Whenever I make peach jam I am always taken back to the 70’s when Bobby and I bought our first home here in New Mexico. It was a tiny house on a small lot. It had ten mature fruit trees: 6 peach, 2 plum, 1 apple and an apricot. When the apricots ripened in June, I started canning and didn’t stop canning until after the plums were gone in September. July and August were spent canning lots and lots of peaches. It was a tremendous amount of work, but thank goodness, my dear mother taught me how to can and how to see the many benefits of putting up your own produce. I actually enjoy it!
When Bobby’s brother and his family moved to New Mexico in the 80’s, my sister-in-law wanted to learn how to can. So what better opportunity to learn than to spend of few summer days in my kitchen. She was a blessing! She helped me put up many bushels of peaches in about half the time. Not only was our time together very productive, it was also a lot of fun. Now she is a more productive canner than I am.
So after all of these years, I guess it’s time to share my simple peach jam recipe. As you know from my other jam recipes, I no longer make big batches using store-bought pectin and yielding multiple jars. Nowadays, when we need jam, I make a jar of jam. When Bobby came home from Costco last week with a flat of peaches, it was hard to resist the urge to make peach jam. After all, it is MY favorite jam.
The following recipe has three ingredients: fresh peaches, sugar and lemon zest. It makes a little more than one pint of jam. Once the jam is cooked and jarred, it does need to go in the refrigerator, not on a shelf. If you want to store it in the pantry for a while, then be sure to sterilize your jar and lid, and use a new lid. Once cooled, make sure the jar has sealed by pressing on the lid. If it pops down, it didn’t seal properly. Put it in the refrigerator. It will keep in the refrigerator for a year, but won’t last that long, I can guarantee.
For a sweet and spicy jam, be sure to checkout my Green Chile Peach Preserves.
Peach Jam
A quick and easy refrigerator jam made with three ingredients and no pectin. This recipe makes about one pint that is intended to be stored in the refrigerator after jarring.
I would suggest that you read Kitchen Notes for Quick Easy Jam if this is the first time you've made a small batch, no pectin jam.
*See Kitchen Notes for more information, substitutions and related links.
- 4 cups chopped peaches* (about 4 peeled peaches)
- 2 cups granulated sugar*
- zest from 1 lemon*
2 quart heavy sauce pan
high temperature rubber spatula
Jar gripper
Pint jar with lid and ring
wide mouth funnel
Candy Thermometer
Wash and rinse a clean pint jar (do not dry). Add about an inch of water to the jar and place in microwave for 1.5 – 2 minutes. Using jar grips, pour out the hot water and place jar on a clean towel until ready to pour in the hot jam.
Peel and chop the peaches. Measure, then transfer to sauce pan. If you want the pieces smaller, then use a potato masher to get the sizes you want. Just don't mash too much because you don't want mush.
Top the peaches with the sugar and the lemon zest.
Turn on the heat to medium low. Stir occasionally until the sugar melts.
Turn up to heat to medium or medium high and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Bring the jam to a rolling boil, a boil that can't be stirred down. You may need to turn the heat down a bit to keep it from boiling over.
Continue stirring for about 10 – 15 minutes. Once the jam starts to thicken, add the candy thermometer.
Continue heating the jam, stirring frequently until the temperature reaches the desired temperature. The standard maximum cooking temperature for jams is a temperature of 220° F (104° C) at sea level; however, as you go up in elevation, this temperature lowers. The rule of thumb is to subtract 1ºF for every 500 ft. increase in elevation.
The temperature will stalls about 5° F before the maximum temperature is reached. Be patient. After about 5 – 10 minutes, the temperature will start rising again.
Once the temperature is reached, remove from heat.
Place a wide mouth funnel into the pint jar and ladle in the jam until the jar is full. If you have any jam left, just pour it into another small jar and enjoy.
Wipe the top edge of the jar with a damp cloth. Place the lid and ring on the jar and tighten until snug, not too tight. Set aside and let cool.
Once cool, refrigerate and enjoy.
Peaches – It is best to use fresh peaches in my opinion. The jam has more structure and it’s not mushy. I usually cut the peaches into small pieces, then mash a little with a potato masher once transferred into the sauce pan. That way it’s more of a jam than preserves, making it great for toast and PB&J’s.
Also, if you have a couple of peaches that are overripe or just mushy peaches, then use them along with two perfectly ripe peaches. I stay away from under ripe peaches if I can. They aren’t as sweet and a little too firm for my taste.
Sugar – For a no pectin jam, the ratio of fruit to sugar is 2:1. Therefore, if you don’t have 4 cups of peaches or you have a little more than 4 cups, then decrease or increase the sugar accordingly. If you like to use weight, then use weight. Just keep the ratio as 2:1 – fruit to sugar.
Lemon Zest – There are two advantages to using lemon zest rather than lemon juice. First of all, most of the pectin in a lemon is in the peel and the pectin helps the jam to reach a jammy consistency. Secondly, the zest yields more of a lemony flavor in the jam that complements the peaches perfectly.
Doubling the recipe – It easy to half the recipe or use amounts that are less than the 4 cups of peaches. However, increasing the recipe too much, can result in standing and stirring for about an hour or more as well as a thinner jam. Going up to 5 cups is fine, but if you have more than that, just make two batches. It’s easier in my opinion.
Jamming is my thing, so if you want some more quick & easy, small batch, no pectin jams, then check these out.
MJ, many thanks for your perfect Peach Jam recipe. Since my home is at 7,200′ ‘elevation, I did the math and adjusted the temperature downward per your recommendation. The jam set perfectly. I did add 1/4 teaspoon Chimayó red chile powder, with delicious results. My husband gave thumbs up to small toasted baguette slices smeared with softened goat cheese and topped with spoonfuls of this red chile-enhanced peach jam. Over the top delicious !
