August 6, 2025 • 26 mins
Anna and Jenny talk about how to preserve apricots including making jams, conserves, fruit leather and more. Stay tuned for new episodes every Wednesday!
Here’s the link to the articles that we reference: https://ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2020-06/327922.pdf
Help support the show here: buymeacoffee.com/perfectlypreservedpodcast
Buy The Pressure Canning Cookbook here: https://amzn.to/3Cn3qJn
Get the Pineapple Habanero jam recipe from Anna here: https://smarthomecanning.com/products/recipe-for-pineapple-habanero-pepper-jelly
Anna’s Video courses- learn with Anna!
These notes have affiliate links which don’t change the price of the products we recommend, but help us keep creating the podcast. Please shop through our links!
Canning Supplies We Recommend
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the PerfectlyPreserved Podcast.
I'm your host Jenny Gomes.
And I'm Anna Cash.
Here we come together to bringyou a podcast all about
preserving food safely, easily,and dare I say, perfectly.
At home.
We are master food preserversmoms wives, and we love talking
about canning.
ready to can like a masterpreserver.
(00:21):
Let's get into today's episode.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-202 (00:24):
welcome back to another episode with the
Perfectly Preserved podcast.
I'm Jenny, and I'm here with myco-host, Anna, and we are ready
to dive into part two, all theARO recipes you never knew you
needed in your life.
Anna is an apricot expert andpreserves tons of them every
year, and we're so excited tojust really get you excited all
(00:45):
about all the different recipes.
You can make with beautifulapricots.
Before though, I wanna thankeveryone who's left us a review.
It really is appreciated.
If you haven't left us a review,please take a second and go to
that purple icon and leave us areview.
Wherever you listen to yourpodcast, it really helps other
listeners find our show.
(01:05):
And that's Anna and I's Mission.
We really love sharing testedcanning information, safe
advice.
With the world.
We're both master foodpreservers passionate about
sharing good, safe informationwith all of you.
Thank you again for thosereviews.
If you've already left a review,share a good episode with a pal.
If some of these recipes strikeyour fancy, get a friend and,
(01:26):
share this episode with them sothat you can, both can one of
these awesome recipes.
Together.
Anna and I have many resourcesavailable for you.
You can check Anna's websiteout@smarthomecanning.com.
She has several very reasonablypriced video courses and her
amazing pineapple habanero jamrecipe that you can grab for
(01:48):
just a couple bucks.
That's at smart homecanning.com.
I'm the author of the PressureCanning Cookbook available
anywhere books are sold.
Let's dive in to today'sepisode, Anna.
What recipes are we gonna sharetoday?
All about apricots.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (02:04):
we are on part two of our deep dive
into apricots.
This episode we're gonna betalking about jams and jellies,
A conserve recipe, barbecuesauce, and dehydrating.
Apricots or making fruitleather.
So in the first episode, if youmiss that, we talked about how
to freeze apricots, how to canwhole apricots or halves, nectar
(02:27):
and puree.
So if you haven't listened tothat episode, check it out.
but let's start with jams andjellies.
This is my favorite part of.
The apricot situation besidesfruit leather?
I have my cottage food licenseand I sell jams and jellies at
markets throughout the year.
(02:47):
Apricots are a staple for me.
Like we said in the lastepisode, area that I live in,
northern Utah, it's a citycalled Ogden, and just north of
us is North Ogden, and thereused to be a lot of apricot
orchards.
It's a very.
Wonderful microclimate for stonefruit.
So we have peaches apricots andcherries, and it's a really
(03:08):
unique and special place that Ilive.
I feel really lucky to livehere.
let's talk about some good jamcombos, because that's what
people always ask me is how doyou come up with ideas for jam
combos?
What would you say your favoriteapricot Jam combo is?
Jenny.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_171 (03:26):
So I've only made a few batches of
Apricot Jam.
That would be considered acombo.
And by combo we mean blackberrybasal, right?
Like that's, that's a combo,like Those are two common things
that you put together in anunexpected way.
And in terms of apricot, I'vedone apricot with brown sugar
and a little bit of whiskey,which I think, I would do it
(03:48):
again.
But did it really add that much?
it did add a layer of flavor.
That was interesting.
But I wouldn't go out and buy awhole bottle just to do that
because it was fine, but itwasn't incredible.
Knock your socks off.
I did it the same recipe thatwas actually published in the
Sacramento Bee a long time ago.
15 years ago.
(04:08):
They had this recipe and it was.
This, boozy, canned peach andapricot thing was really good.
But if I had to do it again, Iwould probably just opt for warm
spices like cinnamon, maybe somevanilla paste and brown sugar.
That's how I would if I had abushel apricots to can and to
jam today.
That's the flavor profile Iwould choose, but that's because
(04:31):
I haven't talked to Anna yet.
Anna, what would you do?
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (04:33):
two of my staple jam flavors that I
make is apricot vanilla bean.
Something that's really sweetand delicious.
And then the other one, I make aspicy apricot habanero pepper
jelly.
Both of those have been goodsellers for me.
I love that combination, but Ithink this year I'm also going
to try an apricot pineapple.
(04:56):
That was something somebodyrecommended at one of the
markets I was at that theirgrandmother used to make, I
think I'm gonna try that thisyear.
Do a small batch test run andsee if I like that
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_171 (05:06):
If you do pineapple, do you do
fresh pineapples or open up acan of pineapple?
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (05:11):
I always try to use fresh
pineapple.
The canned pineapple I Even thelower sugar canned pineapple is
really sweet.
I like using a fresh pineapplewhere the flavors are really
bright and it's really tart.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (05:25):
I'm sure there's a listener or two
out there who is curious aboutthat.
And it really depends on whereyou are in the world, how easy
it is to get a decent pineappleand what time of year it is.
Living on the West coast, I havea pretty easy time getting a
decent pineapple.
Most, not all the time, butthey're not in store all the
time.
I certainly have access to themseveral months of the year.
Do you use the apricot habaneroon chicken or in a savory way
(05:49):
with meat?
Sounds good.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (05:50):
Yeah, I do both.
I love using it as a glaze afteryou've smoked meat or the final
glaze, if you are barbecuingchicken it's just so good.
You don't wanna put it on rightat the beginning because there
is so much sugar that it doeshave a tendency to burn.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-202 (06:07):
Mm-hmm.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (06:08):
So you will want to, do it as a final
glaze.
That's what people say aboutany, jam that you wanna put Wait
until the very end and do it asa final glaze.
'cause they really are just sosweet.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025 (06:20):
that's a great tip.
