Canning fruit cocktail at home is an easy way to preserve your orchard harvests or extras from the farmers market. With the help of a water bath canner and these instructions you can easily have fresh-tasting canned fruit year round. This excerpt from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Complete Guide to Home Canning, will teach you the raw pack process of canning fruit cocktail. Try this and our other canning resources to help you stock up after each harvest.
The following is an excerpt from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning covering how to can fruit cocktail
Canning Fruit Cocktail
3 lbs peaches
3 lbs pears
1-1/2 lbs slightly underripe seedless green grapes
10-oz jar of maraschino cherries
3 cups sugar
4 cups water
Yield: About 6 pints
Procedure: Stem and wash grapes, and keep in ascorbic acid solution. Dip ripe but firm peaches, a few at a time, in boiling water for 1 to 1-1/2 minutes to loosen skins. Dip in cold water and slip off skins. Cut in half, remove pits, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and
keep in solution with grapes. Peel, halve, and core pears. Cut into 1/2-inch cubes, and keep in solution with grapes and peaches. Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to boil. Drain mixed fruit. Add 1/2 cup of hot syrup to each hot jar. Then add a few cherries and gently fill the jar with mixed fruit and more hot syrup, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel. Adjust lids and process.