Preservation: Peaches, Blueberries, and Pears

Dehydrating blueberries takes a long time. A person I know said she pricks each blueberry so they dry better. That sounded like too much work. Google said to blanch them for best flavor/texture. That's not too hard. I figured the blanching would thin the skins enough to dry better, so I skipped the poking step.

They took forever to dehydrate. The recipe I used said 8-18 hours. After 18 hours they still looked plump. So I added 8 more.

It wasn't until the next day I actually pulled them out, thinking I'd store the dry ones and leave the plump ones in longer. The plump ones were dry! Their skin didn't shrink with them; they stayed blown up like a balloon. Now, a crispy balloon. I probably didn't need to add those last eight hours...

The freezer blueberries were waaaay simpler. Dump them on a silicone mat lined tray, stick them in the freezer, transfer them to a larger container a few hours later. Done.

We had a bunch of soft and bruised peaches. I turned those into sauce, canned in smaller amounts since we probably won't eat a ton in one sitting. You might notice the white lids in the picture below. Those are reusable Tattler lids. This is my first time using them! I read in online reviews that there's a learning curve to using them; some even suggested canning water to practice. I skipped that and did the sauce for my first try, following the directions that came with the lids. I figured if any jars didn't seal, I could turn them into fruit roll-ups. 

Guess what. They all sealed.

The next day I canned pears and peaches. Pears were peeled and canned in water. G wanted to try a bunch of different liquids for peaches to see which we liked the best, so I did a few varieties of hot packing:

• peeled peaches in water
• peeled peaches in light syrup
• peeled peaches in white grape juice
• unpeeled peaches in water
• unpeeled peaches in white grape juice

I was careful to label the jars once they cooled. They pretty much all look the same from the outside! The liquid in the jars of the ones with peels have a pink tinge from the peels. The skins mostly came off the unpeeled peaches in the hot pack/jars, so they look identical to the unpeeled ones (aside from the tinted liquid). All those jars sealed too! One lid somehow buckled in the hot water bath, but evenso it sealed. I don't trust it, so we'll eat that one right away.