I remember, I was on a studenttravel trip when I was in
college.
No kids no husband.
We ate in this really fancy,restaurant and it was filet
mignon, dressed with blueberrysalt.
Like a blueberry jam.
As a person who grew up eatingbeef, just barbecued, nothing
fancy, just as a cattlerancher's daughter.
(06:41):
I was shocked at how good itwas.
It was delicious.
I'm sorry I don't have like arecipe or any more information
about this blueberry jam thatwas on it, but it was really
delicious.
Super good.
So ever since I've just kind ofkept in mind like, oh, I need to
be very open-minded about that.
That's a lot of delicious thingsout there that I hadn't, didn't
know about or have never tried.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (06:59):
Yeah.
No, it's very popular.
And one other thing I would saytoo is that, I have sold to a
cocktail bar before and peoplehave used my jams for.
Mimosas or cocktails you reallycan expand your palate beyond a
peanut butter and jelly sandwichlike a glaze on meat or on a
(07:20):
cheeseboard, but also incocktails, people definitely
love a little dollop of jammixed in.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (07:28):
You mentioned this in the last
episode, but it bears repeating.
You could use a spoonful ofapricot preserve in the bottom
of a glass and add soda watertonic water or, a can of LaCroix
stir it up.
And that can be a really greatfresh, different beverage.
In my fantasy world whereeveryone is canning wouldn't it
(07:48):
be cool to can these little jarsof specialty jams and then it'd
be like, also like cocktailnight and everyone's making
either mocktails or cocktailswith their jam.
That just seems so fun andfestive, that's like in my
fantasy world where everyone ispreserving all the time.
It sounds really fun.
tell us some more.
Do you make
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (08:05):
Well,
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-202 (08:06):
apricot jelly?
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (08:07):
I've never made an apricot jelly.
For those of the listeners thatdon't know, a jelly is made from
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-202 (08:13):
Mm-hmm.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (08:14):
And a jam has fruit pulp in it.
So that's the difference.
I actually have never made anapricot jelly because I don't
really have a food mill that'sgood for that, so I have never
done it.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (08:26):
you wouldn't even, that food mill
wouldn't give you the clearjuice that you would need.
You'd have to do like a jellybag or a cheesecloth set up, I
think,
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (08:36):
A steam juicer.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (08:38):
oh, I've never tried it for an
apricot.
I have a steamed juicer and Iuse it I wonder how much you'd
get out of it.
How many times can I say Iwonder?
I couldn't guess how much juiceget out.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (08:49):
a lot of wondering,
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (08:50):
Yeah.
I wonder.
Someone let us know if you'veever juiced.
I tried to seem pomegranates andit was utterly unsuccessful.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (09:00):
oh,
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (09:01):
Tried very hard.
anna_2_07-21-2025_18164 (09:01):
Really?
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (09:02):
Yeah, those little reels do not wanna
burst, and it was profoundlyunsuccessful and the color was
horrendous.
It was gray.
You would not think that it wasgray.
The best method I had was toblend them in a blender and
strain out the seed pulp, andthen it was more like a nectar.
I tried to get those suckers tobe juice and I couldn't, I
(09:22):
failed at that.
Tell us more about.
All the things our listeners canmake with apricots.
Did we wanna talk about thatbarbecue sauce recipe now?
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (09:30):
Yeah, let's, let's talk about this
barbecue sauce.
It's, we will have a link in theshow
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-202 (09:35):
Mm-hmm.
this recipe is from the
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (09:37):
seeing it.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21- (09:37):
University of California Ag and National
Resources, and we will link tothe PDF but the recipe is for
zesty apricot barbecue sauce.
Golden orange with red flex.
This barbecue sauce not onlylooks amazing, but taste out of
this world.
Spoon over your chicken or fishthis summer.
I'm sold, already sold.
And the recipe includes April.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (09:58):
so good.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2 (09:58):
Apricots, red bell, pepper, onion, garlic,
honey, cider vinegar, worchestersauce, hot pepper flakes, dry
mustard and salt.
It sounds delicious and franklybetter than many other barbecue
sauces I've ever encountered.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (10:14):
Yeah, it sounds great.
The apricots are taking theplace of the tomatoes, so that's
interesting.
I think that would be reallygood.
I have some apricots.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_171 (10:25):
It sounds pretty.
I had another recipe I wanted toshare.
That's not a barbecue sauce, buta fruit butter.
So fruit butter is a fruitspread that's cooked low and
slow and typically has a verysmooth texture.
I personally love cooking afruit butter in a crockpot and
then using an immersion blenderto get it super smooth.
(10:45):
A butter is characterized by itstexture and how it is cooked,
but not by the ingredients.
This is from the Oregon Stateextension.
And there's a lot of apricotsthat come out of both Oregon and
Apples come out of Oregon too.
this PDF also gives instructionsfor making.
Fruit butter from apples, crab,apples, grapes, peaches, pears,
plums, and quince, as well asapricots.
(11:08):
Use two quarts of the fruit pulpfor cup sugar, cinnamon, and
other spices.
It gives you an oven method, amicrowave method, a stove top
method.
And then if I were you, I wouldtry the crockpot.
I think that's a great idea, agreat way to do it.
Could make an apricot fruitbutter, I think.
I bet that would be delicious.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (11:28):
And it makes your house smell so You
have it in a crockpot.
I've done it with apples to makeapple butter and it's just,
hands down the best smell
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (11:37):
Oh, it is.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (11:38):
your house smell amazing.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_171 (11:39):
It is.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (11:41):
But I have never made an apricot fruit
butter.
I've only ever made jams, somaybe I should give that a try
and just kind of see how it is.
I also am really excited aboutthat barbecue sauce.
I think I'm gonna make thattonight.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (11:55):
Well, you could throw together a
crockpot of apple or of apricotsvery easily, right?
That's a easy preserve.
Very beginner friendly.
And also, don't you think itwould be good if you had some
really softer apricots?
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (12:06):
For the fruit butter.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (12:08):
Yeah.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (12:09):
I would say though that if you are
making jams and jellies, reallysoft apricots that taste sweet
and delicious are perfect.
You'll want to try and also addsome more firm apricots if
you're doing a no pectin jamrecipe.
We'll put both recipes in ourshow notes, but I usually do a
(12:31):
no pectin jam recipe, and if Idon't have.
A blend of really firm apricotsand really soft apricots.
I end up having to cook that jamlonger There's not a lot of
natural pectin in the apricots,I've had a lot of people tell me
that their peach jam or theirapricot jam just didn't turn out
because they didn't end upcooking it long enough, because
(12:54):
there's just not a lot ofnatural pectin in there.
