Canning Apricots 101

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     Over the last couple of weeks, Anita has gifted me peaches from a friend's tree and apricots from her own tree.  It has been amazing to process these fruits and add them to my pantry.  In the midst of it all, I realized that I haven't ever shown you how easy it is to can apricots!  They are absolutely one of my favorite fruits to can because of the ease of the process and because a jar of freshly opened apricots tastes amazing!  Almost as good as the fresh fruit!  So, here is my basic tutorial! 

      There are two things about apricots that make them a dream to can:

• First:  No Peeling!  The skin of an apricot does not curl off and bug you after canning it.  It seems to magically disappear and there is no need to remove the skins before you put them in the jar. 
• Second:  The pit is extremely freestone!  I virtually did not use a knife at all to can my apricot halves.  You can simply use your thumbs to pull the apricots in half and lift the seed out.  It is easier that even freestone peaches or any other fruit with a seed or pit.  

See that loose pit in there? You just pull it out.

     I may have expressed the joy of working with apricots when I shared my Apricot Jam recipe, or my Apricot Peach Butter, both of which you can also make with your gifted apricots after simply canning a few jars of the apricot halves.  
     By the way, I will give you the link to print the cute jar lid labels below! 
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I canned 8 pints.

Okay!  Here are the Simple Steps to Canning Apricots!

1. Wash your apricots and pick out any that are mushy or going bad and chuck those in the trash.  Be sure to remove any hard little stem parts on the top of the fruit. 
2. Prepare your equipment.  Prepare your jars by cleaning and sterilizing them.  Also get your lids  and rings ready to use.  Begin heating up the water in your water bath canner or steam canner.  
3. Make the simple syrup to pour over the fruit in the jars.  I used 9 cups of water to 6 cups of sugar. Stir well and bring to a boil.  Allow to simmer until ready to use.
4. Put 1 tsp. of bottled lemon juice in each jar.  Then, using your thumbs at the crease of the apricots, open them in half and remove the pit.  You can also pry them open with a paring knife if they aren't quite soft enough to pull open with your thumbs. Lay the halves in the jar.  I like to place them open pit side down.  They just look prettier in the jar. 
5. Continue filling the jar with fruit until there is 1/2 inch of headspace in the jar.  
6. After filling the jars with apricots, use a wide mouthed funnel and a ladle to cover the jar with simple syrup.  Use a knife or other tool to run down the sides of the jar to release the bubbles.  Add syrup as needed, but retain 1/2 inch headspace. 
7. Wipe the rims of the jars with a damp cloth and then put on the lids and rings.  Tighten until finger tight. 
8. Place the jars in the canner.  If using a water bath canner, be sure the jars are totally covered by an inch of water.  I used my steam canner.  Which ever you  use,  wait until a.) The water boils in the water bath canner, or b.) the gauge on the steam canner gets into the correct zone before beginning timing.  Then, time the process at 25 minutes for pints and 30 minutes for quarts. 
9. When the time is finished, remove the jars from the canner with large canning tongs and allow them to sit for at least 24 hours.  Listen for the lids sealing and smile to yourself about the food you are going to be putting away in your pantry! 

     OH!  Now one last step!  Don't forget to label your jars with the date that they were canned.  As you know, I prefer to use labels on my lids since it is so hard to remove the adhesive from the glass jars.  Plus, the lids usually are disposed of after using the fruit inside.   Here is a link for you to copy some 2 inch labels that I designed for my apricot jars!  All you have to do is add the date! 

     *One more note:  You can also cut your apricots into slices, but that just seems like busy work to me.  Since this fruit is so small to begin with, a slice is basically bite sized anyway.  

     I've created a lot of other labels for canning that you can print off and use for free!  Here are a few of the options: 

• Blackberry and Strawberry labels
• Apple, Peach and Mulberry choices
• Italian Sauce Labels
• Pomegranate Jelly

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    There are many more if you type label into the search bar! 
     I love to use these labels to print on.  They are inexpensive and you get quite a few and they work with Avery templates! 
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