Canning Peach Barbecue Sauce

During my "Peaches" class a few weeks ago I wanted to do a simple recipe but something other than a sweet jam and only used for mainly toast. We decided on the Peach Barbecue sauce from the Big Ball book. It's a "throw all the ingredients into the pot" kind of recipe so after prepping it was easy for the class to move on to the next recipe while it cooked down.

This recipe takes some great fruit like peaches and makes it perfect for ribs, chicken, and pork to be elevated to the next level. The honey is the perfect sweetness and makes this recipe a great substitute for your tomato version barbecue sauce.
Zesty Peach Barbecue Sauce
6 cups finely chopped pitted peeled peaches (about 3 lb or 9 medium)

1 cup finely chopped seeded red bell pepper (about 1 large)

1 cup finely chopped onion (about 1 large)

3 Tbsp finely chopped garlic (about 14 cloves)

1-1/4 cups honey

3/4 cup cider vinegar

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp hot pepper flakes

2 tsp dry mustard

2 tsp salt

Preparation : Prepare 8 half pint jars, lids, and rings. Sterilize the jars and keep them in the hot water till its time for processing. Make sure to fill your water bath canner and get the water to a simmer.

Cooking: In a large stainless steel or enameled dutch oven combine all ingredient and bring to a boil, stirring often.  Continue to cook until mixture gets thick and gets to the consistency of a barbecue sauce, about 25 minutes.  Remove from heat.
Filling the jars:  On a dishtowel place your hot jars and using your funnel in each jar using a ladle then fill the jars leaving ½” headspace.   Remove air bubbles and refill to the proper headspace with the liquid brine if necessary. Taking a clean papertowel wet it with warm water and wipe the rims of the jars removing any food particles that would interfere with a good seal. Using your magic wand extract the lids from the hot water and place them on the now cleaned rims. Add your rings to the tops of each of the jars and turn to seal just "finger tight".

Processing: Make sure your rack is on the bottom of the canner and place the jars in the water bath making sure that the water covers each of the jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add hot water to the canner if it doesn't measure up. Cover the pot and turn up the heat under the canner and wait for the water to start boiling. Once the water has come to a boil start your timer for 15 minutes. When complete turn off the heat and remove the cover and let the jars sit for another few minutes. Remove the jars and place them back on the dishtowel in a place that they will sit overnight to cool. Do not touch or move them till the next morning.

Sealing: Some time in the next hour your jars will be making a "pinging" or "popping" noise. That is the glass cooling and the reaction of the lids being sucked into the jar for proper sealing. Some recipes may take overnight to seal. Check your lids and reprocess any jars that did not seal.