When they are the sweetest andsoftest, so just keep that in
mind.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_1716 (13:03):
I am glad that you talked about
pectin because I was about to,ask you to share a little bit
about pectin and jam making withapricots.
Other fruit naturally has a lotof pectin in it.
Like raspberries have a ton ofpectin.
You can't even make raspberryjam without it
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (13:17):
Yeah.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (13:17):
Those little seeds impart their
natural pectin.
But peaches and apricots not somuch so that's a great tip to
include some under ripe fruit aswell.
You can certainly use astore-bought pectin and one type
of pectin is Pomona pectin.
On their website they haveseveral apricot recipes that
sounded really delicious,including apricot, plum jam,
(13:40):
apricot, pineapple, and plainapricot.
If you desire to use any pectin,here's a pro tip about pectin.
Not so much about apricots, butif you desire to use a
store-bought pectin, the bestrecipe you can use is the one on
the box.
We could talk about the variousmerits of different types of
pectins, and we have done so ina episode all about Pectins.
(14:01):
So you could scroll through ourarchives and listen to it, the
best recipe for that pectin isthe one that's on the box.
They have so much money investedin coming up with this great
recipe that's gonna give you awinning perfectly set jam every
time.
I feel like I get questions likethat all the time.
Like, what's a good recipe forfill in the blank?
If it's a jam that generallyyou'd use a pectin with, don't
(14:23):
you think that's really common?
It's a really common question.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (14:25):
People say if it doesn't set, can I add
more pectin And,
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (14:30):
Yeah.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (14:30):
That's something we can answer here and
now, and the answer is yes, youcan.
You can always open up your jamsif they're too syrupy and you
want
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-202 (14:38):
Mm-hmm.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (14:39):
jam, you can always either cook it
longer if you haven't used acommercial pectin.
Can add, found pomona's to bethe best at, like, really
getting a firm set if you needthat in your life.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (14:53):
Well, some people really are
accustomed to that really stiffspread and really want that, and
I'm accustomed to, and wasraised with very soft spreads
and I'm sure that was likefrugality or just time crunch or
whatever.
But like my mom and grandma justmade soft spread.
They were not stiff.
But you mentioning the addingmore pectin.
I had a goof, again, not apricotrelated, I'm sorry, I'm so off
(15:15):
topic today, but I added toomuch pectin to choke cherry
syrup and I opened one of thelast jars that I had.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (15:26):
Oh no.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (15:26):
And choke trees are like, kind of
like currents and they have aton of sugar.
Anyway.
I thought like, oh, it'll becool if there's like a spread
instead of a syrup.
I usually always make a syrup.
I add a pectin and it, I thinkit's because it also, it has so
much sugar'cause it is naturallysuch a tart berry.
It makes you choke.
It's like super cottony.
It is so much like.
(15:48):
Mount molten lava.
So hard to get outta the dangjar.
it's hilarious I only made maybefour jars of it.
It's funny that I'm making thekids eat it.
It's funny that you have to heatit up in the microwave you just
warm it up pour it on and thenhurry up and get the dishes,
rinsed off with hot water beforeit sets up into concrete, it's
the stiffest thing I've evercanned.
I just measured and didn't keeptrack but That's fine.
(16:09):
No big deal.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (16:10):
That's funny.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (16:11):
Yeah.
Back to apricot Cut.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (16:13):
I had somebody ask me last year she
had done a peach jam and ithadn't set, Looking online,
trying to give her the bestrecommendation for a pectin that
she could use.
On one of the online forums, itsaid, if you are doing a jam
that isn't setting, try a lowsugar, no sugar pectin, because
they usually have higher amountsof pectin in it, To compensate
(16:35):
for the lack of sugar in arecipe.
Because when you put sugar inwith your fruit, it does some
things right?
Like it thickens your jam, itsweetens it.
It holds the cell structure ofthe fruit that's in it, I just
thought it was interesting usinga lower sugar or no sugar pectin
packet.
You might see them at the store,they're a pink in a pink The STO
(16:56):
or sure gel,
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (16:57):
And if I ever make something that I
think I'll share with my typeone diabetic father-in-law,
that's the box I grab.
I just generally give him thingsthat have less sugar in it, even
if he's not watching I am, youknow?
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (17:08):
Yeah.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (17:08):
ton works great.
It's very effective.
Looping back to our initialcomment.
Using the recipe on the box isthe best way to get a good set.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (17:16):
Yeah.
Okay.
And apricot Jams usually areabout a one to one, sugar to
fruit ratio.
You can use a little bit less ifyou want.
When I make jams, it's usuallyeight cups of fruit to six cups
of sugar.
the recipe that we're gonnashare with you is four cups
sugar, four cups fruit.
So just keep that in mind.
It's usually got a lot of sugarin it to help it set.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025 (17:39):
That's good to know.
And if you give up sugar, you'realso giving up.
Its preservative quality.
It won't last quite as long inthe fridge.
It's a trade off and it's fineif you trade it off, but it just
isn't gonna be as long lastingor probably quite as firm.
But Anna, are you ready to tellus about dehydrating, apricots?
'cause you also know a lot aboutthis.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (18:00):
Yes, let's do it.
Okay.
This is really two parts.
The first part is aboutdehydrating, the apricot halves
the second part is about how tomake fruit leather from
apricots.
are really great.
of the things that I think ismisleading or difficult about
dehydrating at home.
If you're on YouTube, you cansee my dehydrators back here all
(18:23):
folded up and ready to go.
But or the process of sulfuring,which is what a lot of
commercial places do.
If you get a so easy to preservebook, they will talk about
sulfuring.
But in recent years, sulfuring,if you're not careful, can cause
cancer.
And have bad side effects.
So a lot of companies now aredoing non sulfur.
(18:44):
Dehydrated fruit, sulfuring is aprocess of taking the smoke from
sulfur and creating a reallysoft, delicious fruit.
that's what people have becomeaccustomed to when it comes to
dried fruit.
And it's difficult to replicatethat in your house.
(19:04):
So what I recommend is justdoing a really nice, simple
syrup dip for your apricothalves, putting them skin side
down on your trays anddehydrating them until they're
very close to being dry.
I like to leave about 10% fruitjuice in there.
(19:25):
So they're still kind ofsquishy.
You don't want'em to be.
Completely crispy.
Otherwise they wouldn't be funto eat.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (19:31):
Yeah, I'm so glad that you said that,
that we are all so accustomed toand like that very soft,
dehydrated texture and apricotsin particular, we are very
accustomed to a very softapricot.
