Home canning is essential for home gardeners who want to grow their own food and reap the benefits year round. Canning cherry pie filling is an interesting way to preserve larger harvests. Learning how to can is something that can help preserve the quality of your crops. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Complete Guide to Home Canning, will show you the hot pack process for canning cherry pie filling in a water bath canner. Try this and our other canning resources to help you stock up after each harvest.
The following is an excerpt from the USDAComplete Guide to Home Canningcovering how to can cherry pie filling.
Canning Cherry Pie Filling
See Image Gallery for list of ingredients.
Quality: Select fresh, very ripe, and firm cherries. Unsweetened frozen cherries may be used. If sugar has been added, rinse it off while the fruit is still frozen.
Yield: 1 quart or 7 quarts
Procedure: Rinse and pit fresh cherries, and hold in cold water. To prevent stem end browning, use ascorbic acid solution. For fresh fruit, place 6 cups at a time in 1 gallon boiling water. Boil each batch 1 minute after the water returns to a boil. Drain but keep heated in a covered bowl or pot. Combine sugar and Clear Jel in a large saucepan and add water. If desired, add cinnamon, almond extract, and food coloring. Stir mixture and cook over medium high heat until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Add lemon juice and boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Fold in drained cherries immediately and fill hot jars with mixture without delay, leaving 1-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel.
Adjust lids and process immediately.