I can remember as a child biting into a fresh ripe peach, letting the juice dribble down my chin and thinking life just doesn’t get better than this. As an adult my opinion hasn’t changed. I LOVE fresh, the problem with fresh peaches is that they are only in season for a little while. Thank goodness that they can be preserved by canning! This week my sister and I canned fresh peaches without using sugar and I wanted to share my recipe with you.
Growing up my mom was quite the canner. Working all day making peaches, pickles, tomatoes, grape juice, applesauce. She was always hot and tired by the time she was done. I suppose as a child I never appreciated all the work that went into the whole process. As an adult the thought of standing in my kitchen all day carvin’ up peaches just didn’t sound appealing. Let’s just say it took me many years as a mother myself to get the desire to can. But eventually I missed the flavor of homemade peaches, pears and applesauce so I knew I had to try.
My sister came to visit me this past week and we decided we would can peaches together. All I can say is that it is SO much better to can with someone. Especially someone who makes you giggle and laugh all the way through the process. We both had to fight the urge to eat them all up too…one for the canning jar, one for me. Two for the canning jar… ahem.
As I am starting on a more real foods lifestyle I wanted my recipe to be without white sugar. I loved the idea of using honey instead, since someday I dream of having my own beehive. We picked, peeled and canned the peaches together. Then we opened up a jar to try them out. They were wonderful!!
Perfecto! Glorious even.
Here is how to preserve peaches without sugar.
Supplies needed:
- Jars, lids and rings
- Canner, tongs, canning jar holder, pots
- Cutting Board, paring knife
- Large bowl, colander
- Ice
- measuring cups & teaspoons
- Peaches – use freestone peaches – they make canning easy! The pits come right out. I used Elberta peaches this year.
- Lemon Juice
- Honey
- water
You want to start with some fresh ripe peaches. We went down to our local u-pick orchard and picked 95 lb. of peaches!! We paid $0.70 per lb. I think it will be great when I have my own farm to grow a few peach trees so I will save money.
It was so fun picking peaches, we took our kids and had a blast. There were a few peaches we picked that were ripe and ready to eat but the majority of them had to wait a few days. I took a twin sized sheet and laid out each peach individually. If left in the boxes they will bruise more.
It took two days and then most of the peaches were ripe. You don’t want them to be too soft or too hard. Gently press them and if they slightly give they are ready.
Once you are ready to begin, get your stations ready. First step is to sterilize your jars and lids.
I ran my jars through the sterilize option on my dishwasher. If you don’t have a dishwasher just clean them with hot soapy water as best you can. You want your jars to be really clean to avoid any bacteria that might get in.
Also add your lids and rings to a pot and simmer until ready to use.
Peel your peaches either using the water bath method or with a peeler. I used the water bath method which is this. Get a pot of boiling water going. Have a bowl of ice water ready for cooling. Gently add in a few peaches, and then leave for 30 seconds in the boiling water. Quickly remove to the ice water to cool for one minute.
Then if the peaches are ripe the skins should just peel off super easily.
Then take your peaches, slice it in half and remove the pits.
I removed the little bit of red next to the pit…and sliced my peaches into 1/4 inch slices.
Then add them to the jar.I always stuff as many peaches as I can get in there until I get to the threads of the jar top.
To the jars: Add first one teaspoon of lemon juice to preserve color.
Then in a separate bowl you take 7 cups of warm water and mix in 1/3 cup of honey. I love this picture. It’s artsy-fartsy.
Pour the honey water combo into your jars leaving about 1/2 inch of headroom. I would also jiggle the jar to release any pockets of air.
Next add the lids and rings to the top of the jars. You can use a fork to get the lids out of the simmering water or one of those cool canning magnets. Don’t screw on the rings too tight. Place the jars into your canner and make sure there is 1 inch of water above the tops of the jars. Once the water is boiling boil your jars for 15-20 minutes. The canning manuals will tell you to cook them for 20-25 minutes but I choose to do it for 15 minutes.
After the time is up remove the jars on a towel to cool. Make sure to not have the jars touch each other. And do not touch them or mess with them as this can mess up the processing as well. The lids will “pop” as they cool. I love hearing that sound…
If for some reason once they are all cool you have a jar that didn’t pop, that means it didn’t seal right. So you can go ahead and eat right away or save in your refrigerator for up to a week or two.
