Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Crockpot Peach Butter

Peach Butter
 On a recent trip to the Farmers Market, I purchased a bushel of beautiful, late-season South Carolina peaches to make peach butter.  I had never made peach butter, but I really enjoyed making apple butter last year and I had no idea, at that time, how much my family and friends would enjoy it over the coming months.  So, I decided to apply the same process with peaches.   

One thing I learned last year is that it takes a lot of fruit to cook down into a "butter".  For my bushel of peaches, I canned 14 pints of peach butter.  That equates to about 7 to 8 good size peaches per pint, or about 35 to 40 peaches for a 6 quart crockpot to yield about 5 pints of peach butter. 


Beautiful Late-season South Carolina Peaches
 I loved the coloring of these peaches, and the fragrance of them was heavenly.  I look forward to opening  jars over the winter and releasing the aroma of summer. 

Gorgeous Puree from the Peaches
 After I peeled and chopped the peaches, cutting out any brown or mushy spots (which were several as these were late-season, very ripe, cheap, and I bought such a large quantity), I pureed them in the blender with a tiny amount of water. 

Peach Water
 Even the boiling water I dipped them in, to facilitate easier peeling, turned a lovely rosy color.

I really considered the sweetness and spices I wanted to add to my peach butter.  These peaches were very sweet, so I knew I wouldn't be adding much sugar.  Additionally, there are many spices which are delicious with peaches, including ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.  In the end, I decided to make my peach butter mostly "plain",  knowing I could add more sweetener and/or spices as I opened each jar.  The concentrated taste of peaches was what I was looking for.  And I got it!

Crockpot Peach Butter
10 quarts peach puree
2 tsp. lemon juice (I used Meyer lemon)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. allspice

Peel, pit, and chop peaches.  Place in blender and add a splash of water if needed.  I tried not to use any water, but my ripe peaches clunked around in the blender until I added some to get them started.  Pour the peach puree into a 6 quart crockpot until almost full. 

Continue to puree and pour peach puree, this time, into a bowl to refrigerate overnight. Stir in 1 tsp. lemon juice, cover, and reserve.

Into the crockpot, add 1 tsp. lemon juice, the sugar, and the allspice.  Turn the crockpot on low, cover with a spatter screen and cook overnight.  Next morning, the mixture should be reduced by about half.  Add the reserved peach puree, cover again with the spatter screen, and cook on low for about 3 or 4 more hours. 

Eat, freeze, and/or process in hot water bath according to canning methods for your area.

Yields 5 to 7 pints.  Enjoy!


Peach Butter on a Toasted Corn Muffin

5 comments:

  1. I am so jealous! My peach butter burned, and I can tell you I no longer have that crockpot! I am going to put your apple butter to cook tonight. Thanks.

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  2. I have never eaten peach butter before, only apple and pumpkin, both of them I love very much. Your peach butter looks wonderful and the uncooked peaches look so heavenly I can almost smell them through my screen. With all the wonderful canning you have done you should start a mail order business (hint, hint) :o)

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  3. I've never heard of Peach Butter! This looks so very delicious & I wonder if I can give it a try before peaches go out of season here.

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  4. your recipe calls for 10 quarts of peach puree. did you mean 10 cups?

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    Replies
    1. Perma, I did mean to say 10 quarts. --Rocquie

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