Make your own home canned fruit pie filling
Flaky, sweet and delicious… mmm, homemade pie is one of my favorite ways to enjoy the fruits of summer! Rather than fill the freezer, there’s another way to preserve fresh fruit for pies throughout the seasons. Pull out your canning equipment and make your own home canned fruit pie filling. It’s easy to do with just a few simple steps!
Thickening Success
The key to making successful home canned pie filling hinges on one special ingredient– a specialized thickening agent called Clear Jel. (There are also similar products with different names that may be available to home 
canners as well.) Clear Jel is a modified food starch, like those used in commercial food products. It stands up to repeated heating without losing its thickening power or breaking down and becoming watery like regular cornstarch does. This attribute is vital to home canned pie fillings which are heated at least three times– once in the initial cooking, then during canning, and again when the pie is baked. Clear Jel looks like regular corn starch and is available in specialty shops and bulk food stores. If you need help in locating a source for Clear Jel, leave a comment or contact me at the Extension Office- lbeech@ksu.edu, 620-272-3670.
Filling Recipes
The USDA has published guidelines for making several home different home canned pie fillings in it’s Complete Guide to Home Canning- Guide #2, Selecting, Preparing and Canning Fruit and Fruit Products. You’ll find instructions for making apple, blueberry, cherry, peach and green tomato pie fillings, as well as homemade mincemeat. Because the variety and ripeness of fruit may alter the flavor of the pie, it is suggested that you first make a single quart of pie filling, make a pie with it, and taste it. Then adjust the sugar and spices in the recipe to suit your personal preferences. The amount of lemon juice specified in the recipes should not be changed, as it aids in controlling the safety and storage stability of the fillings.
Follow Canning Instructions Exactly
Home canning is more kitchen science than kitchen art. This is the time to follow recommended instructions precisely– save your kitchen creativity for other recipes. Homemade fruit pie fillings must be canned in standard canning jars with fresh lids and processed in a boiling water bath canner according to the instructions given for each specific fruit. Be sure to leave the recommended 1-inch of headspace when filling the jars– the thick filling tends to expand when heated in the canner. The USDA publication mentioned above gives very helpful canning guidelines in Guide #1- The Principles of Home Canning.
Pie Baking Contest at County Fair
After you’ve made some delicious home canned pie filling, use it to bake a fruit pie for the Great American Food Contest at the Finney County Fair. The featured entry must be a homemade fruit pie. Prizes of $100, $75 and $50 will be awarded to first, second and third places in both the youth and adult categories. Full details are available in the open class food division of the Finney County Fair book. See the guidelines online, or pick up a copy of the printed fair book at the County Extension Office, 501 S. 9th Street in Garden City.
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Oct 13, 2009 - 12:10:19I just recently started canning. I need all the help I can get. Thanks for all the helpful information. You make it seem so easy.
Thanks for your comment. Welcome to home food preservation! Canning is not hard, just be sure to start with reliable guidelines and follow them precisely. We have lots of helpful canning information at the Extension Office if you get inspired to do more. Keep an eye on this blog– I have a couple of food preservation programs on the 2010 calendar which will provide more information.
There just aren’t enough recipes for pie fillings from the USDA. I think all they expect people to put in a pie are berries, peaches, mincemeat, and apples.
What about Apple cranberry pie? Or Peach berry pie?
I’ve noticed for apple pies it’s about 1/4 cup of clear jel per pint of filling. For all others it seems to be 1/4 + 1 tablespoon. Is there any reason why fruit can’t be mixed to make a pie filling? What about nuts and raisins?
We need more recipes!
I have always used the “old” recipes that call for regular corn starch & have been very successful. In addition to apple, tart cherry, peach, blueberry, and blackberry, we do apple/blackberry and peach/blueberry. We tried cherry/blueberry but didn’t care for that or the sweet cherry. The only limit should be your imagination.
Good for you! Having canned pie filling on the shelf makes good use of fresh fruit and makes baking easy later. Regular cornstarch has the risk of breaking down and becoming lumpy and watery when it is reheated-such as when baked into a pie or cobbler. Clear Jel really holds its texture well and is recommended by USDA.
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