After you are all done canning your peaches, consider doing a happy thought by sharing a finished jar with a friend saying “I love you to Peaches”. Who wouldn’t love that?
Questions? Comments? What are you canning this year? Do you have any tips to share?
Love canning…never had any trouble until recently…loss of liquid in my jars and
the fruit turns brownish where it is exposed to the air. Everything always seals but,
do not know what I am doing wrong to lose the liquid like that. Any ideas?
Liquid loss is usually due to boiling too hard in the boiling water bath canner. The water should be boiling, but not a hard boil. Also, using ascorbic acid (vit c) powder (found @ the health food store) helps prevent browning (1/4 tsp./ qt. jar).
Also in this recipe the lemon juice helps with browning..I haven’t had any problems with it yet. 🙂
Improper headspace is usually responsible for siphoning of liquid out of the jars. If you don’t use a chopstick, or thin spatula and release the air bubbles after adding your liquid, it will siphon also. When you begin canning, it’s a good idea to keep a cheap plastic ruler handy to check your headspace.
I want to stress, you should always use the proper process times. It will be an unsafe product if you only process fifteen minutes for a quart of peaches. For my high altitude, I need to process thirty minutes.
Boiling is boiling, you can’t boil your canner too hard, but you can fail to have that water hot enough. Always boil your canner on high heat.
You speak of high altitude and the time to process the peaches….. So how many minutes do I process for low altitude…… thank you
Here’s a chart for you!
http://www.simplycanning.com/altitude-adjustments.html
Liquid loss can also be due to the lid not tightly screwed down. Be sure it is finger tight. Another solution, prior to ring and seal, wipe down I’m of jar with damp cloth or paper towel. This wets the rim, clears off any lingering spices, crystals, grains, etc. making a better seal.
Is there any way to just print off the recipe to have without all the step by step picture directions>
I would like to add it to my recipe box but I don’t see where I can print it off without all the extra verbage and pictures….
Help
Most of the time I have a recipe box where you can just print the instructions but not on this one! Sorry! I would suggest copying into word and then deleting the pictures for the recipe! Hope that helps!
I just got done doing a copy & paste from this website into a Word document. I only copied the words without the pictures. Works great!
Thank you for this post. 🙂 I really like (and appreciate) all the pics and step by step directions. I just found your blog today and I think it’s great! Very inspiring and fun to read! God bless! 🙂
Love this recipe idea with using honey! Thank you! We just got home this weekend at 37cents/lb, so I am thrilled to find this as we are working to cut more sugar from our diets!
Why would you cut out the red near the pit? Extra work and loss of color. Just curious.
Hi, how many peaches fit in one wide-mouth quart jar (like the ones pictured) – I have 12 jars so wondering how many pounds of peaches I should buy, thanks!
Allow 2 – 3 lbs of peaches to fill one quart jar. Good luck!
It’s hard and gravely (pieces of the pit), and awful to bite down on. In my opinion.
The red strings become coarse and unpleasant in the final spread.
Another idea that I did last year was to can the peaches in 100% white grape juice. It works and tastes awesome. My kids never knew any difference at all. Thanks for sharing all your hard work!
White grape juice! What a fabulous idea! Thanks.
We love bottled peaches, too! With all the changes in food over the past 20-30 years, our processing has changed, too. Just curious if this method has been proven over time…Our local university helps out a lot in knowing how to safely preserve food. I LOVE the idea of not using processed sugar, but I’m a little wary for the result in the long run…would like to know more 🙂 Love your blog!! I hope you keep it up.
Sorry Melissa, nope this hasn’t been proven over time..first time trying it out. But I have heard from many people that honey works great with canning long term.
Adding a sweetener is for taste and texture, not for food safety. For research-based canning and other food preservation recommendations, go to the National Center for Home Food Preservation. http://nchfp.uga.edu/
Sugar is a preservative. Honey is probably the BEST preservative as it is anti-bacterial among other things. When you can find honey in an Egyptian tomb and it still be good to eat, you know you have something there. BUT, it must be raw, unfiltered honey. Not processed honey flavored syrup.
Once you have boiled it raw honey loses all it medicinal properties. All that lovely goodness gone, but still a better sweetener than processed sugar or processed honey. Beware of where you buy honey. it only needs to be 5% real to be labeled “pure”. That is why we need truth in labeling. The honey industry is very corrupt. If your honey doesn’t crystalize, it isn’t pure honey. Pure Raw honey has no known shelf life until it’s contaminated.