You know, an apple chip iscrispy, but dried apricot is
not, if you follow a trustedsource that tells you how to do
the sulfuring, I'm sure thatwould have a great result.
(19:52):
If you skip it, you're giving upthat really soft, super soft
texture and if you do wannasuper soft texture, then maybe
you don't wanna dehydrate themas halves.
Maybe you want to make fruitleather.
anna_2_07-21-2025_1816 (20:04):
Exactly.
I mean, you don't have to dodehydrated apricot hats.
You can make fruit leather.
In the previous episode wetalked about making an apricot
puree in canning that, and Iwould do the same steps for the
puree as I do for the fruitleather.
So I throw it in my blenderabout eight cups of fruit and
half a cup of lemon juice.
(20:24):
You can add a little honey ifyou want.
depending on the sweetness ofyour apricots, a lot of times I
like to leave it a little bittart.
I kind of like that Flavor.
And then in my dehydrator I haveround dehydrating They're a
plastic tray with the sides arekind of, they have lips on them
so that you can.
(20:44):
Pour your fruit leather puree onthere and then you just
dehydrate it and mine, mine, Iusually make maybe like an
eighth of an inch thick.
I want it to have a little bitof chew, but not super thick.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_1 (20:57):
What do you spray on your trays
before you pour your puree on?
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (21:01):
Oh yeah.
I do a light coating of cookingspray.
It also makes it so much easierto peel fruit leather off of the
tray.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (21:11):
Yeah.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (21:12):
years I would, wrestle with my fruit
leather, trying to get it off,and then finally I realized I
could just do a light coating ofcooking spray and it would just
peel right off.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (21:22):
One year I tried to line my trays
with the paper that I was gonnaroll the fruit roll-ups on, and
I did not do.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (21:33):
Oh.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_1716 (21:33):
A good job of cutting them to be
precisely the correct size tofit on the silicone trays.
So it was a good idea that Ididn't execute to the best of my
ability and it ended up beinghalfway successful.
But I wondered if that issomething you've done either
pouring it onto the wax paper oronto freezer paper, which would
(21:55):
probably peel off the easiest.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (21:57):
I know people that put it in the oven
Parchment paper on their cookiesheet and then pour it on and
dehydrate it.
I've never done that.
I've only, used the trays andwhen I peel it off, I take a
section of my parchment paperroll up my, because I have a
round dehydrator with a hole inthe
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_171 (22:18):
Me too.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (22:18):
so roll it up and then I cut it.
After I've rolled it up, I usefreezer tape and wrap it around
the parchment paper
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_1 (22:28):
See, I was cutting mine
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (22:30):
and
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_1 (22:30):
into roll-ups.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181 (22:31):
roll-ups.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_1 (22:32):
Yes, this was several years ago when
my kids were a lot smaller and Iwas like, oh, I'm really gonna
impress the lunchbox, critics,you know, and cut them and have
them be on the paper.
So it was easier for them topeel off.
Anyway, it was a great idea thatsome of our listeners could
probably take and run with giveit a try.
But definitely don't skip thespritz of the, cooking oil
(22:53):
because that saves you so muchtime, regardless of if there's
paper or not.
I do a little spritz of cookingoil.
Great tip.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (22:59):
And one thing I would say too is
fruit leather is really fun.
You can add other fruit if youwant.
You could add like apple sauceto your apricot.
You could add pineapple.
One thing that I do with bothapricot fruit leather and peach
fruit leather is I sprinkle thetop with tahin, which is a chili
(23:19):
lime flavoring.
You sprinkle it on the top andit tastes like those suckers you
can get at the Mexican store.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (23:27):
Yeah.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (23:28):
like a, yeah, it's mango and t heen
suckers, and my kids love those.
And so I would just sprinkle abit of tahin on top of the fruit
leather.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_1716 (23:37):
I also love that spicy with the
fruit, which is why I love likeyour spicy jams so good.
I love also fresh pineapple witha little bit of cayenne pepper
and salt.
My favorite summer snack.
I could eat enough to givemyself a blister right now
thinking about it.
It's so good.
I missed one cool recipe that Iwanted to share with our
(23:58):
listeners that we found againfrom the university of
California PDF, that we'll link.
And it's a conserve, orconserve, I think I pronounce
it, conserv because it's a noun.
And those are usuallycharacterized by being, it's
like a jam that has a lot goingon.
nuts, chunks of other fruit orchunks of fruit.
(24:21):
The recipe for this is apricots,dried dates, almonds, water,
lemon juice, calcium, water,honey, and Pomona spect.
And it just sounded like itcould be really good.
You probably would just feedthis to a picky 7-year-old and
hope for the best because it isgonna be different than what you
would pull off the shelf in aSmucker's jar, right?
(24:43):
They are really cool to eat, onthe top of oatmeal there's just
more going on a jam can be kindof, huh?
Boring texture wise.
And conserves are really cool.
There's a lot of really greattested recipes.
Conquered grape and walnut.
Such a good concert.
Love those two flavors together.
But I also have concord, grapesand walnuts where I live so.
(25:04):
There's an extra bonus, recipefor you to, to test out or try
or explore.
And then I wanna ask one quickquestion about spices.
When you were adding, when youadd spices do you do just
cinnamon or cinnamon and clove?
Cinnamon, clove, ginger?
Do you do nutmeg?
What do you do?
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (25:20):
For Apricot jams, last year I did an
apricot with Candy Ginger.
You can do dried ginger if youwant as well.
That was an interesting jam.
I did it in the 12 jams ofChristmas, Package I like the
flavor of apricot with warmingspices like cinnamon, clove,
(25:41):
nutmeg.
But I also really like thevanilla bean paste.
I don't want to overdo it, but Ido like those
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_1716 (25:49):
I liked the pairing of the brown
sugar and the cinnamon.
That feels very fall.
both color, taste, aroma.
To me that's like what I tend tolean into and vanilla paste is
kind of expensive.
So I don't always have that onhand, but I always have
cinnamon,
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (26:05):
yeah,
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-202 (26:05):
Awesome tips, Anna.
So many delicious things thatyou can do with apricots.
They're wholesome and in seasonright now.
They're beautiful, they'redelicious, and hopefully this
episode helps you all decide topreserve some apricots in
whatever fashion that we'vesuggested, and then some.
Thanks so much for being here.
We'll see you next week.
(26:26):
That's our show.
We don't want you to miss anepisode, so please be sure to
subscribe.
If you found this episodehelpful and informative, please
give our show a rating andreview.
It only takes a few seconds andit really helps our show grow.
