Hello all,

Newbie here, but I have a tough skin so flail away if you think it
necessary.

I got a good deal on a box of peaches and divvied them up for frozen
pies, butters, and parts 'n pieces. The parts 'n pieces are actually
one-sixth slices.
I read -- well, tried to anyway -- some of the R.F.P. FAQ. I think I
know my problem, but I'd like some thoughts from the community at large.
First, I've used the cold pack system for a number of years. I like the
consistency of the finished product and the shelf life is great. The hot
pack seems, at least to me, extra effort in an already tedious process.
Especially canning 15 pints as I've just finished doing.
Here's the problem... No matter how careful I am filling in the voids
with fruit and eliminating any air pockets, when the jars are cooled, set,
and removed from the pressure canner, the fruit has shrunk. The volume of
the fruit has decreased by about 20%.
The jars are not leaking. The headspace is the same as when it was
packed.
I caught a hint in the FAQ that my problem may be cold-pack versus
hot-pack.
Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?

Regards,

Casey Wilson
Freelance Writer and Photographer

> I caught a hint in the FAQ that my problem may be cold-pack
versus
> hot-pack.
> Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?
>
> Regards,
>
> Casey Wilson
> Freelance Writer and Photographer
>
>
>

That's been my experience. When I hot pack, the fruit has shrunk
before I put it into the jars. My jars stay full.

My Pop cans peaches and pears with cold pack in quarts. I hot pack
in 1.5 pints. We use the same amount of fruit for the same number
of jars. My jars look full, his don't.

Its not really too much trouble. I did have to learn how to
carefully place the hot fruit halves overlapping prettily in the jar
(Mom was so impressed). Just use a wooden spoon. And I never find
it necessary to use fruit fresh, because the fruit doesn't darken.

The other thing about hot pack is I use less sugar. I start with
one batch of light syrup and heat the fruit in it. As the fruit
heats, it juices out. There is always way too much syrup/juice for
the canner load. Last year I did 21 jars of pears with just 2 cups
of sugar. So much better for the diabetics and 'anti white sugar
freaks' in the family. ;>

Deb
--
(in Oregon, the pacific northWET) ;>