Preserves · Seasonal · No. 06
Hill Country peach preserves, made for three months and then gone.
Texas peaches from Hill Country growers we buy from directly, cut in chunks and cooked down thick enough to sit on a biscuit. We cook it from June to August while the fruit is good and not one day outside that window. From $12 per 8 oz jar, and you can reserve ahead.
The kitchen cooks peaches for ten or eleven weeks a year.
Peach preserves happen when Hill Country peaches happen. June to August, then they are gone.
Early June brings the first freestone fruit, smaller and more acidic. Through July the peaches get heavier and sweeter and the juice runs further, so the pan takes longer to reach a set. By mid August the supply is thinning and the fruit bruises on the drive in. We stop when we cannot get good fruit, and most years that is the last week of August.
We buy from growers we have bought from for years, in small lots, and we sort every crate by hand on the bench. Bruised fruit goes into the pan the same day, because a bruise becomes an off flavour in a long cook. Firm fruit gets a day in the cold to finish ripening.
Nothing about this is a marketing device. Peaches that travel well and sit on a shelf for a month are picked hard, and hard fruit does not make good preserves. The window is short because the fruit is short. Other months we cook plums and apricots, which hold their quality in cold storage all year.
- Fruit
- Texas Hill Country peaches, freestone, cut in chunks
- Window
- June to August, roughly 11 weeks
- Sugar to fruit
- About 1 : 4 by weight
- Set
- Thick. Holds fruit chunks suspended, no run
- Sizes
- 8 oz jar, 16 oz jar, 2 lb tub, 5 lb pail
- Price basis
- From $12 per 8 oz jar, seasonal
- Handover
- Pickup in Austin, or Austin delivery at a flat $8 per order
An estimate, not a quote. We confirm the price by phone or email before anything is made.
Reserve in spring, collect in summer.
Most people who want peach preserves in August ask about them in April. The list is open the whole year.
From the first freestone fruit in early June to the last crate we can still use, usually the final week of August.
Less sugar than supermarket preserves, so the peach tastes like a peach and the set comes from the cook, not a packet.
One wide pan gives about forty 8 oz jars. We cook a batch a day through the season and that is the whole supply.
Where a chunky peach preserve earns its place.
Biscuits and cornbread
Split a buttermilk biscuit, spoon it on warm and let it soak in. The chunks mean you get peach in every bite instead of a smear.
Yogurt and oatmeal
A heaped spoon over plain yogurt with granola, or stirred through oats off the heat so the chunks stay whole. Less sugar than most flavoured yogurt cups.
Peach bars and cobbler
Thick enough to sit in a bar base without soaking the crust. For a fast cobbler, warm a jar with a squeeze of lemon and spoon it over the batter before baking.
Pork and chicken
Glaze a pork loin in the last ten minutes of roasting, or deglaze the pan with a spoonful and a splash of cider vinegar after the meat comes out.
Peach season questions people actually send us.
When are the peach preserves available?
June through August, while the Hill Country fruit is coming in. Once the last batch is sold, nothing is made again until the next summer. In September we go back to plums and apricots.
Can I reserve jars before the season starts?
Yes, and it is the sensible thing to do. Send a jar count and we will hold it from the first batch we cook. We confirm the week by phone or email when we know what the fruit is doing.
Are the peaches organic?
We do not claim a certification we have not been given. The peaches come from Hill Country growers we buy from directly and have bought from for years, and that is exactly as much as we can say.
Why is it more expensive than the apple butter?
Peaches in Texas cost more than apples, they bruise more, and we lose more of every crate to sorting. The cider apple butter is the lowest price in the range for the opposite reasons.
Do you ship outside Texas?
We do not ship across state lines. Pickup in Austin or local delivery inside Austin for a flat $8 per order. If you are outside Texas and want the fruit, the answer is a visit in August.
Put your name on this summer's batch.
Send the jar count you want and a way to reach you. We will tell you when we expect to cook it and confirm the price before anything is made. Nothing is charged online.
68 Oak Lane, Office 12Austin, Texas 86853