Follow us on social media atSmart Home Canning and at the
domestic wildflower.
Email your preserving questionsto Perfectly Preserved
(26:49):
podcast@gmail.com and we will doour best to answer your
questions on the show.
Thanks so much for listening.
Stay tuned for our next episodereleased every week.
Welcome to the PerfectlyPreserved Podcast.
I'm your host Jenny Gomes.
And I'm Anna Cash.
Here we come together to bringyou a podcast all about
preserving food safely, easily,and dare I say, perfectly.
At home.
We are master food preserversmoms wives, and we love talking
about canning.
ready to can like a masterpreserver.
(00:21):
Let's get into today's episode.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-202 (00:24):
welcome back to another episode with the
Perfectly Preserved podcast.
I'm Jenny, and I'm here with myco-host, Anna, and we are ready
to dive into part two, all theARO recipes you never knew you
needed in your life.
Anna is an apricot expert andpreserves tons of them every
year, and we're so excited tojust really get you excited all
(00:45):
about all the different recipes.
You can make with beautifulapricots.
Before though, I wanna thankeveryone who's left us a review.
It really is appreciated.
If you haven't left us a review,please take a second and go to
that purple icon and leave us areview.
Wherever you listen to yourpodcast, it really helps other
listeners find our show.
(01:05):
And that's Anna and I's Mission.
We really love sharing testedcanning information, safe
advice.
With the world.
We're both master foodpreservers passionate about
sharing good, safe informationwith all of you.
Thank you again for thosereviews.
If you've already left a review,share a good episode with a pal.
If some of these recipes strikeyour fancy, get a friend and,
(01:26):
share this episode with them sothat you can, both can one of
these awesome recipes.
Together.
Anna and I have many resourcesavailable for you.
You can check Anna's websiteout@smarthomecanning.com.
She has several very reasonablypriced video courses and her
amazing pineapple habanero jamrecipe that you can grab for
(01:48):
just a couple bucks.
That's at smart homecanning.com.
I'm the author of the PressureCanning Cookbook available
anywhere books are sold.
Let's dive in to today'sepisode, Anna.
What recipes are we gonna sharetoday?
All about apricots.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (02:04):
we are on part two of our deep dive
into apricots.
This episode we're gonna betalking about jams and jellies,
A conserve recipe, barbecuesauce, and dehydrating.
Apricots or making fruitleather.
So in the first episode, if youmiss that, we talked about how
to freeze apricots, how to canwhole apricots or halves, nectar
(02:27):
and puree.
So if you haven't listened tothat episode, check it out.
but let's start with jams andjellies.
This is my favorite part of.
The apricot situation besidesfruit leather?
I have my cottage food licenseand I sell jams and jellies at
markets throughout the year.
(02:47):
Apricots are a staple for me.
Like we said in the lastepisode, area that I live in,
northern Utah, it's a citycalled Ogden, and just north of
us is North Ogden, and thereused to be a lot of apricot
orchards.
It's a very.
Wonderful microclimate for stonefruit.
So we have peaches apricots andcherries, and it's a really
(03:08):
unique and special place that Ilive.
I feel really lucky to livehere.
let's talk about some good jamcombos, because that's what
people always ask me is how doyou come up with ideas for jam
combos?
What would you say your favoriteapricot Jam combo is?
Jenny.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_171 (03:26):
So I've only made a few batches of
Apricot Jam.
That would be considered acombo.
And by combo we mean blackberrybasal, right?
Like that's, that's a combo,like Those are two common things
that you put together in anunexpected way.
And in terms of apricot, I'vedone apricot with brown sugar
and a little bit of whiskey,which I think, I would do it
(03:48):
again.
But did it really add that much?
it did add a layer of flavor.
That was interesting.
But I wouldn't go out and buy awhole bottle just to do that
because it was fine, but itwasn't incredible.
Knock your socks off.
I did it the same recipe thatwas actually published in the
Sacramento Bee a long time ago.
15 years ago.
(04:08):
They had this recipe and it was.
This, boozy, canned peach andapricot thing was really good.
But if I had to do it again, Iwould probably just opt for warm
spices like cinnamon, maybe somevanilla paste and brown sugar.
That's how I would if I had abushel apricots to can and to
jam today.
That's the flavor profile Iwould choose, but that's because
(04:31):
I haven't talked to Anna yet.
Anna, what would you do?
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (04:33):
two of my staple jam flavors that I
make is apricot vanilla bean.
Something that's really sweetand delicious.
And then the other one, I make aspicy apricot habanero pepper
jelly.
Both of those have been goodsellers for me.
I love that combination, but Ithink this year I'm also going
to try an apricot pineapple.
(04:56):
That was something somebodyrecommended at one of the
markets I was at that theirgrandmother used to make, I
think I'm gonna try that thisyear.
Do a small batch test run andsee if I like that
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_171 (05:06):
If you do pineapple, do you do
fresh pineapples or open up acan of pineapple?
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (05:11):
I always try to use fresh
pineapple.
The canned pineapple I Even thelower sugar canned pineapple is
really sweet.
I like using a fresh pineapplewhere the flavors are really
bright and it's really tart.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (05:25):
I'm sure there's a listener or two
out there who is curious aboutthat.
And it really depends on whereyou are in the world, how easy
it is to get a decent pineappleand what time of year it is.
Living on the West coast, I havea pretty easy time getting a
decent pineapple.
Most, not all the time, butthey're not in store all the
time.
I certainly have access to themseveral months of the year.
Do you use the apricot habaneroon chicken or in a savory way
(05:49):
with meat?
Sounds good.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (05:50):
Yeah, I do both.
I love using it as a glaze afteryou've smoked meat or the final
glaze, if you are barbecuingchicken it's just so good.
You don't wanna put it on rightat the beginning because there
is so much sugar that it doeshave a tendency to burn.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-202 (06:07):
Mm-hmm.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (06:08):
So you will want to, do it as a final
glaze.
That's what people say aboutany, jam that you wanna put Wait
until the very end and do it asa final glaze.
'cause they really are just sosweet.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025 (06:20):
that's a great tip.
I remember, I was on a studenttravel trip when I was in
college.
No kids no husband.
We ate in this really fancy,restaurant and it was filet
mignon, dressed with blueberrysalt.
Like a blueberry jam.
As a person who grew up eatingbeef, just barbecued, nothing
fancy, just as a cattlerancher's daughter.
(06:41):
I was shocked at how good itwas.
It was delicious.
I'm sorry I don't have like arecipe or any more information
about this blueberry jam thatwas on it, but it was really
delicious.