The honey industry is not corrupt – it’s the honey that comes from China and other unregulated countries brought into this country!
One step that is a no brainer for experienced canners (and that we forget just as often,lol)-wipe the jar rims after putting everything in and before putting the lids on. Anything other than water on the rims between the glass and rubber on the lids will prevent a seal.
Another tip that I have used is to put the jars upside down when they are taken out. It seems to help them seal. But not everyone does this, and all seem to do fine.
Wish I had time to can, but work comes first now.
Have you ever thought about canning with apple juice instead of honey? This way you can steer clear of any sweeteners. I am a diabetic and do all of my fruit this way and comes out wonderful. I have friends with apple trees and am able to do my own apple juice every year so it works out perfectly.
Oooh…apple juice would be awesome! I was also thinking orange juice instead of lemon would be great to try next time.
Wouldn’t recommend if you’re watching calories .. all juices are calorie loaded.
Is your stove a glass top. Everyone keeps telling me I’m going to break mine if I can on it. So far I have only used a steam canner on it. You had any problems?
I was wondering the same thing when I saw the photo with the traditional blue canner. I thought the bottom had to be flat. The best fix I have found after looking into this is to buy a stainless steel canner. I don’t have a pressure cooker, but are these ok for canning on a ceramic top stove? I have just returned to gardening, canning and preserving after over 30 years. I did 2 types of pickles, and beets that are either cold pack (Duris farms recipe) or refrigerator type because I thought I couldn’t use a traditional canner on the ceramic top. BTW, I just found your blog today too. I am going to enjoy it!
So glad to have you join with me on my adventures Linda!
There is a small canning system that uses a silicone basket. It only does
3 jars at a time but you don’t need such a huge kettle. I also bought a
free standing electric burner that I set on a small table. I bring water to a boil
in a 2-3 quart saucepan, pour that in the canning kettle and repeat until it’s
full. It might take a little longer doing small batches but I’ve found it works
well and what’s another hour once you’ve got the mess anyway! One other
trick I use is to put the clean hot jars in a metal cake pan in a 225 oven while
I’m getting everything else ready. Keep the jars hot and out of the way until
I need them.
I have used my pressure canner and hot water bath canner on my ceramic top stove with no problems. This is my second ceramic top stove and both have handled canning quite well. I do pickles, green beans, tomatoes, jellies, relish, preserves, beets, and everything else I can get my hands on during canning season. There are often two canners going at once. So, I wouldn’t worry about your smooth top stove as long as you don’t drop anything heavy onto it.
Eventually it will break it because the heat can’t circulate like it can with the other stove.
I tend to disagree. I reared four children and we canned every year in order to make our garden produce last all year. Our smoothtop ranges worked perfectly. The only reason I bought a new one is because we redid our kitchen and donated the old one. The new one matched the other new appliances. Neither stove ever gave me any problems while canning, or any other time, for that matter.
I know, I have heard the warnings as well. Folks say that the weight could break the glass. I was able to can 40+ jars with it and it didn’t break, so I am going with it. But I can’t say for sure if it will work on your stove too..I just took a risk I suppose. I need a new stove anyways…wonder what the best one is for canning? Gas?
I have been making jam and marmalade in a large cannery on my glass top stove for 10 years. I make about 7-10 batches a year, and my stovetop is still fine. I also have a large stockpot I use on it.
Thanks for the canned peaches instructions! I’m going to try it out tomorrow.
I know this is an older thread, but there’s always someone out there looking for the info. I’ve canned for several years with a water bath on a flat top stove without issues. Last year alone, approximately 300 jars went through my canner between jams & butters to tomatoes and anything tomato related without ever a problem with my stove. This year I’ll be doing peaches too and I’m looking forward to skipping the sugar! I saw on another forum where someone used a combo of apple and pineapple juice I’m going to have to try as well 🙂
I have a glass top and I can ever year on it… (6 years) now It is still going strong.
Average year of canning..
