you can figure out how to wash the apricots in plain cold or lukewarm water
Nope, we're not going to peel them by hand; that's way too much work. Instead, here's a great trick that works with many fruits and vegetables with skins (like tomatoes): just dip the fruit in boiling water for 20 to 45 seconds.
NOTE: this works GREAT on ripe apricots, but if the beaches are rock hard, not so well. Best to let the apricots soften for a day or two first!
Remove from the boiling water using a slotted spoon and put into a large bowl or pot of cold water and ice for several minutes
The skins will easily slide off now!
Nectarines do not need to be peeled, if you don't mind the skins. Neither do apricots, but most people prefer them with skins off - they tend to be slimy after all this.
SAVE THE PEELINGS in the fridge - to make apricot honey!
Note: one visitor reports she has good success using a potato peeler on unblanched apricots.
Cut out any brown spots and mushy areas. Cut the apricots in half, or quarters or slices, as you prefer! Remove pits!
Apricots will turn brown when exposed to air, even air in a sealed, sterile jar. To keep the fruit from turning brown, when you get a bowlful, sprinkle 1/4 cup lemon juice or Fruit-Fresh (which is just a mix of citric acid and vitamin C, perfectly natural). Then stir the apricots to make sure all the surfaces have been coated.
Hot packing is recommended for all fruits because it is a bit safer and makes fruit easier to pack in jars. Hot packed apricots are also less likely to float than apricots canned by the raw-pack method. Just put the cut apricots into the barely boiling syrup solution for 5 minutes. (If you want to use the "cold pack" or "raw pack" method, just skip this step!)
Hot packing also helps top reduce air entrapment (bubbles) as the cell structure of apricots tends to retain air; which is released during the heating prior to the jars being filled. Hot packing also tends to produce brighter colors.
Pack the apricots into sanitized jars (leaving 1/2 to 1 inch space at the top) and cover with boiling sugar syrup leaving 1/2 inch head space. (if you don't cook or heat the apricots first, this is called "cold packing"). Run a rubber spatula or table knife gently between apricots and jar to release trapped air bubbles. To do this more effectively, tilt the jar slightly while running the tool between the fruit and the edge of the jar and also pressing inward against the fruit a few times.
After packing the apricots in the jar, pour the sugar solution up to 1/2 inch (1 cm) from the top. the fruit should be covered completely. If you have problems with fruit darkening (turning brown) later, then sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of FruitFresh or ascorbic acid into the top of the jar before you seal it.
Wipe rim and screw threads with a clean damp cloth. Add lid, screw band and tighten firmly and evenly. Do not over tighten.
Canned
fruits often will float if the sugar syrup is too heavy, if jars are
packed too loosely or if air remains in the tissues of the fruit after
processing. To avoid this use a light or medium sugar syrup, make sure
fruit is firm and ripe and pack fruit tightly in jars without crushing.
If fruit is not covered by liquid it may darken during storage (but does
not necessarily mean it is spoiled, as all fruits will darken somewhat).
To avoid this be sure fruit is covered by removing air bubbles from jars
liquid while still leaving the recommended head space. Also be sure to
remove trapped air bubbles as described earlier.
Apricots, pears and apples may also show a blue, red or pink color change
after canning. This is the result of natural chemical changes that
sometimes occur as fruits are heated. It is harmless and won't affect
flavor!
Also, avoid storing canned food near heat sources such as a furnace,
water heater, hot water or sunny areas. Jars need to be kept cool and
dark for longer storage life and to protect against spoilage. Be sure to
store in a dry place. If the lid or band rusts, that can cause the seal
to break.
Put the sealed jars in the canner and keep them cover with at least 1 inch of water and boiling. In general, if you are at sea level, boil them for at least 20 minutes (and no more than 30 min).
Here are more specific guidelines from the USDA for canning apricots in a boiling-water canner.
If you have a Pressure Canner; either a dial or a weighted-gauge canner, you can use that. The times for pressure canners are given below, also.
Table 1.
Recommended process time for
Apricots, halved or sliced |
|||||
- |
Process Time at Altitudes of
|
||||
Style of Pack | Jar Size | 0 - 1,000 ft | 1,001 - 3,000 ft | 3,001 - 6,000 ft | Above 6,000 ft |
Hot |
Pints Quarts |
20 min 25 |
25 30 |
30 35 |
35 40 |
Raw |
Pints Quarts |
25 30 |
30 35 |
35 40 |
40 45 |
Table 2. Process Times for
Apricots (Halved or Sliced)
|
||||||
Canner Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes of | ||||||
Style of Pack | Jar Size | Process Time (Min) | 0 - 2,000 ft | 2,001 - 4,000 ft | 4,001 - 6,000 ft | 6,001 - 8,000 ft |
Hot and Raw |
Pints or Quarts |
10 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
Table 3. Process Times for
Apricots (Halved or Sliced)
|
||||
Canner Pressure (PSI) at Altitudes of | ||||
Style of Pack | Jar Size | Process Time (Min) | 0 - 1,000 ft | Above 1,000 ft |
Hot and Raw |
Pints or Quarts |
10 | 5 | 10 |
Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight), here they won't be bumped. You can then remove the rings if you like, but if you leave them on, at least loosen them quite a bit, so they don't rust in place due to trapped moisture.
Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger.
If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid (with a new lid) and reprocess the jar, while it's still hot for the full time in the canner - that's acceptable!
From left to right:
Answer: Buckle not! It is perfectly safe to can apricots with the skins on! Most people don't because some folks think it feels like they're swallowing a cat (short hair, not Persian) when they eat a apricot with the fuzzy skin still on! :) But it is perfectly safe! (canning unskinned apricots, not cats, that is! :) ..I'm gonna get letters on this one, for sure...
Answer:Yes, that's common. Some of the air came from bubbles trapped between the pieces of fruit you put in the jar. Other bubbles came from air trapped within the fruit itself. As long as the jar was processed according to the directions and it sealed properly, it is perfectly safe to eat!
Answer: Ah, that usually means they weren't ripe. I'll bet they were rock hard, or close to it. Not much to do about that other than let the ripen (soften) first OR peel them hard with a vegetable peeler. If you let the remaining apricots sit at room temperature for 2 or 3 days, they will soften and it will work!
Ah! The USDA assumes a standard pressure of 10 or 11 lbs, as is normal for your canner. If you have various weights or settings, go with 11 lbs!
Yes, you are exactly correct! Apricots, like almost all stone fruit (except for pears) do not ripen further after being picked. They soften, but do not increase their sugar content. So for canning, you get best results if you use apricots which are ripe (by sugar content) but firm. Farmers know (there are sugar tests) when their apricots are at their peak apricot sugar content and can guide you. Generally, if the apricot separates easily from the tree, it is ripe. And if you can it as soon after that, your canned apricots will be firmer! And some varieties of apricots are firmer and better for canning than others. Again, your local farmer can guide you.
Grandma was right. As long as a lab-tested recipe and process was followed, and the jars remain sealed, technically, they're safe to eat for a lifetime. Usually, the quality declines substantially after 2 years (color, text, taste). Apricots WERE different back then! Most of the apricots sold in stores today were bred to be very hard to hold up better in shipping. I hate them! To me, a apricot should be soft and juice, not hard and crunchy! That's why I grow my own, or go to an orchard to pick older varieties!
Water bath canner with a jar rack
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