Super good.
So ever since I've just kind ofkept in mind like, oh, I need to
be very open-minded about that.
That's a lot of delicious thingsout there that I hadn't, didn't
know about or have never tried.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (06:59):
Yeah.
No, it's very popular.
And one other thing I would saytoo is that, I have sold to a
cocktail bar before and peoplehave used my jams for.
Mimosas or cocktails you reallycan expand your palate beyond a
peanut butter and jelly sandwichlike a glaze on meat or on a
(07:20):
cheeseboard, but also incocktails, people definitely
love a little dollop of jammixed in.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (07:28):
You mentioned this in the last
episode, but it bears repeating.
You could use a spoonful ofapricot preserve in the bottom
of a glass and add soda watertonic water or, a can of LaCroix
stir it up.
And that can be a really greatfresh, different beverage.
In my fantasy world whereeveryone is canning wouldn't it
(07:48):
be cool to can these little jarsof specialty jams and then it'd
be like, also like cocktailnight and everyone's making
either mocktails or cocktailswith their jam.
That just seems so fun andfestive, that's like in my
fantasy world where everyone ispreserving all the time.
It sounds really fun.
tell us some more.
Do you make
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (08:05):
Well,
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-202 (08:06):
apricot jelly?
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (08:07):
I've never made an apricot jelly.
For those of the listeners thatdon't know, a jelly is made from
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-202 (08:13):
Mm-hmm.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (08:14):
And a jam has fruit pulp in it.
So that's the difference.
I actually have never made anapricot jelly because I don't
really have a food mill that'sgood for that, so I have never
done it.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (08:26):
you wouldn't even, that food mill
wouldn't give you the clearjuice that you would need.
You'd have to do like a jellybag or a cheesecloth set up, I
think,
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (08:36):
A steam juicer.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (08:38):
oh, I've never tried it for an
apricot.
I have a steamed juicer and Iuse it I wonder how much you'd
get out of it.
How many times can I say Iwonder?
I couldn't guess how much juiceget out.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (08:49):
a lot of wondering,
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (08:50):
Yeah.
I wonder.
Someone let us know if you'veever juiced.
I tried to seem pomegranates andit was utterly unsuccessful.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (09:00):
oh,
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (09:01):
Tried very hard.
anna_2_07-21-2025_18164 (09:01):
Really?
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (09:02):
Yeah, those little reels do not wanna
burst, and it was profoundlyunsuccessful and the color was
horrendous.
It was gray.
You would not think that it wasgray.
The best method I had was toblend them in a blender and
strain out the seed pulp, andthen it was more like a nectar.
I tried to get those suckers tobe juice and I couldn't, I
(09:22):
failed at that.
Tell us more about.
All the things our listeners canmake with apricots.
Did we wanna talk about thatbarbecue sauce recipe now?
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (09:30):
Yeah, let's, let's talk about this
barbecue sauce.
It's, we will have a link in theshow
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-202 (09:35):
Mm-hmm.
this recipe is from the
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (09:37):
seeing it.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21- (09:37):
University of California Ag and National
Resources, and we will link tothe PDF but the recipe is for
zesty apricot barbecue sauce.
Golden orange with red flex.
This barbecue sauce not onlylooks amazing, but taste out of
this world.
Spoon over your chicken or fishthis summer.
I'm sold, already sold.
And the recipe includes April.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (09:58):
so good.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2 (09:58):
Apricots, red bell, pepper, onion, garlic,
honey, cider vinegar, worchestersauce, hot pepper flakes, dry
mustard and salt.
It sounds delicious and franklybetter than many other barbecue
sauces I've ever encountered.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (10:14):
Yeah, it sounds great.
The apricots are taking theplace of the tomatoes, so that's
interesting.
I think that would be reallygood.
I have some apricots.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_171 (10:25):
It sounds pretty.
I had another recipe I wanted toshare.
That's not a barbecue sauce, buta fruit butter.
So fruit butter is a fruitspread that's cooked low and
slow and typically has a verysmooth texture.
I personally love cooking afruit butter in a crockpot and
then using an immersion blenderto get it super smooth.
(10:45):
A butter is characterized by itstexture and how it is cooked,
but not by the ingredients.
This is from the Oregon Stateextension.
And there's a lot of apricotsthat come out of both Oregon and
Apples come out of Oregon too.
this PDF also gives instructionsfor making.
Fruit butter from apples, crab,apples, grapes, peaches, pears,
plums, and quince, as well asapricots.
(11:08):
Use two quarts of the fruit pulpfor cup sugar, cinnamon, and
other spices.
It gives you an oven method, amicrowave method, a stove top
method.
And then if I were you, I wouldtry the crockpot.
I think that's a great idea, agreat way to do it.
Could make an apricot fruitbutter, I think.
I bet that would be delicious.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (11:28):
And it makes your house smell so You
have it in a crockpot.
I've done it with apples to makeapple butter and it's just,
hands down the best smell
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (11:37):
Oh, it is.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (11:38):
your house smell amazing.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_171 (11:39):
It is.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (11:41):
But I have never made an apricot fruit
butter.
I've only ever made jams, somaybe I should give that a try
and just kind of see how it is.
I also am really excited aboutthat barbecue sauce.
I think I'm gonna make thattonight.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (11:55):
Well, you could throw together a
crockpot of apple or of apricotsvery easily, right?
That's a easy preserve.
Very beginner friendly.
And also, don't you think itwould be good if you had some
really softer apricots?
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (12:06):
For the fruit butter.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (12:08):
Yeah.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (12:09):
I would say though that if you are
making jams and jellies, reallysoft apricots that taste sweet
and delicious are perfect.
You'll want to try and also addsome more firm apricots if
you're doing a no pectin jamrecipe.
We'll put both recipes in ourshow notes, but I usually do a
(12:31):
no pectin jam recipe, and if Idon't have.
A blend of really firm apricotsand really soft apricots.
I end up having to cook that jamlonger There's not a lot of
natural pectin in the apricots,I've had a lot of people tell me
that their peach jam or theirapricot jam just didn't turn out
because they didn't end upcooking it long enough, because
(12:54):
there's just not a lot ofnatural pectin in there.
When they are the sweetest andsoftest, so just keep that in
mind.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_1716 (13:03):
I am glad that you talked about
pectin because I was about to,ask you to share a little bit
about pectin and jam making withapricots.
Other fruit naturally has a lotof pectin in it.
Like raspberries have a ton ofpectin.
You can't even make raspberryjam without it
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (13:17):
Yeah.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (13:17):
Those little seeds impart their
natural pectin.
