Preserving with a Pressure Cooker

Latest Update 29th March 2015.

My 7.5 litre pressure cooker will hold 4 of my 500ml capacity or 3 of my 800ml capacity preserving jars
Preserving peaches in sugar syrup using a pressure cooker.  
  • The peaches are cut into halves, kernels removed and each half cut into 3 pieces.
  • When the glass bowl is full, they are dumped into boiling filtered water for 1 minute.
  • They are then spooned out into cold filtered water and skins removed.  
  • They are packed in pre-heated jars until about 20mm from the rim and topped up with syrup. A knife is slid down the inside of each side of the jar to release any air trapped in the bottom of the jar and more fruit added until the jar is full to 5mm from the rim.  
  • The lid is then screwed on finger tight and backed off a 1/4 turn.  
  • The jar is then placed in the pressure cooker with 2 other jars already packed with fruit and water is added around the jars to a depth of 20mm.  
  • The lid is locked on and the pan heated until the steam starts to hiss through the valve.  The valve is set at the lowest pressure (about 5 psi.) and the pan left for 5 minutes.  
  • The pan is then allowed to cool until the pressure has equalised (returned to normal).  
  • The bottles are then removed and the lids tightened up fully.  
  • They are then dried and labelled and put into a cool dark place like a pantry.  
We have custom made shelved in our utility room for this purpose.