The peaches came up to the shoulders of the jar

For starters that sounds over-packed to me.

After filling with the syrup are you running the plastic spatula around inside to get the air all out? If not it can foam. And if you pour it in too fast it can foam.

More importantly are you BWB processing or pressure canning? Siphoning is a pressure canning thing. Boil over is what happens with BWB processing.

Then there is the bands on right issue - bands that aren't properly tightened can lead to boil over.

Dave

Forgot to add - the issue with over-packing is that they swell during processing so you have to leave room in the jar for that to happen. Try filling the jar only 3/4 full with the peach chunks and see if that doesn't solve the problem.

Dave

Thanks for your quick response Dave.

I am BWB processing so I had boil over, didn't know that term (thanks). Liquid spurted out of the jars while they were on the counter. I left the jars in the canner for the full 5 minutes after processing and was very careful to lift straight out. The water in the canner smelled a little peachy.

I did remove all air bubbles prior to sealing. The syrup wasn't foamy in the jar prior to processing. I didn't know that I could pour the syrup in too fast. I will be more mindful of that in the future.

I tightened the bands as I understand "finger tip tight". This is my 15th canning season, so I think I got that part right.

I must have over-packed. I was following the directions in the Ball Complete Book, said to leave generous 1/2" hs with the fruit and 1/2" for syrup. I read a lot about peach float, so must have been packing too tightly. I will try again and follow your advice of filling 3/4 full.

Are the peaches I have already canned safe to keep around (assuming they all seal)? Some of the peaches are above the liquid level.

Ready for the next batch! Will let you know how it goes!
Heather

The peaches that are sealed are fine. But with time the peaches above the liquid will brown, so use those jars first.

Regardless, it's an appearance thing, not a safety issue.

Carol

Thanks for the info Dave & Carol! I did another 16 pints this time very careful to fill only 3/4, and SUCCESS!! Only one jar did not seal and no boil-over. I was definately over packing those jars. Thanks for the help!!

Heather

boy do I wish I read this thread last night. I, too, followed the book and filled to far up and had major siphoning issues.. except, of course for the last jar that had fewer peaches

Okay so I am having the same problem. So far I have canned 12 pints of peaches with no problems but yesterday I got a new batch of peaches from a different farmer. Oh boy, those peaches are full of soap-like bubbles. I never overfill and I always run the spatula around the inside to get all the bubbles. However when they come out of the canner those foamy bubbles are everywhere. I have reprocessed one batch with the same results. I am in tears because I have no idea what to do.

I had trouble with siphoning last year. This year I did three things and have had great success.

I didn’t overfill the jars.
I let the jars cool in the water bath for a while. Siphoning is caused by the quick contrast in temperature.
Once the jars were on the counter I covered the hot jars with a towel to keep them warm. I let them cool for several hours. Very little siphoning.