40 to 80 Pints/Quarts of green beans
20/40 pints of peaches
80 to 100 pints/ quarts of apple sauce
20 Quarts of apple pie filling
40 pints tomatoes
40 pints of salsa
I always use a pressure canner, I haven’t ever used a hot water bath for canning since I didn’t grow up using the hot water bath. I have little ones so I think my stove gets to cool pretty well between uses to not sure if that has anything to do with it hope it helps! (My canner says don’t use on glass top, I wasn’t going to go out and buy a new stove for canning)
I did crack mine with my big pressure canner. Got rid of that stove!
Your pictures are beautiful! I’ve been canning for seventeen years and peaches are by far my favorite. Having taken the Master Food Preserver program through the WSU extension office, I learned how very important it is to follow the exact recommended times. The times have been tested & proven to stop spoilage and food born illness. Sealed jars are not full indication of safety. Thirty minutes is the recommended time for quarts of peaches in the boiling water bath canner.
Thanks so much for your compliment… and yes it is best to boil them a nice long time for best safety. When in doubt – read your manuals!
Okay, most people seem to not understand what sugar is and what all of it’s sources are, so naturally, I have to educate everyone on this. What we call “sugar” or “granulated sugar” is a disaccharide (meaning it has 2 monomers, or subunits) called sucrose. Those 2 monomers that bond together to form sucrose are called glucose and fructose. Honey, is also a sugar!!! Gasp, with hand over mouth! It just has other things in it like water, pollens, and enzymes. It is the ratio of those other things (and the sources that the bee got the pollen from) that give honey its flavor. The sugar in honey (it’s what makes honey sweet by the way) is also a disaccharide. This disaccharide is also made of glucose and fructose bonded together!! Yes yes! It is the same sugar, but with other stuff with it!! Also, I want to add that the monosaccaride fructose is the sugar that is found ABUNDANTLY in sweet fruits, including apples and grapes. That is why diabetics need to AVOID JUICES, unless they are type 1 and they need to get their blood sugar back up quickly. But they still don’t need very much (probably no more than an ounce). Yes, this is true. (If a diabetic does not understand this, he/she needs counseling from a dietician). There are many different types of sugars. To name a few more there is ribose, maltose (that is added to ice cream to make malt milkshakes, hence the name malt milkshakes) and lactose (the not sweet sugar found in cows milk, which is also a disaccharide [glucose and galactose bonded together]). Notice they all end in -ose. So, to conclude this tiny biochemistry/nutrition lesson, this is NOT a sugar free peach canning recipe. I just don’t want anybody (especially diabetics) to hold Karrie liable for any adverse health affects they may experience from using this recipe. She doesn’t need any legal fees. If you want or need a sugar free canning recipe, I would do a search for canning recipes with Stevia, as Stevia is a sugar substitute with 0 calories found from a plant that has not been found to have any adverse health affects (like aspartame has).
Thank you Alisa, yes honey is still a sweetener…and I wasn’t implying this recipe was safe for diabetics, just white refined sugar free. I am trying to get away from refined sugars and products lately as are a lot of folks I have heard. I love the idea of doing a more natural pure sweetener…and I would even consider raw sugar as well. Thanks for your comment.
Consider Monk fruit also. It is sold under the name Nectresse in most stores. Orange label. It is granulated, sweet, fruit based. Like Stivia, a natural sweetener, -0- calories.
Alisa, You sure hit the nail on the head. My doctor told me, as I am a Type II Diabetic, not to drink Apple Juice or Grape Juice. They have a very high natural sugar content, especially Apple Juice. I am supposed to drink a glass of orange juice if my sugar drops.
This is a great website and I am going to try the honey. Thanks for all the great advice. Love to can!!
Also of concern to diabetics is the glycemic index of the sugar, which is how fast it absorbs into the bloodstream. The faster it absorbs, the greater the effect on blood sugar. One the GI scale, glucose (the scale standard) is rated at 100. Table sugar (sucrose) comes in at 68, and honey at 50-55. Maple syrup rates 54, and cane syrup at 43. Orange juice rates at 50, and apple juice at 44. Lower on the GI index are coconut sugar (jaggery or kithul) at 35, brown rice syrup at 25, fructose at 25, and agave at 15.
Stevia, of course, rates at zero, but tends to add a bitter flavor. I like combining half stevia with half coconut sugar or fructose for better flavor and lower GI.
Here’s a link to one GI chart of sweeteners: http://www.sugar-and-sweetener-guide.com/glycemic-index-for-sweeteners.html
I did a search for a diabetic recipe for canning peaches and this came up. I agree with you. This is not a diabetic recipe. My son is type 1 and his blood sugar would spike like crazy if I gave him canned peaches soaked in honey or juice. Stevia doesn’t seem to work either. Hoping I will find a low carbohydrate recipe soon.
