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canning homemade fruit juice

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! This is a great way to preserve any fruit you have on hand! I am so happy to share with you our family recipe!
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 14 minutes
10 minutes
Total Time 54 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: moldovian, russian, ukranian

Ingredients
  

  • 1 gallon water plus 1 cup
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 cups peaches
  • 1 cup plums

Equipment

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

Method
 

  1. 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) 
  2. in a large pot add 3 cups of peaches, 1 cup of plums, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 gallon + 1 cup of water. 
  3. 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. 
  4. While the homemade fruit juice is boiling, get your jars sanitized by placing them either in a boiling water bath canner or by 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. 
  5. 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. 
  6. 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) 
  7. 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. 
  8. 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! 

Notes

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.