Peach Preserves Recipe {No Pectin}

Homemade Preserves (Jam) is the Best Way to Preserve Peaches

Until May of 2020 when my husband and I became full-time RV nomads, I'd spent my entire life in Colorado. There are a lot of great things about Colorado, but Colorado peaches are easily one of my favorite things about the state.

I looked forward to Colorado peaches all year, every year. But, as you might imagine, the growing season is relatively short. Sometimes we'd get lucky and have a year when Colorado peaches were available for an entire month. Other years, the really good ones were only available for a couple of weeks.

Even though we are now full time travelers, we visit Colorado every fall. And, even though nothing can compare to eating a fresh, ripe peach, standing over the sink, juice dripping down my chin, I'll do what I've done every summer and preserve and freeze as many as I can.

Because there's really nothing better on a cold, dreary January morning than opening a jar of sweet, juicy peach preserves and slathering it on a flaky buttermilk biscuit.

What's the Difference Between Preserves, Jam, and Jelly?

Jam and preserves are very similar and the terms are often used interchangeably.

Both jam and preserves are made from fresh fruit and sugar, and very little else. The only real difference between the two is that jam uses crushed fruit, while preserves uses whole chunks.

Jelly is notably different from jam or preserves, both in the way it's made and in the flavor and consistency of the finished product. Jelly is made from fruit juice rather than whole fruit and has a smooth, clear consistency that's free of actual pieces of fruit.

Jelly has it's place, but it's not what I'm looking for when I want to preserve the fruit itself.

For me, the entire reason to make peach preserves is because it's one of the best way to preserve peaches. I make a batch (or 3) every year because I want the luxury of tasting summer peaches all year long.

How to Make Peach Preserves without Pectin

Right from the start, let me clarify that there is technically no such thing as making peach preserves without pectin because it's a naturally occurring substance found in peaches.

That's right. Peaches already contain pectin. In fact, all fruit (and most vegetables) contain varying amounts of pectin.

What is pectin?

Pectin is kind of like a glue that helps hold cell walls together. In jam or preserves, pectin traps liquid and creates a thickened (set) consistency that suspends pieces of fruit and makes the jam or preserves spreadable.

The reason many jam and preserves recipes include additional pectin is to ensure that it will set. In recipes that use low-pectin fruit, like cherries or strawberries, this is essential.

But, when preserving fruit with medium to large amounts of pectin, adding even more can interfere with the bright, fresh taste of the fruit. Also, too much pectin can create a jell-o like consistency. So, I prefer to just not add more if I don't have to.

Peaches contain a moderate level of pectin, which is why so many peach preserves and jam recipes include a bit extra. But after years and years of making successful batches of homemade peach preserves, I have found that additional pectin is not necessary as long as you allow the preserves to cook long enough.

A long, gentle simmer concentrates the peach juice in these preserves. When the juice is concentrated, less pectin is needed for it to set. Even better, the concentrated juice intensifies the delicious fresh peach flavor.

It's one of those beautiful examples of old fashioned simplicity - less ingredients, cooked in the right way, creates the best tasting and highest quality result.

Reader Tips for Making Homemade Preserves

Over the years, many generous people have left a comment on this post with their tips and tricks for how to make the best preserves.

Rather than hope that other readers read through the comments to find all these juicy tidbits, I've compiled them here. Thank you to all of you who so generously share your tips for preserve making! 

• If your preserves are chunkier then you'd like, simply use an immersion blender to puree them to the consistency you prefer.
• Avoid using an aluminum pan to make these preserves. The acid in the fruit and lemon juice can react with aluminum and cause the preserves to get super dark and take on a metal taste.
• Adding a very small amount of butter to the mixture at the beginning of the cooking process helps keeps the mixture from bubbling up. The butter also eliminates a lot of the foam that sometimes occurs. For one batch, I add about a ½ teaspoon of butter. It works so great, and I hope others will try it.
• A few readers have made this without peeling the peaches and said they turned out great. One reader said she used an immersion blender to puree the preserves after they cooled, but I've had a couple of other readers say they didn't peel or puree the peaches and they were delicious.
• Blanching the peaches in a pot of boiling water makes peaches easy to peel. Simply submerge the peaches in boiling water for 40 seconds which should loosen the skin.
• One reader said she cooked her preserves in her slow cooker with the lid off. She said her preserves "turned out darker but still oh so good!"

How to Store Peach Preserves

There are three ways to store preserves:

1. Store the preserves in sealed jars that have been processed in a boiling water bath for up to 18 months
2. Store the preserves in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks
3. Store the preserves in the freezer for up to 6 months

This recipe includes instructions for processing jars in a boiling water bath (canning), which will preserve the peach jam for up to 18 months.

Canning is a great way to preserve food in jars that can be safely stored at room temperature for a long period of time. Setting jars of peach preserves in a pan of boiling water pushes air from the jar and creates a vacuum seal as the jars cool. This keeps air and microorganisms that can cause the peaches to spoil out.

I really want to stress the importance of following safe canning practices.  Botulism is nothing to mess with! If you are new to canning and preserving, read through this informative post about the 11 Canning Mistakes That Can Kill You before you begin.

You can also store peach preserves in the refrigerator or freezer.

Peach preserves can be safely stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks or frozen for up to 6 months. It is safe to consume jam that's been frozen for up to 12 months, but it starts to loose it's flavor and character when frozen longer than 6 months.

If you want to make a large amount of peach preserves, I'd advise making successive batches rather than doubling this recipe. Not only would you need a very large pan to cook a larger batch, the increased amount of juice will mean you have to cook it much longer, causing the peaches to brown and start to loose flavor.

How Long Does it Take to Make Peach Preserves?

This recipe is truly simple, requiring little more than chopping peaches, dumping them into a pan with some sugar and lemon juice, and letting them do their thing. 

The total time that the peaches need to simmer in order to thicken into jam depends on how juicy your peaches are. The juicier the peaches, the longer your preserves will need to simmer in order to reach the jell point. Just be patient. It'll be sooooo worth it.

If you're using a pan with a thick bottom, you don't need to stand over your stove stirring all the time. In fact, at first you'll only need to stir every once in a while.

But, as the mixture begins to thicken, you'll want to stir more frequently to prevent scorching, but there's no need to stand there stirring the whole time.

Frequently Asked Questions About Making Peach Preserves:

Peach Preserves is a Building Block Recipe. Building Blocks are tried-and-true recipes that I find myself coming back to time and time again, sometimes to make them exactly as is, and sometimes as a starting point for something new. -> More Building Block Recipes.

If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Scroll down to rate this recipe and leave a comment, or take a picture and tag it @ofbatteranddough on Instagram.

Happy preserving!