They look so good! I am wondering about one thing though? Is 15 minutes in a water bath long enough to kill the “infant botulism” found in honey? I would be a little worried about serving these to anyone under 2.
Have you tried any other summer fruits besides peaches? I found a great deal on raspberries and am going to attempt to throw a few in with the peach slices and see how they do…..
I love your site by the way, i stumbled upon it and i wish i had more space or i would have chickens and a larger garden …. but living in a texas apartment has its limits. lol
We had the adventure of having a diabetic son. Instead of the sugar syrup, I found if you reconstitute frozen orange juice, you can use it. Just warm it up and pour it over the peaches. I have also used canned pineapple juice. Because of the citric acid the fruit doesn’t turn dark.
Great idea..thanks for sharing!
So happy to have found you on Pinterest. I’ve just started canning again after 30 years…I have done potatoes, yellow squash & tomato chutney so far…peaches were next on my list! Thanks for the great recipe – I’m gonna try it with my canning-friend.
I haven’t canned peaches before and want to try since my parents have 3 peach trees in their yard. I read your post and was intrigued. Small question, how many jars did the 95 lbs produce for you? Assuming they were all quart jars.
would you say this method would work for preserving other fruits as well. i have several apple trees in my yard and would like to learn preserve methods for later use.
I haven’t tried it on other fruits. Try it out and let me know what you think!
I am thinking of doing this with some of my peaches this year, as I am nearly out of freezer space. How did they last over the last year? Could you tell a quality difference between peaches that were just canned and ones that were several months old?
I couldn’t tell the difference between the just canned peaches and the ones that had been sitting for a couple months. My family gobbled them up so I don’t think they could tell the difference either! 🙂
Can this recipe be used to can nectarines?
I haven’t ever tried it but I don’t see why not!
Awesome, I am getting a lot of Washington nectarines from the Fruit Club we have in our area, and I am going to use this recipe. Thanks!!
Can I do this recipe with out the honey?
I have heard that some substitute apple juice for the honey and it works well! If you try something different let me know how it goes.
how many peaches does this recipe call for?
I used about 2 – 3 lbs of peaches to fill one quart jar!
15 minutes?! If book says 20-25 – aren’t you afraid of botulism?
when you make the honey/water mixture – does that split between all the jars?
Yes!
One might as well use sugar as Kirkland honey shown in the picture, which is actually just corn syrup.
Me and my boys canned peaches over the weekend using local raw honey. The peaches had the right amount of sweetness. I passed out a few jars and everyone said they were the best canned peaches they had tasted. I am so glad my boys love them since the honey also is helping with their allergies.
I love canning with as little sugar as possible. I’m using coconut sugar this year. 🙂
As a master food preserver, I need to just add my two cents. First of all, you must always process for the full time. This kills what it needs to instead of us. Second of all, I use a chop stick to get the air out after the jar is filled. Wipe the top and add the hot lids. An other time saver is a bib electric roaster. I fill with water and put all my jars and lid into it. This saves so much time. Also a magnetized stick of any kind will help pull out the hot lids.
If you ever have any questions or concerns about canning, you could call you local home economist, or look up on line UW Extention office.
Be safe and enjoy those great looking peaches.
As a master food preserver, is sugar ever needed in a canning recipe or is it just there for taste purposes? I know you need something there(but i just might use the honey solution from above)to sort of feed on but I have cut 98% of white sugar from my diet. I would love try try more canning. Made a Christmas chutney one year, and a jam one year(only enough for one quart as I am a novice and don’t have much storage space!)
Any thoughts?
Would it be okay to use unpasteurized honey?
I have never used unpasteurized honey so I am not sure about that. I know you can use raw honey in the recipe though.
I heard that the rings are not like the old rings and they don’t keep the jars very long.
Can you use this same process/recipe for nectarines?
You sure can!
What is the shelf life of the canned peaches?
About a year…if it lasts that long!
Hello. If I use coconut sugar, how much would be used in this recipe? Or use a sugar based recipe and replace with coconut sugar?
I am not sure. I have never used coconut sugar in this recipe. Sorry!
