Canning Fruit and Fruit Products

Home-canned fruits can be a delightful addition to family meals throughout the year. Canning fruits also may be an economical way to preserve quality foods at home.

Steps for Canning Fruit Safely | Canning Fruit with and without Sugar | Maintaining Color in Fruit | Recipes

Steps for Canning Fruit Safely

• Fruits can be safely preserved at home using a boiling-water canner or a steam canner. Pressure canners are also acceptable. This publica­tion includes processing times for all procedures. Refer to the Canning Basics for procedures for using a boiling-water, steam, or pressure canner and for information on selecting, prepar­ing, and filling jars.
• The atmospheric steam canner is fairly new to home canning. It uses only 2 quarts of water (compared to 16 quarts, or more, in a boiling-water canner). Because less water is heated, processing can start more quickly. Process time is based on the recommended time for a boiling-water canner. Processing time in a steam canner is limited to 45 minutes or less, including any modification for elevation.

Determining Elevation
 

Water boils at 212°F at sea level. As the elevation increases, water boils at lower temperatures and foods take longer to cook. This map shows Nebraska elevations. You need to know your elevation to determine the correct processing time when canning. For those living outside of Nebraska, you can find your elevation at your local planning commission or zoning office, on a webpage or use an app.

Figure 1. Elevation ranges in Nebraska. Map was prepared by Les Howard, cartographer, UNL School of Natural Resources

Canning Fruit with and without Sugar

Canning Fruits with Sugar
Adding sugar or syrup to canned fruit helps retain flavor, color, and shape, but does not prevent spoilage. The table below provides five types of syrups with different sugar contents. The quantities of water and sugar are enough to make syrup for a canner load of pints or quarts.

Procedure: Heat water and sugar together. Bring to a boil and pour over raw fruits in jars. For hot packs, bring water and sugar to boil, add fruit, reheat to boil, and fill jars immediately.

*Many fruits that are typically packed in heavy syrup are excellent and tasteful products when packed in lighter syrups. It is recommended that lighter syrups be tried, since they contain fewer calories from added sugar.

Other sweeteners: Light corn syrups or mild-flavored honey may he used to replace up to half the table sugar called for in syrups. Do not use honey with fruits that may be fed to babies.

Canning Fruits Without Sugar

Fruits can be preserved without adding sugar. Select fully ripe but firm fruits for high quality products. Prepare as directed in a tested recipe but use water or regular unsweetened fruit juices instead of sugar syrup. Juice made from the fruit you are canning is best. Blends of unsweetened apple, pineapple, and white grape juice are excellent replacements for syrups as well.

• The color, flavor, and texture of fruits canned without sugar may be different than expected. Many fruits typically packed in heavy syrup are excellent packed in lighter syrups if you want to reduce calories but are hesitant to try canning without sugar.
• Sugar substitutes or alternative sweeteners can be added when serving. Sucralose is a sugar substitute that can be added to the canning liquid before canning fruits. Penn State Extension has more information on canning with less sugar.

Maintain Color in Fruits

During preparation, some fruits can turn an undesirable color. To maintain the natural color of these fruits, avoid exposing them to air for long periods. While preparing fruits, place peeled, halved, quartered, sliced, or diced apples, apricots, nectarines, peaches, and pears in water containing one of the following options:

• Ascorbic acid may be purchased in pure powdered form or as vitamin C tablets. Add 3 grams (1 teaspoon pure ascorbic acid or 6, 500-milligram vitamin C tablets crushed) to 1 gallon cold water.
• Commercial produced mixes of ascorbic acid and citric acid can often be found in the canning section of most grocery stores. Follow package directions. Drain fruit before proceeding.
• Drop fruit into a citric acid or lemon juice solution (1 teaspoon food-grade citric acid or ¾ cup lemon juice to 1 gallon water). Drain fruit before proceeding. Note: Citric acid and lemon juice are not as effective in preventing browning as ascorbic acid solutions.

Recipes for Canning Fruit

Applesauce

Quantity: An average of 21 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 13½ pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints. A bushel weighs 48 pounds and yields 14 to 19 quarts of sauce – an average of 3 pounds per quart.

Quality: Select apples that are sweet, juicy, and crisp. For a tart flavor, add 1 to 2 pounds of tart apples to each 3 pounds of sweeter fruit.

Procedure: Wash, peel, and core apples. If desired, slice apples into water containing ascorbic acid to prevent browning. Placed drained slices in an 8- to 10-quart pot. Add ½ cup water. Stirring occasionally to prevent burning, heat quickly until tender (5 to 20 minutes, depending on maturity and variety). Press through a sieve or food mill, or skip the pressing step if you prefer chunk-style sauce. Sauce may be packed without sugar. If desired, add 1/8 cup sugar per quart of sauce. Taste and add more, if preferred. Reheat sauce to boiling. Fill jars with hot sauce, leaving ½-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process. Processing directions for canning applesauce in a boiling-water or steam canner, and a dial or a weighted-gauge canner are given in Table 2, Table 3, and Table 4.

Apple Pie Filling

Quality: Use firm, crisp apples. Stayman, Golden Delicious, Rome, and other varieties of similar quality are suitable. If apples lack tartness, use an additional ¼ cup of lemon juice for each 6 quarts of slices.

Yield: 1 quart or 7 quarts

Procedure: See Table 5 for suggested quantities. Wash, peel, and core apples. Prepare slices ½ inch wide and place in water containing ascorbic acid to prevent browning.

For fresh fruit, place 6 cups at a time in 1 gallon of boiling water. Boil each batch 1 minute after the water returns to a boil. Drain, but keep heated fruit in a covered bowl or pot. Combine sugar, Clear Jel®, and cinnamon in a large kettle with water and apple juice. If desired, food coloring and nutmeg may be added. Stir and cook on medium high heat until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Add lemon juice and boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Fold in drained apple slices immediately and fill jars with mixture without delay, leaving 1 inch headspace. Adjust lids and process immediately according to the recommendations in Table 6.

Clear Jel®

General: Clear Jel® is a chemically modified corn starch that produces excellent sauce consistency even after fillings are canned and baked. Other available starches break down when used in pie fillings, causing a runny sauce consistency. Clear Jel® is available only through a few supply outlets and it is not widely available in grocery stores. Find out about its availability prior to gathering other ingredients to make pie fillings. If you cannot find it, check Internet stores, or ask your county Extension family and consumer sciences educator about sources for Clear Jel®.

Because the variety of fruit may alter the flavor of the fruit pie, it is suggested that you first make a single quart, make a pie with it, and serve. Then adjust the sugar and spices in the recipe to suit your personal preferences. The amount of lemon juice should not be altered, as it aids in controlling the safety and storage stability of the fillings.

When using frozen cherries and blueberries, select unsweetened fruit. If sugar has been added, rinse it off while fruit is frozen. Thaw fruit, then collect, measure, and use juice from fruit to partially replace the water specified in the recipe. Use only ¼ cup Clear Jel® per quart, or 1 ¾ cups for 7 quarts. Use fresh fruit in the apple and peach pie filling recipes.

Zucchini-Pineapple

• 4 quarts cubed or shredded zucchini
• 46 oz canned unsweetened pineapple juice
• 1 ½ cups bottled lemon juice
• 3 cups sugar

Yield: 8 to 9 pints

Procedure: Peel zucchini and either cut into ½-inch cubes or shred. Mix zucchini with other ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer 20 minutes. Fill half-pint or pint jars with hot mixture and liquid; leave ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust lids and process in a boiling-water or steam canner according to the recommendations in Table 7.

 

Additional recipes for canning fruit and fruit products can be found on the National Center for Home Preservation website.