Why it works: Peach and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,308 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Canned Peaches
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the peaches
Peel the peaches.
Cut them in halves if they are free-stone, removing the pit. If they are clingstones, leave them whole or divide them.
Drop the peaches in cold water.
Pack and process
Place the peaches in cans and cover them with a syrup made from ¼ pound of sugar for each pound of fruit.
Put the cans in a large pot with a piece of wood at the bottom to prevent direct contact with the heat.
Add enough water to the pot to boil without overflowing.
Place the lids on the cans without the rubber seals.
When you can pierce the peaches with a straw, remove the cans from the water and seal them carefully.
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.
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Peach + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Peaches
- Provide the fruit that is cooked, softened and preserved in the cans.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and helps the syrup preserve its flavor and texture.
The step that matters
Testing for doneness with a straw. Peaches must be heated until they are tender enough to pierce with a straw, so the fruit is cooked through before sealing. Removing the cans too early leaves the fruit firm and the contents underprocessed, while sealing carefully keeps air out of the cans.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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