12 peaches, peeled and pitted (8 C. macerated)
12 apples, peeled and cored (8 C. macerated)
12 pears, peeled and cored (8 C. macerated)
24 C. sugar (1 C. sugar for each C. fruit)
Fresh ginger- a knob the size of your thumb, grated
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First, you will want to clean out your mason jars. There are several methods for doing this (I have added some helpful links above) but I like to take a short cut and run them through the dishwasher on the ultra-hot ‘sanitation’ setting, which also heat dries the jars. Do ensure your jars are dry before canning with them. To peel the peaches, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Slice a small ‘X’ into the skin on the bottom of each peach. Place the scored peaches into boiling water for 30-40 seconds then shock them in a bath of very cold or ice water. The skins should peel off quickly and easily. Quarter the fruits, remove the pits and whiz them through the food processor. You should have roughly 8 C. macerated fruit. Pour chopped peaches into your large jam pot. Peel apples and pears with a vegetable peeler. Quarter and core fruits and blitz through a food processor in batches, similar to how you cut the peaches- small chunks are okay but try and get any larger pieces broken up. You should have roughly 8 C. chopped pear and 8 C. chopped apple. Add both to the jam pot. Add 24 C. sugar (1 C. for each C. fruit) and grated ginger and stir well. On the stovetop, turn the heat on the jam pot up to high, stirring frequently to ensure the bottom doesn’t burn. Once the fruit has come to a boil, turn the heat down to med-low and simmer for 40 minutes or so. Using a spoon and a little bowl, skim the ‘foam’ that forms on the top of the jam as it is simmering. This ‘jam waste’ is cloudy but still delicious and is a great way to test for flavor and adjust the ginger to your palette! When the jam is ready, the color will have darkened slightly to a beautiful gold and the bubbles coming to the surface with ‘burp’ slowly, indicating a good thickness. Fill a small saucepan with water and bring the water to a boil. Place the center lids of your mason jars (with the rubber seal) in the boiling water to sanitize them. Using a ladle and a wide funnel, pour your jam into one of the sanitized mason jars. Using a moist cloth, wipe down the edge of the jar to ensure a tight seal. Using tongs, lift one of the mason jar lids out of the boiling water and place on top of the filled jar. Screw on the outer lid tightly and set aside. Repeat with the rest of the jars until all the jam has been canned. As you go through this process you will begin to hear a satisfying ‘popping’ noise as the hot jars seal themselves- that’s a good thing! A ‘pop’ means the jar is well sealed and the jam will keep well in a cool dark place for up to a year or two!