Waste not, want not, right? Ok, so composting peach peels or feeding them to your chickens isn’t waste, but what if you could squeak a little bit more out for yourself? What if you could turn all of those peach peels into a beautiful and delicious Peach Peel Jelly first?
I didn’t think that I was wasting the peach peels I removed while canning peaches for our family to enjoy over the winter. After all, recycling the peels into soil for the garden via composting which in turn will feed our family some other year.
But I was missing a step and I didn’t even know it!
All those discarded fragrant peach skins and scraps can be used to make a sweet jelly and it’s very simple to do! This secret works well for making Spiced Apple Peel Jelly too!
*Note: Peach pits, particularly the seed within the pit contains small amounts of arsenic. There seems to be some discrepancy as to whether or not it is enough in this type of jelly to cause an adverse health effects with some citing scientific amounts and others pointing to the more anecdotal evidence that ladies for generations have been making this jelly without any issues. I certainly wouldn’t recommend throwing damaged pits or seeds in there, but you must decide for yourself if it’s worth the risk to your family and to just leave the pits out.
Peach Peel Jelly
Peach Peel Jelly
Yield 2 Pints
Ingredients
- 3 cups juice prepared from the peach peels & pits* (see below)
- 1 box of powdered pectin or equivalent
- 3 cups sugar
Instructions
- To prepare the juice, place your peels and pits in a stock pot and just barely cover with water. Simmer for 30 minutes and then allow to steep overnight.
- Strain the juice from the pot in the morning and discard (compost) the scraps.
- In a large pot, whisk together the peach juice and pectin and bring to a full, rolling boil.
- Add the sugar all at once.
- Return to a full, rolling boil and boil until it sheets off of the spoon. This took about 3 minutes for mine.
- Ladle into glass jars. Wipe the rims clean and top with lids and rings.
- Process in a water bath for 5 minutes.
Enjoy!
I dip my peaches in boiling water and the skins just peel off easily, really nothing left to make jelly out of. Perhaps your talking about when you actually peel them with a knife.
I tried this recipe for the peaches yesterday. This morning everything in the jars is still liquid. Might this be “recooked” using additional pectin?