When I’m making peach jam or canning peaches, I hate to see all of those peach peels and scraps go to waste. There’s still plenty of wonderful peach flavor left in them, so I save them and use them to make peach juice for jelly.
It’s an easy way to get one more homemade product from a batch of fresh peaches. After the peaches are peeled and prepared for jam or canning, the peels and usable scraps are simmered with water to extract their juice. That beautiful peach juice can then be turned into a sweet, golden peach jelly.
So before you toss those peach peels, save them! You may have enough for several jars of homemade peach jelly.
Ingredients
For the Peach Juice
- Peach peels and usable scraps left from preparing ripe peaches
- Water, as needed
For the Jelly
- 3½ cups prepared peach juice
- 1 box Sure-Jell Original Premium Fruit Pectin
- 4½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon butter or margarine, optional, to reduce foaming
- Place the peach peels and usable scraps in a large saucepan.
- Add enough water to keep the peach scraps from sticking and allow them to simmer. You don't need to completely cover the fruit with water.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Cover and simmer until the peach scraps are very soft and have released their juice, about 10–15 minutes.
- Pour the cooked peaches and liquid through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the larger pieces.
- For a clearer jelly, strain the juice again through damp cheesecloth, a flour-sack towel, or a jelly bag. Allow the juice to drip through rather than squeezing it, which can make the finished jelly cloudy.
- Measure exactly 3½ cups peach juice for one batch of jelly.
Make the Peach Jelly
- Prepare your boiling-water canner, jars, lids, and bands according to the manufacturer's current instructions.
- Measure exactly 3½ cups prepared peach juice into a large 6- to 8-quart saucepan.
- Stir the Sure-Jell fruit pectin into the peach juice. Add the butter or margarine, if using.
- Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. A full rolling boil will continue boiling even while you stir.
- Add all 4½ cups of sugar at once and stir well.
- Return the mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Once it reaches a full rolling boil, boil for exactly 1 minute, continuing to stir.
- Remove from the heat and skim off any foam.
- Ladle the hot jelly into prepared half-pint jars, leaving ¼-inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles if necessary, wipe the jar rims, and apply lids and bands.
- Process the jars in a boiling-water canner following the processing time appropriate for your elevation.
- Remove the jars and allow them to cool undisturbed for 12–24 hours. Check the seals before labeling and storing.
Yield: Approximately 5 half-pint jars