r/Canning

Hi! I want to make my father in law some canned vanilla peaches as a gift - they’re his favorite. I’ve never canned before, but I found the below recipe. Can someone help me make sure I do this safely? Thanks in advance for anyone willing to share their time/knowledge. I know this recipe is Australian, but I’m in the US in case that matters.

ingredients (4)
1.8L water
550g caster sugar
2 vanilla beans
16–18 yellow peaches (unblemished, not too ripe)
method
1.
Wash and sterilise the jars and lids (make sure to use new lids). You can sterilise the jars by placing them in the oven at 170°C for 20 minutes or in a pot of boiling water for 15 minutes. Once they are sterilised, allow to dry on a clean kitchen towel.

2.
Make the syrup by placing the water and sugar in a large pot. Halve vanilla beans, scrape the seeds out and put seeds and pods in the pot. Bring to a simmer, then plunge the peaches, 2 or 3 at a time, and poach in the syrup for 3–4 minutes. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and gently pinch off the skin. Set aside on a colander and repeat with remaining peaches.

3.
Take the sugar syrup off the heat. Cut the poached and peeled peaches in half and remove the stones. Pack 16–18 halves in each jar along with 1 vanilla pod. Place the sugar and vanilla syrup back on the stove and bring to a simmer, then, using a funnel, pour the liquid into the two jars, making sure it reaches the rims and neatly submerges the peaches.

4.
Screw the sterilised lids onto the jars firmly and cool down at room temperature to create a vacuum. The seal will contract and become slightly concave. Label and store for winter in a cool, dark place. When you open the jars, the seal will release, a good sign that your fruit is as fresh as when first picked.

I posted last week about Balls terrible new pectin formulation. It got a lot of traction- mostly from other jam makers commiserating the new formula, and even featured some Ball employees trying to gaslight me! I decided to make a longer video about this enshittification to post on my farms social media. It is not done yet but here is a snippet of what will be in there- a comparison of Balls old vs new formulation, along with Pomona.

I have found Pomonas pectin to be the best of all the alternative that this great community has suggested. Thanks for all your help!

EDIT: Many have suggested contacting Ball directly; we have done this! I had an employee write to Ball. Like other folks on this sub have discovered, their responses employ 2 basic strategies: avoidance, and deflection. They refuse to disclose any details about what they specifically did in their reformulation, and make vague claims about the new formula "meeting their performance expectations". Then, they try to alter the discourse to 'let's figure out what YOU did wrong'. To them, the more reasonable explanation to dozens of users experiencing catastrophic failure after a new formulation is, "the users must all have forgotten how to make jam" instead of "maybe the new formulation is worse in many, many cases". Classy. I make thousands of jars of jam every year, and will now be looking to source different jars as well, in addition to the pectin.

EDIT 2: for those who cant hear the audio, transcribed video is

Hey everyone, long time gardener here but pretty new to canning. This summer my tomato plants went absolutely wild and I ended up with way more than I can eat fresh or give away. I decided this was finally the year to learn water bath canning so nothing goes to waste.

I've been doing a lot of reading and I understand the basics around adding bottled lemon juice or citric acid to keep the acidity at a safe level. I'm planning to start with crushed tomatoes and maybe a simple tomato sauce without any added vegetables, to keep things straightforward and safe for water bath canning.

A few things I'm still unsure about and would love some input on. Does the variety of tomato make a noticeable difference in the final canned product? I have mostly roma types but also some beefsteak and a few heirlooms. And do you precook your tomatoes before packing or go raw pack? I've seen arguments for both and can't decide which works better for home canners.

I want to stick to tested recipes from Ball or NCHFP so I'm not looking to improvise, just want to understand the practical experience side of things that recipes don't always spell out. Thanks in advance for any advice you can share.