But peaches and apricots not somuch so that's a great tip to
include some under ripe fruit aswell.
You can certainly use astore-bought pectin and one type
of pectin is Pomona pectin.
On their website they haveseveral apricot recipes that
sounded really delicious,including apricot, plum jam,
(13:40):
apricot, pineapple, and plainapricot.
If you desire to use any pectin,here's a pro tip about pectin.
Not so much about apricots, butif you desire to use a
store-bought pectin, the bestrecipe you can use is the one on
the box.
We could talk about the variousmerits of different types of
pectins, and we have done so ina episode all about Pectins.
(14:01):
So you could scroll through ourarchives and listen to it, the
best recipe for that pectin isthe one that's on the box.
They have so much money investedin coming up with this great
recipe that's gonna give you awinning perfectly set jam every
time.
I feel like I get questions likethat all the time.
Like, what's a good recipe forfill in the blank?
If it's a jam that generallyyou'd use a pectin with, don't
(14:23):
you think that's really common?
It's a really common question.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (14:25):
People say if it doesn't set, can I add
more pectin And,
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (14:30):
Yeah.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (14:30):
That's something we can answer here and
now, and the answer is yes, youcan.
You can always open up your jamsif they're too syrupy and you
want
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-202 (14:38):
Mm-hmm.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (14:39):
jam, you can always either cook it
longer if you haven't used acommercial pectin.
Can add, found pomona's to bethe best at, like, really
getting a firm set if you needthat in your life.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (14:53):
Well, some people really are
accustomed to that really stiffspread and really want that, and
I'm accustomed to, and wasraised with very soft spreads
and I'm sure that was likefrugality or just time crunch or
whatever.
But like my mom and grandma justmade soft spread.
They were not stiff.
But you mentioning the addingmore pectin.
I had a goof, again, not apricotrelated, I'm sorry, I'm so off
(15:15):
topic today, but I added toomuch pectin to choke cherry
syrup and I opened one of thelast jars that I had.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (15:26):
Oh no.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (15:26):
And choke trees are like, kind of
like currents and they have aton of sugar.
Anyway.
I thought like, oh, it'll becool if there's like a spread
instead of a syrup.
I usually always make a syrup.
I add a pectin and it, I thinkit's because it also, it has so
much sugar'cause it is naturallysuch a tart berry.
It makes you choke.
It's like super cottony.
It is so much like.
(15:48):
Mount molten lava.
So hard to get outta the dangjar.
it's hilarious I only made maybefour jars of it.
It's funny that I'm making thekids eat it.
It's funny that you have to heatit up in the microwave you just
warm it up pour it on and thenhurry up and get the dishes,
rinsed off with hot water beforeit sets up into concrete, it's
the stiffest thing I've evercanned.
I just measured and didn't keeptrack but That's fine.
(16:09):
No big deal.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (16:10):
That's funny.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (16:11):
Yeah.
Back to apricot Cut.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (16:13):
I had somebody ask me last year she
had done a peach jam and ithadn't set, Looking online,
trying to give her the bestrecommendation for a pectin that
she could use.
On one of the online forums, itsaid, if you are doing a jam
that isn't setting, try a lowsugar, no sugar pectin, because
they usually have higher amountsof pectin in it, To compensate
(16:35):
for the lack of sugar in arecipe.
Because when you put sugar inwith your fruit, it does some
things right?
Like it thickens your jam, itsweetens it.
It holds the cell structure ofthe fruit that's in it, I just
thought it was interesting usinga lower sugar or no sugar pectin
packet.
You might see them at the store,they're a pink in a pink The STO
(16:56):
or sure gel,
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (16:57):
And if I ever make something that I
think I'll share with my typeone diabetic father-in-law,
that's the box I grab.
I just generally give him thingsthat have less sugar in it, even
if he's not watching I am, youknow?
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (17:08):
Yeah.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (17:08):
ton works great.
It's very effective.
Looping back to our initialcomment.
Using the recipe on the box isthe best way to get a good set.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (17:16):
Yeah.
Okay.
And apricot Jams usually areabout a one to one, sugar to
fruit ratio.
You can use a little bit less ifyou want.
When I make jams, it's usuallyeight cups of fruit to six cups
of sugar.
the recipe that we're gonnashare with you is four cups
sugar, four cups fruit.
So just keep that in mind.
It's usually got a lot of sugarin it to help it set.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025 (17:39):
That's good to know.
And if you give up sugar, you'realso giving up.
Its preservative quality.
It won't last quite as long inthe fridge.
It's a trade off and it's fineif you trade it off, but it just
isn't gonna be as long lastingor probably quite as firm.
But Anna, are you ready to tellus about dehydrating, apricots?
'cause you also know a lot aboutthis.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (18:00):
Yes, let's do it.
Okay.
This is really two parts.
The first part is aboutdehydrating, the apricot halves
the second part is about how tomake fruit leather from
apricots.
are really great.
of the things that I think ismisleading or difficult about
dehydrating at home.
If you're on YouTube, you cansee my dehydrators back here all
(18:23):
folded up and ready to go.
But or the process of sulfuring,which is what a lot of
commercial places do.
If you get a so easy to preservebook, they will talk about
sulfuring.
But in recent years, sulfuring,if you're not careful, can cause
cancer.
And have bad side effects.
So a lot of companies now aredoing non sulfur.
(18:44):
Dehydrated fruit, sulfuring is aprocess of taking the smoke from
sulfur and creating a reallysoft, delicious fruit.
that's what people have becomeaccustomed to when it comes to
dried fruit.
And it's difficult to replicatethat in your house.
(19:04):
So what I recommend is justdoing a really nice, simple
syrup dip for your apricothalves, putting them skin side
down on your trays anddehydrating them until they're
very close to being dry.
I like to leave about 10% fruitjuice in there.
(19:25):
So they're still kind ofsquishy.
You don't want'em to be.
Completely crispy.
Otherwise they wouldn't be funto eat.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (19:31):
Yeah, I'm so glad that you said that,
that we are all so accustomed toand like that very soft,
dehydrated texture and apricotsin particular, we are very
accustomed to a very softapricot.
You know, an apple chip iscrispy, but dried apricot is
not, if you follow a trustedsource that tells you how to do
the sulfuring, I'm sure thatwould have a great result.
(19:52):
If you skip it, you're giving upthat really soft, super soft
texture and if you do wannasuper soft texture, then maybe
you don't wanna dehydrate themas halves.
Maybe you want to make fruitleather.
anna_2_07-21-2025_1816 (20:04):
Exactly.