1/4 cup of cognac or Southern Comfort in a jar or two adds a mellow warmth to the taste for the holidays.
Hello!
Can’t wait to try this. I have 40lbs of peaches on my counter right now! They should be ready for canning on Saturday. Question, how many jars does your water/honey mixture fill? Just wondering how much honey I need.
Thanks!
Side question, I canned pickles, but now I’m freaked out of my mind about botulism. I think my water vinegar ratio is off and I may have to throw them all out 🙁 Ideas?
I only have pint sized jars. Are they going to be too small to use? What would the measurements for the lemon juice, honey, and water be for them?
I was planning to use my pressure cooker to do this, but it’s limit is 4 pint sized jars at a time. Should I go get quart sized jars and try this on my stovetop instead? Advice please!
Hmmm…peaches are pretty big fruit ususally, but you can always try pints! I would just make a batch of the liquid and pour it in as needed into the jars. I would do quarts because you will be there all day doing pints!:)
Ok. So then in using quart sized jars, I don’t have a special canning sized pot, just have a plain ol stock pot to use on my stovetop. Will that work ok for cooking the jars after they are filled? Three quart sized jars will fit into my pot, but I don’t think there will much (if any) water covering the tops.
Do I need to just invest in a canning pot? They seem so huge and I don’t think the little burners on my stovetop will hear the thing. :/
Thank you for the beautiful photos and instructions! They were perfect and I shared them with my readers.
http://www.bluejeansandturquoise.com/2015/08/peach-cobbler-pie-filling-home-canned.html
II just love this recipe and have used it with great success. Using the honey as an alternative is perfect and tastes delicious. We are now getting ready to can all of our bosc pears and wondered if we could use this same recipe? Thanks!
I haven’t tried it with pears but I bet it would be great! Try it out!
I made these this summer and just now opened a jar and wow! They are fantastic! Question- did you put the jars in and then turn on the heat (bring it to boil)? I lost 3 jars due to breakage. I assume it is because the jar contents were so much cooler than the hot water bath I set them in. Thanks.
No, I had the water boiling first, sorry you lost jars! I think I always have my liquids as hot as possible and the jars straight out of the dishwasher hot too.
Last June was my first attempt at canning peaches, I found your recipe and followed your instructions. We just opened the first jar this morning and it was fabulous:) Bites of summer in January!
Do I have to invest in a “canner”. Will a large aluminum or stainless steel pot work just as well?
As long as the jars are covered I think that will work. Anyone else? Is this okay not to use a canner?
Just yesterday I canned some Bourbon Figs, and I do not have a canner. I used my extra large stockpot, put a few Mason screw rings (not the flat lids) in the bottom, sat the jars on the rings and boiled away. Worked a champ. And I also have a ceramic flat cooktop. Been using this stockpot on it for 15 years with no problem. No problem yesterday either. This is what I’ll be doing until I can convince Hubs I need a canner!!!!!
Hi!
Thank you for this recipe, I tried it out right away! Haven’t tasted yet, but I’m sure they’ll be great!
When I read ‘Don’t screw on the rings too tight’, I just slightly tightened them, didn’t really put pressure on it. Then when they all ‘popped’ I tightened them a bit more, is that okay?
Also, I thought I had taken out all the air bubbles, but after the boiling process, I saw some air bubbles rising to the surface… Any advice? (I’m new to canning)
NOTE: Wipe top of jar, with a clean wet cloth to remove any spills, before putting on lid. Otherwise the jar may not seal.
any way to tell for sure if the jars sealed properly other than listening for a “pop”? I did not remain in kitchen after putting jars on towel to cool, so couldn’t have heard any pops. Even if I had been in there, how was I to know which jar popped .. would there have been any visible sign .. all of my jars seem to be o.k. … tops are flat .. fruit still LOOKS good inside after one week.
Is it necessary to peel the peaches first? .. I’d just as soon leave the peelings on as this is how I eat them normally.
How long do they keep after canning
Is it safe to re-use mason jar lids?
Thank you ! I was desperate to find a recipe to try that doesn’t use white refined sugar 🙂 . I’m so excited and thanks for allowing helpful comments from people like Mellissa, Nicole, and Tina Harrington 🙂
I’m new to canning. Do you have to add a sugar-based liquid to preserve fruit? I would rather not add any sugar (that includes honey) if possible. Can you just do water and the lemon juice or would it not taste right?