Is there any good reasons not to can peaches with the skin on?

I've always skinned peaches, before canning and quite frankly don't like doing it. It takes a long time and is really messy. I have a few hundred small peaches I grew and picked, to can tonight and will have 1 or 2 larger batches later this week as they ripen more. Appearance is the only reason I see for skinning. I care more about taste and time.

I also have a huge amount of plums and nectarines to put up this year. Any tips?

Keith

You may get some off taste or bitterness by leaving them on but you could sure try it with some and see if that holds true.

We always blanch peaches that are free skin types and the skins come right off. I've never tried doing that way so my opinion is lacking in hard evidence.

Thanks Carl. We have been blanching the peaches too. The skins still don't come off well. I didn't know they had free skin peaches. When I add more peach trees I am going to get free stone and free skin varieties.

I supposedly planted Elberta and New Haven peach trees, that I bought at Walmart. At least one is actually a nectarine tree. Another died back to the root stock and has very small yellow peaches. One plum tree now has peaches on part of it and the nectarine tree now has peaches on a small part of it too. I paid $6.97 for 6 foot tall, healthy trees, so I can't complain much. They are getting pretty big, so I doubt they are dwarfs like they were supposed to be.

Keith

Try a few jars and see what you think. We don’t skin’em anymore. The liquid color is a bit reddish or pinkish I guess(I’m colorblind). I haven’t noticed any bitterness but the skin does toughen up a bit. You’ll have to pull the skin for pies but for everything else we just leave it. Not sure why use in pies is different but it is, it’s super easy to slip it off. We haven’t had any canned up more than about a year and half, longer time frames would be a guess at best but I don’t see why it would be any different.

We don’t skin pears either.



Owl

The rootstock is probably lovell peach. Elberta does have nectarine in it's background, parent iirc. Only difference between a nectarine and peach is the fuzz.

Depending on the peach you might get the fuzz slipping for an odd mouth feel. Some folks won't eat a raw unpeeled peach for that reason. Never bothered me though. Most modern varieties have been bred to minimize the amount of fuzz.

Bacteria is the main reason you remove skins from anything you can. Spoilage can be a problem. It is the reason you blanch and remove skins from tomatoes which are acidic fruit. LLL

Have you tried scalding it a little longer before the ice bath?

I totally agree that there's not much messier than scalding and peeling peaches or tomatoes.

But pickled peaches make it worthwhile. That or peach butter.

A friend does this with tomatoes.....freeze them, then dip in warm water BRIEFLY. The skin thaws but not the meat.....one good squeeze and they pop out of their skin. Don't know if peaches will too, but worth a try once. Maybe halve and de-stone before freezing?

I eat them fresh with the skins on and have only canned them twice several years ago. I canned them with the skins on and pressure cooked them and things worked out well. Compared to eating them fresh I don't really care for canned peaches that much. As for tomatoes I put them in a kettle about 15 at a time and heat until the skin cracks or just starts to peel, then cold water and that way the skin comes off easy and the meat part of the fruit is solid.

Bryce

Veterans and Improved Elbertas are a couple that come to mind that blanch easy and the skin comes right off. Suncrest and most of the Havens can be tough.

Thanks everyone. I cut up 5 quarts worth of pitted peaches. Diane is canning them now. We'll see how they come out and if they're good, I've got a lot of picked peaches left over and loads on the trees that I'll do the same way.

Keith

let us know

Not canned Keith, but years ago I froze peaches by simply cutting up with the skins on, added a little sugar and cinnamon then placed in 1 gallon zip lock freezer bags. Laid them flat in the freezer to harden, then stored flat inside paper grocery bags until used. They taste pretty good that way. And less work.

Do you spray the peaches with any fungicides or insecticides? Commercial peaches of be wary of that.

I didn't spray my peaches this year.

We both like the flavor and texture better with the skin on. Diane cooked the peaches in heavy syrup rather than just pouring it on the peaches in the jar, before canning. There is no bitterness in the skin. The liquid in the jars is prettier and more flavorful too. I won't be peeling any peaches from now on.

Keith

Thanks for the peach thread. Now I need to go fruit hunting.

I went to an Amish produce auction yesterday. Peaches were going for $16.00 a half bushel. A half bushel of peaches weighs 24 to 26 pounds. It was cheap enough I was tempted to buy some and I would have except we have a bunch of peaches to process here still.

I did buy strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, sweet corn, onions and cabbage. I was up until after 4:00am processing.

Keith