Canning and Apple Peel Jelly

Jars ready for canning

I cannot wait for canning season!

If you haven't already, it's time to get your seeds in or start searching your local nurseries for plants. I have to tell you all - nothing is more satisfying than preserving your own food that you have grown yourself!

Most of us who "can" are growing our own fruits and vegetables, but I want to mention that if you can't have a garden, remember your local farmers market. They should have a large amount of fresh produce ready for canning later this summer. I go to mine often, to find items that I don't have growing in my garden.

jars of jam out of a water bath canner
Strawberry Jam, just out of a hot water bath canner

If you don't know how to can, I urge you to learn how it's done. I think it is time again for us all to start growing our own food, for a couple of reasons. There may come a time in our economies in which there is a food shortage. And we surely do not know what chemicals are on our produce bought at the grocery stores.

If we grow our own food, we know exactly what we are eating.  It is pure - no pesticides, etc.

If you don't have a garden or a local farmers market, you can also buy your produce online.  There are some companies that sell imperfect foods (Google® it). They sell fruits and veggies that aren't perfect, meaning only that the shape may be weird or for some reason a store has declined them. There is nothing really wrong with the food. It is still great for cooking and canning. Everything arrives super-fresh, and you can get free shipping with a big enough order. AND they will pick up the packing materials they sent your food in the next time you order if you set it on your porch on the day of delivery.

Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
Ball® home preserving book

I recommend that you go to Amazon® and purchase the most recent Ball® Complete Book of Home Preserving. It has safe recipes for canning foods, and you can be sure that they are the most up-to-date.

It's very important to study the basics of canning before you start. Certain foods with high acidity are safe for hot-water bath canning. But most vegetables, meats, soups, etc. must be pressure canned. Please do your homework to be sure you are canning safely. This is important!

Ball Canning Back to Basics
Ball® canning book

If you are a novice and you want to learn how to can, I recommend that you read Ball® Canning Back to Basics. You can also find helpful videos on YouTube® if you do not have someone to teach you personally. Water bath canning is super easy, believe it or not. You will be canning before you know it!

Happy canning! It truly is so fun and so satisfying! You will feel so accomplished. My hope is for more people to learn and do!

Here's my recipe for Apple Peel Jelly.

jelly made with apple peels

Apple Peel Jelly

Ingredients
apple peels
apple cider or apple juice
3/4 cup granulated sugar for every cup of cooked juice
1/2 teaspoon juice of a real lemon for every cup of cooked juice

Instructions 
1. Fill your stock pot with as many apple peels as you can.  These can be left over from making applesauce or apple pie, etc. Leave enough room in the pot to allow for stirring.
 
2. Cover the peels with half water and half juice or cider.

3. Bring the peels to a boil and then reduce to medium heat and softly boil for 30 minutes.
 
4. Drain the peels using cheesecloth and saving the cooked juice. At this point you can throw away or compost the peels. Use a measuring cup to add the cooked juice back into the stock pot. Keep track of how much juice there is.

5. Stir in 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice per cup of cooked juice.

6. Bring the juice up to a rolling boil. This time you want to boil it hard until it reaches 220 degrees F, the gelling point on a candy thermometer. It's very important to cook it to that temperature.

7. Once you reach 220 degrees F, transfer the hot, sweetened juice to your canning jars, leaving a quarter-inch headspace. Carefully screw on the jar lids. 

8. When all the lids are on, transfer the jars to your water bath canner and boil for 10 minutes. Then remove the jars and let them sit over night on a towel-covered table.

That's it! Super easy! It's so good!

 Printable Recipe Page

recipe page for apple peel jelly

 copyright 2025, Dana Meier, My Olde Country Home

Dana Meier is a caterer, cookbook author, Facebook content creator and purveyor of historic crafts in Washington state. Her first cookbook was published in 2023.

My Olde Country Home: Olde Fashioned Christmas Desserts

available on Amazon®

 

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