Pam, Thank you so much! I’m thrilled that you and your husband love it and that the recipe and instructions worked so well. LOVE the addition of the red chile powder! What a great idea with the goat cheese and a toasted baguette. Definitely will be giving that a try. Thanks! Cheers, MJ
So kind. We sent our recent houseguests home with a pound of dried Royal Corona beans from Rancho Gordo. I hope you’ll be happy to hear that I wrote out the link to your blog post with FIVE corona bean recipes for them to try! Your blog and Deb’s from Smitten Kitchen are my faves because the recipe results are delicous and I can trust the recipes to work–no small thing among the millions of recipes out there. Many thanks for including recommendations for high altitude adjustments. Canning and baking involve science, so my successful outcomes are due to you.
Thanks you much Pam for you sweet comments!
Small batch is definitely the way to go for a small family. Canning jars upon jars like you used to do is a real labor of love. Looks delicious!
You ‘had me’ at peaches! I’m not the prolific canner as you are. But I am getting ready to can my salsa though. But I’ve never done jams and jellies. I’m one of the worry warts that if something should go wrong, it will happen with me and the jam I’m trying to make. Actually, my husband is the canning expert! We have 2 bushels of fresh SC peaches, of which I have frozen 2/3rds. There are enough preaches left to prepare your recipe. I’ll let you know how it goes. Cross your fingers and say a prayer for me!
Ciao,
Roz
Thanks Roz. WOW! Canning salsa! I’ve never even done that. I usually eat my salsa so fast, that I have no need to can it. 🙂 Actually, my small batch process for canning a jar of jam is SO easy, so I would recommend starting with that. To do large batches you really need the commercially purchased pectin and plan for a whole day of work. I am now finding I actually enjoy make one jar at time and because it’s so quick, it only takes up about an hour of my day. Using those SC peaches sounds just perfect! I’m jealous! Let me know how it turns out.
I love homemade jam and fresh summer peaches! This looks perfect and so delicious.
Thanks Amy.
I grew up with peach and plum jam spreads on our morning toast with glass of milk. Then, also, crepes were rolled with them and Sacher cake with peach jam was always a must. My son prefers chocolate version spreads but he just does not understand what he misses… he’ll come to the senses, sooner or later ….. besides, there is a pantry loaded with jams …. Thank you so much for this one MJ ! 🙂
Thank Darlin. I grew up the same! My mother was a huge jam/jelly canner so breakfast was toast and jam. 🙂 I love the idea of rolling it in crepes. I just made a batch of crepes yesterday so I’m going to try that in the morning.
I love the story behind this jam; your first home with Bobby, the history of your family moving to NM, your Mom and the kitchen memories with your sister-in-law, at its best, that’s what food is about, a full sensory experience. Your peach jam is stunning by the way, such a vibrant colour, and I kinda like the simplicity of the make it as you need it approach (I’m using mini jars for my husband and I and shipping much of the rest; makes me happy to be able to share a piece of my garden with family ♥)
Thanks Kelly. When I used to make batches of jam, I would include a jar in almost every gift that I gave someone or just give a jar to anyone that came over for a visit. When we had all of those fruit trees, we had more jam that two people could eat in a lifetime. With your fruit trees, you’re probably feeling the same. 🙂
This is my jam! Always prefer this over other jams
thanks Raymund.
What a great idea. The only jam I’ve made this season was from some strawberry puree I found in the freezer. I tend to add too many flavor combinations to my jam so this is a fantastic reminder that simple is best. Thank you for sharing this!
Thanks Debra. You know, I tried adding herbs to jams and it just didn’t suit my fancy. Simple is definitely best IMO.
Would love a little slathered on our toast this morning. Peach is one of our favorite jams for sure and they are in season right now. Yum!
thanks Bobbi. I piled some on a bagel with cream cheese this morning. So yummy!
your jam looks delightful MJ. such a pretty colour too. i used to make jaboticaba jam with fruit from our tree. It has so much natural pectin so when i added lemon juice to it, it turned out so hard you could have played basketball with it 🙂
Thanks Sherry. Well, I just learned a new fruit! I had never heard of a jabaticaba. I reach that it taste like blueberry yogurt. That sounds interesting and delicious!
I love that it’s pectin free! The homemade jam for sure tastes so much fresher and better. Thank you for sharing your recipe, MJ.
Thanks Angie. I agree that homemade jam without pectin tastes a lot fresher than big batch pectin jams.
This is how I like best to make just about any jam! Now I need to use your recipe to make some peach jam too!
Thanks Susan. Hope you get some peach soon. It’s the season!
This looks great! We just got some local peaches, although not enough for jam. Maybe next week! I really like small batch jam like this — much more convenient. Such a nice recipe — thanks.
Thanks John. Definitely more convenient and much easier. Just takes about an hour instead of all day and more importantly, a very easy cleanup. 🙂
In just the last few years I have started making a few jars of jam but haven’t tried peach yet. Peaches are my absolute favorite fruit and your recipe for jam sounds perfect, especially using the lemon zest as a natural pectin. I’ve been waiting patiently for the summer peaches when they are at their sweetest. This is definitely going on my list of things to make with them. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Jan. I have a hard time using local peaches for jam because they are SO GOOD, I usually just eat them. 🙂 The Costco peaches were good, but not as good, so I didn’t feel guilty about turning some of them into jam. 🙂
MJ, this peach jam looks divine! How wonderful it would be on a slice of freshly baked bread!
Thanks Kelly, It’s GREAT on fresh bread! 🙂