Peach season will be on us before you know it. What should you plan to make with peaches? Peach Jelly, of course!

I’m a peach junkie. Peaches are my favorite fruit. But not just any peach will do, only Georgia peaches. I’ve eaten peaches from around the country and none can truly compare to a sweet Georgia peach. Yes, I'm what some would call bias. But once you've tried a Georgia peach, you'll understand. Making homemade peach jelly is easy, and you'll be glad you did.

Easy Peach Jelly

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About 15 years ago, my husband was the photographer for a youth rodeo here in Georgia. One weekend, we traveled all the way to Hawkinsville, Georgia. Right in the middle of peach season. Yep! You got it... I bought peaches.

On the way home that afternoon, we stopped at a roadside fruit/veggie stand. They had peaches at a reasonable rate, so we bought a case. I was all excited about what I was going to do with these peaches. Peach pie, peach cobbler, peach fried pies, oh yes, did I mention peach cobbler? I was set for peach cobbler for dessert every night for the next 2 weeks. Not really.

After making pies, cobblers, and freezing some peaches, I realized I still had more peaches left. What was I going to do with the rest of these peaches? I began looking on the internet and found where someone was talking about peach jelly. I knew immediately what I was going to do with the rest of the peaches.

While it is no longer there, I found the recipe on the Sure-Jell website.

This recipe makes 3 pint size jars or 5 half-pint jars of jelly. I don’t recommend doubling the recipe to make a bigger batch. Just make the small batch, so you’ll know your jelly will turn out with no problems.

I’m an advocate of juicing fruits to make jelly, peaches do not juice well. You will end up with a thick, foamy mess if you run them through a juicer.

With peaches, you can use every part of the peach except for the pit, and that is what I do.

When I’m putting peaches up for the freezer, I collect the peelings and all the tiny bits and pieces from around the pit. (Believe it or not, we have a peach tree in the backyard that grew from old pits being put in the compost years ago.) Once I have enough scraps to fill a pot, I cover them with water and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Depending on the color of your peelings, your juice may be red, which will make a beautiful red peach jelly. See the last image at the bottom.

If you don’t have enough scraps and you decide to use peach meat, just chop up the meat and put it in the water.

The next step is to drain the juice away from the scraps. You’ll need a method of straining. I recommend a jelly bag. Straining with cheesecloth, I find to be a tremendous headache. You can always use a flour sack cloth towel. I do this when my jelly bags are in use.

Also, if you have never made jelly, you need a large pot/dutch oven. I use a 9-quart pot for all my jelly making. This gives enough room for that fast, rolling boil that will try to boil over if you’re not careful.

I no longer hot water bath my jellies. Certain jellies, I have found tend to not set up as firm as we like when they are hot water bathed. Now, I just make sure all the jars, flats and lids are hot when I put them together. Once they are together, I turn the jars upside down on the counter to cool. The lid should seal while upside down. When you go to turn them over and find a lid that does not seal when you touch the center of the flat, just store that jar in the refrigerator.

Peach jelly makes an amazing PBJ. It's my favorite jelly for making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Easy Peach Jelly

Ingredients:

3-1/2 cups prepared juice (about 6 lbs)
1 box SURE JELL Fruit Pectin
1/2 tsp. butter or margarine
4-1/2 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl

Directions:

Pour the peach juice into a large pot. Stir in the pectin and add the butter. Bring to a full rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly.

Stir in the sugar and return to a rolling boil and boil for 1 minute. Be sure to stir constantly. Remove from heat and skim off any foam with a metal spoon.

Ladle into hot prepared jars. Place lid on and screw band tightly and turn over on the counter to seal. Once the jars are cool enough to handle, turn right side up. When you check for the seal, if it springs back, turn the jar over for a few more minutes. If the lid does not seal, store the jar in the refrigerator.