canning homemade fruit juice

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Growing up I have memories of my grandmother always serving us kompot (компот) which is canned homemade fruit juice. She would harvest summer fruit and preserve it by canning homemade fruit juice for the winter months! Our family hardly ever buys sodas, we always serve kompot to accompany our dinners. This is a great way to preserve any fruit you have on hand! I am so happy to share with you our family recipe!

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What fruit can you use for canning homemade fruit juice?

The possibilities are endless! my favorite is combining fruit to make the most delicious juice! Don’t be afraid to combine fruits. You can even make kompot with frozen berries and drink it right away. You do not need to can kompot, but if you have an abundance of fruit this is a great way to preserve them so they last you all year.

• fresh apples 
• white grapes- to make white grape juice
• strawberry
• raspberry
• blueberry
• plum
• peaches
• Cherry
• apples
• grapes

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What you will need for canning homemade fruit juice

• glass jars and lids – liter jars or quart jars
• a big pot (large saucepan) to can or a pressure canner
• stirring spoon

You will also like fermented fruit juice!

Water kefir- fermented juice

Why you will love this recipe

Canning homemade juice is actually so simple! All you need to do is toss the fruit into a bowl, cover it with water and sugar, bring it to a boil, then can it! And you will have homemade juice for the whole winter for your children to enjoy! I love making my own juice because I can control the sugar that goes in there…and there are no secret hidden ingredients that will harm your or your children’s health! 

quick and easy: it only takes 4 minutes to boil on medium-high heat then you pour the homemade juice into jars, and you are done! the only hard work here is cleaning the fruit.  

Healthy: It is a better choice than carbonated or other sugar-loaded beverages. 

Kid-friendly: This makes a juice that your kids will absolutely love! Once I removed all juices and sodas that I  used to purchase at the grocery store I noticed a huge change in my kid’s behavior. I realized what a huge role ingredients played in my kid’s health. This juice has no food dye or harmful ingredients. 

research has been done by Web MD about food dyes and children’s behaviors:

What is in food dye?

Food coloring consists of chemicals used to add color to food. Food coloring (dye) is often added to processed foods, drinks, and condiments. They are used to maintain or improve the appearance of the food.

Manufacturers usually add dye for the following reasons:

• To add color to colorless foods
• To enhance colors
• To avoid color loss due to environmental elements
• To provide consistency when there are variations in the coloring of the food

The researchers found that hyperactive behavior by the 8- and 9-year-olds increased with both the mixtures containing artificial coloring additives.

Ingredient Notes

Even though I am using peaches today, this does not mean you can’t substitute them with other fruit, raspberry, and strawberry juice tastes amazing as well! you can use any fruit, the sugar and the water amount do not change. Today, I am using 1 cup of sugar per gallon of water, you can use 1 1/2 cups if you prefer a sweeter juice. Also, the type of sugar you use is up to you. When I make this for my kids I use raw organic sugar, but any type will work. 

Ingredients to make homemade fruit juice

You will need 4 cups of some sort of fruit total

• 1 gallon + 1 cup of water 
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 cups of peaches 
• 1 cup plums

Canning homemade fruit juice

Start with washing the fruit with cold water. Cut the peach and the plums in half and carefully take the pit out. (Keep the peaches halved, do not cut them into small pieces) 

in a large pot add 3 cups of peaches, 1 cup of plums, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 gallon + 1 cup of water. 

Bring the pot to a rolling boil, and continue to boil on medium high heat for 4 minutes. Watch it carefully so the doesn’t boil over. 

While the homemade fruit juice is boiling, get your jars sanitized by placing them either in a boiling water bath canner or washing it with warm soapy water then put the jar in the microwave for 2 minutes. Be careful the jars will be hot! use a towel to handle it. You can add the fruit juice solution in quart jars, liter jars, or in a gallon jar. 

 In a small pot, boil the canning lids for a few minutes as well. Once they are done boiling, take them out using thongs and lay them out to dry on a clean towel. 

While the jars are still hot, lay a clean towel next to the stove and stand your jar on top of it. Once the juice is done boiling, using a large ladle pour the juice halfway into the jar then add in the fruit then fill the rest of the jar with the juice. ( The reason you should add half of the liquid at first into the jar first before adding the fruit in, is that it doesn’t hit the bottom of the jar directly and they don’t turn into mush) 

leave an inch of headspace in the jar you are using. With a clean paper towel dipped in vinegar, wipe the jar rims then place lids on the jar and tighten the screw bands. 

Using a towel turn the jar with homemade fruit juice over (always turn the jars away from your body) upside down on a towel. Place a plastic bag over the jar and then wrap a warm blanket over it. This is the old home-canning method that my grandmother used! It works every time! Now all you have to do is wait till the jars cool down completely, which will take about 6-8 hours to cool. And it is ready to Store for the winter! 

You will know if you didn’t get a good seal on the jar if:

• if you have any unsealed jars you will see that the juice is leaking out while the jar is upside down
• when the jar cools completely and you flip it over, the lid should have a tight seal. If it doesn’t, the middle of the jar will have a bounce to it when you press the center.  

Tips

• Use fresh and ripe fruit to get the best results
• make sure to use hot jars when pouring in the hot fruit juice. If the jars are cold they may crack when pouring the hot liquid in. 
• Do not skip the plastic bag and the blanket. This method traps in heat and it seals the jar! 
• You can flip the jars back around once they are cooled back to room temperature
• You can adjust the sugar to what you like, before you add the homemade fruit juice into the can, taste the juice first. You can still add more sugar if you’d like. try not to add any artificial sweeteners. I use raw organic sugar
• Store in a dark place for up to a year! If they last that long! 😉

This is the way my grandmother did all her home canning! I have canned all of my juice this way, and it has never failed me! Later when you open the jar with homemade fruit juice, you can eat the fruit! give it to your kids with some yogurt or feed it to your chickens! 

How to troubleshoot

What if your jar didn’t seal? You can keep it in the fridge and enjoy it right away. Or you can unscrew the lid then tighten it to finger tight, place the jar into a big pot filled halfway with water and bring to a simmer. Once you see bubbles rising on the inside of the jar start your timer for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes take the jar out using a jar lifter on a dry towel and tighten the lid as much as you can. Let it cool down and it should be ready! If it is still not sealed, you might have a faulty lid.