Name: Canned Peaches 1
Ingredients: 3 pounds granulated sugar; 1 pint vinegar; 1 peck clingstone peaches; boiling water

Why it works: Sugar and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Canned Peaches 1

Ingredients

3 pounds granulated sugar
1 pint vinegar
1 peck clingstone peaches
boiling water

Directions

Prepare

Pour boiling water over the peaches to remove the fuzz.

Cook and can

Make a syrup with the sugar and vinegar, adding a little water if needed to cover the peaches.
Cook the peaches until soft, then can them as usual.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Vinegar + peachtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together348 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + peachtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,308 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Granulated sugar: Provides sweetness and forms the syrup that keeps the peaches flavorful.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that gives the preserved peaches a sharp, tangy balance against the sweetness.
Clingstone peaches: Provide the fruit itself, which softens during cooking and holds its shape in the syrup.