I mean, you don't have to dodehydrated apricot hats.
You can make fruit leather.
In the previous episode wetalked about making an apricot
puree in canning that, and Iwould do the same steps for the
puree as I do for the fruitleather.
So I throw it in my blenderabout eight cups of fruit and
half a cup of lemon juice.
(20:24):
You can add a little honey ifyou want.
depending on the sweetness ofyour apricots, a lot of times I
like to leave it a little bittart.
I kind of like that Flavor.
And then in my dehydrator I haveround dehydrating They're a
plastic tray with the sides arekind of, they have lips on them
so that you can.
(20:44):
Pour your fruit leather puree onthere and then you just
dehydrate it and mine, mine, Iusually make maybe like an
eighth of an inch thick.
I want it to have a little bitof chew, but not super thick.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_1 (20:57):
What do you spray on your trays
before you pour your puree on?
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (21:01):
Oh yeah.
I do a light coating of cookingspray.
It also makes it so much easierto peel fruit leather off of the
tray.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (21:11):
Yeah.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (21:12):
years I would, wrestle with my fruit
leather, trying to get it off,and then finally I realized I
could just do a light coating ofcooking spray and it would just
peel right off.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_17 (21:22):
One year I tried to line my trays
with the paper that I was gonnaroll the fruit roll-ups on, and
I did not do.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (21:33):
Oh.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_1716 (21:33):
A good job of cutting them to be
precisely the correct size tofit on the silicone trays.
So it was a good idea that Ididn't execute to the best of my
ability and it ended up beinghalfway successful.
But I wondered if that issomething you've done either
pouring it onto the wax paper oronto freezer paper, which would
(21:55):
probably peel off the easiest.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (21:57):
I know people that put it in the oven
Parchment paper on their cookiesheet and then pour it on and
dehydrate it.
I've never done that.
I've only, used the trays andwhen I peel it off, I take a
section of my parchment paperroll up my, because I have a
round dehydrator with a hole inthe
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_171 (22:18):
Me too.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (22:18):
so roll it up and then I cut it.
After I've rolled it up, I usefreezer tape and wrap it around
the parchment paper
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_1 (22:28):
See, I was cutting mine
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (22:30):
and
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_1 (22:30):
into roll-ups.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181 (22:31):
roll-ups.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_1 (22:32):
Yes, this was several years ago when
my kids were a lot smaller and Iwas like, oh, I'm really gonna
impress the lunchbox, critics,you know, and cut them and have
them be on the paper.
So it was easier for them topeel off.
Anyway, it was a great idea thatsome of our listeners could
probably take and run with giveit a try.
But definitely don't skip thespritz of the, cooking oil
(22:53):
because that saves you so muchtime, regardless of if there's
paper or not.
I do a little spritz of cookingoil.
Great tip.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (22:59):
And one thing I would say too is
fruit leather is really fun.
You can add other fruit if youwant.
You could add like apple sauceto your apricot.
You could add pineapple.
One thing that I do with bothapricot fruit leather and peach
fruit leather is I sprinkle thetop with tahin, which is a chili
(23:19):
lime flavoring.
You sprinkle it on the top andit tastes like those suckers you
can get at the Mexican store.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_ (23:27):
Yeah.
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (23:28):
like a, yeah, it's mango and t heen
suckers, and my kids love those.
And so I would just sprinkle abit of tahin on top of the fruit
leather.
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_1716 (23:37):
I also love that spicy with the
fruit, which is why I love likeyour spicy jams so good.
I love also fresh pineapple witha little bit of cayenne pepper
and salt.
My favorite summer snack.
I could eat enough to givemyself a blister right now
thinking about it.
It's so good.
I missed one cool recipe that Iwanted to share with our
(23:58):
listeners that we found againfrom the university of
California PDF, that we'll link.
And it's a conserve, orconserve, I think I pronounce
it, conserv because it's a noun.
And those are usuallycharacterized by being, it's
like a jam that has a lot goingon.
nuts, chunks of other fruit orchunks of fruit.
(24:21):
The recipe for this is apricots,dried dates, almonds, water,
lemon juice, calcium, water,honey, and Pomona spect.
And it just sounded like itcould be really good.
You probably would just feedthis to a picky 7-year-old and
hope for the best because it isgonna be different than what you
would pull off the shelf in aSmucker's jar, right?
(24:43):
They are really cool to eat, onthe top of oatmeal there's just
more going on a jam can be kindof, huh?
Boring texture wise.
And conserves are really cool.
There's a lot of really greattested recipes.
Conquered grape and walnut.
Such a good concert.
Love those two flavors together.
But I also have concord, grapesand walnuts where I live so.
(25:04):
There's an extra bonus, recipefor you to, to test out or try
or explore.
And then I wanna ask one quickquestion about spices.
When you were adding, when youadd spices do you do just
cinnamon or cinnamon and clove?
Cinnamon, clove, ginger?
Do you do nutmeg?
What do you do?
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (25:20):
For Apricot jams, last year I did an
apricot with Candy Ginger.
You can do dried ginger if youwant as well.
That was an interesting jam.
I did it in the 12 jams ofChristmas, Package I like the
flavor of apricot with warmingspices like cinnamon, clove,
(25:41):
nutmeg.
But I also really like thevanilla bean paste.
I don't want to overdo it, but Ido like those
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-2025_1716 (25:49):
I liked the pairing of the brown
sugar and the cinnamon.
That feels very fall.
both color, taste, aroma.
To me that's like what I tend tolean into and vanilla paste is
kind of expensive.
So I don't always have that onhand, but I always have
cinnamon,
anna_2_07-21-2025_181648 (26:05):
yeah,
jenny-gomes_1_07-21-202 (26:05):
Awesome tips, Anna.
So many delicious things thatyou can do with apricots.
They're wholesome and in seasonright now.
They're beautiful, they'redelicious, and hopefully this
episode helps you all decide topreserve some apricots in
whatever fashion that we'vesuggested, and then some.
Thanks so much for being here.
We'll see you next week.
(26:26):
That's our show.
We don't want you to miss anepisode, so please be sure to
subscribe.
If you found this episodehelpful and informative, please
give our show a rating andreview.
It only takes a few seconds andit really helps our show grow.
Follow us on social media atSmart Home Canning and at the
domestic wildflower.
Email your preserving questionsto Perfectly Preserved
(26:49):
podcast@gmail.com and we will doour best to answer your
questions on the show.
Thanks so much for listening.
Stay tuned for our next episodereleased every week.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd is a thought-provoking, opinionated, and topic-driven journey through the top sports stories of the day.