Canning Apricots

Dave and I picked apricots this last Saturday and canned them on Monday. They were perfect! We invited a neighbor couple, Matt and Kim, and taught them how to do it, and they helped us with the process. They got to take home whatever they canned into their own jars.


Dave and I bought a pressure cooker (23 qt, Presto) this year, that has the ability to pressure cook or water bath. But we didn't have a basket, so we did cold packing before sealing them. (Cold packing means we put the seedless apricot halves in the jars, filled it with syrup, aka cooked sugar water, then put lids on before sealing them.) The first batch was pressure cooked, but we forgot to add vinegar to the water, so it got a funny white film on them.


We thought pressure cooking was going to be much faster than water bath, but it actually took about 50 minutes or an hour, even though the actual time cooking at pressure was only 10 minutes. That's because it takes some time to heat up, and even more time to do 'natural pressure release,' which means you turn off/take it off the heat and wait for the pressure to drop to nothing. That part takes abt 30 minutes.


It was frustrating that it was taking so long, so we decided to do the next batch via water bath canning. Getting the water to boiling took forever, but the batches after that took about an hour each. We did 3 dozen quarts (one dozen went to our neighbors).


The last batch consisted of 14 pints of apricot butter, which we did pressure cooking, because we could put all 14 in at once that way (12 pints went to the neighbors). Dave and I were up 'til 4am. We decided we'd better time our canning steps better after that... and start a bit earlier.


Dave was frustrated that after all was said and done, the cold-packed apricots only took up half the jar, and floated on lots of sugar-water. So on Tuesday, I got ambitious, and decided I wanted to try hot packing... so I went and picked more apricots in the hot day's sun. I got 1/3 of what we had collected the saturday before, plus a box of 'on-the-ground bruised' apricots. On our way home, we stopped at The Mending Shed and bought a basket, so that it would be easier to hot-pack them. (Hot-pack means that you fill the jars with apricots, let them cook down in the stream, add more apricots periodically, until the apricot juices have filled up the jar to the top. Then they are sealed.) We also got adjustable weights for our pressure cooker. (They let out the stream when the pressure reaches a certain point, either 5, 10 or 15 lbs.) While we were there, we found a 'scratch n' dent' section and there was a stainless steel Victorio water bath canner for $60. We checked Amazon, and they didn't have it for less than $70. Normally they're about $90 at The Mending Shed. So we were crazy and bought it too. 


On Thursday afternoon we canned the apricots. Many of them were too ripe by Thursday, so they ended up being put in the 'bruised and on-the-ground' pile of apricots - for making jam/butter/preserves. 
We did 7 quarts of hot-packed apricots and 16 pints of Apricot Jam. I did 1/3 less sugar than the recipe called for, because my previous experiences with making jam was that it came out way too sweet. I accidentally added too much lemon juice to them, but I actually think I like it better that way... it gives it a sweet and sour flavor in the same bite. We pressure cooked them... and remembered the vinegar this time. We started at about 5pm and were done by 10:30pm... plus a clean kitchen and all. 


I have a terrible habit of deciding that after canning so much, I'm too tired to clean the kitchen, and it usually doesn't get done 'til the next day (or even 2 days later, which I can still get away with because I don't yet have any kids.) But I have to watch the pressure canner a little closer while it's cooking, so it gave me the motivation to use that time to clean up, since I couldn't be laying in bed, anyway. So by the time the jars came out of the pressure canner, the entire kitchen was gorgeous. What a great feeling. 


Below I'm posting the recipes I used.. and how I did them different. Hopefully they'll be helpful for you. They're from Ball's Blue Book: Guide to Preserving, 2011.


Apricot Butter 
Yield: about 3 pints
2 pounds apricots (about 24 medium) 
3 cups sugar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice


To Prepare Pulp: Wash and blanch apricots. Put apricots in cold water. Peel, halve and pit apricots. We did not blanch them. Combine apricots and 1/2 cup water in a large saucepan. We used a free-standing electric pressure cooker on the saute and simmer settings, since our stove was too full. We decided our apricots were soft and ripe enough that this was an unnecessary step and actually made the process harder. Simmer until apricots are soft. Puree using a food processor or food mill, being careful not to liquify. Measure 1.5 quarts apricot pulp.


To Make Butter: Combine apricot pulp and sugar in a large sauce-pot aka electric pressure cooker. Cook until thick enough to round up on a spoon. As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking. Add lemon juice. Ladle hot butter into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 10 minutes in boiling water canner. 


Apricot Jam 
Yield: about 5 pints
2 quarts crushed and peeled apricots We did not peel it. We took the seeds out and put it through the food processor.
1/4 cup lemon juice My second half of the batch got more like a touch under a 1/2 cup lemon juice
6 cups sugar 4 cups sugar
Combine apricots and lemon juice in a large sauce-pot. I forgot to add lemon juice until after it had cooked and was partially ladled into jars. There is a good chance lemon juice is not needed if you are pressure cooking it instead of water-bath canning. Add sugar, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring slowly to a boil. Cook rapidly to gelling point. We mixed it in our electric pressure cooker, on low pressure, sealed, for 1 minute. Then did quick pressure release, found it boiling (remembered to add lemon juice), and ladled it into jars. As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking. Very little was stuck to the bottom. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot jam into hot hars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling water canner. 
Originally I had planned to make Apricot-Pineapple Jam, but I was out of canned pineapple nor did I have fresh pineapple. Otherwise I would have just replaced 1/3-1/4 of the apricot amount with pineapple.


I'll have to get back to you on how the thickness and flavor of the products turned out before I can tell you if my own recipe/experiments and or mistakes worked out. Thanks for reading!