Safety classification
Tested
Testing authority: National Center for Home Food Preservation (University of Georgia / USDA-derived guidance)
Safety reviewed: 09/13/2026
Processing details
Source & provenance
Safety classification: Tested recipe from NCHFP.
Safety summary
Do not change fruit proportions, omit the holding step, use quart jars, or shorten processing.
Processing details
- Method
- Boiling Water
- Pack style
- Raw
- Jar sizes
- Half-Pint or Pint Jars
- Headspace
- 1/2 inch
- Processing time
- 20/25/30/35 minutes at 0–1,000/1,001–3,000/3,001–6,000/above 6,000 ft.
Tested source
Safety status: Tested authoritative recipe. Follow the NCHFP source exactly.
Canning timeline
- Prepare jars and a boiling-water canner.
- Prepare the exact tested peaches, pears, green seedless grapes, and maraschino cherries, including the ascorbic-acid holding step.
- Fill half-pints or pints only, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- 20/25/30/35 minutes at 0–1,000/1,001–3,000/3,001–6,000/above 6,000 ft.
- Cool undisturbed 12 to 24 hours and check seals.
Equipment
Boiling-water canner, nonreactive saucepan or stockpot, preparation tools, jar lifter, and half-pints or pints only.
Visual method guide
- Prepare: Use sound produce and exact measured ingredients.
- Pack: Raw pack; maintain 1/2 inch headspace.
- Process: Keep jars covered by boiling water and use the altitude schedule.
- Cool: Leave jars upright and undisturbed.
Safety essentials
Do not change fruit proportions, omit the holding step, use quart jars, or shorten processing.
About this recipe
Mixed Fruit Cocktail is a tested NCHFP boiling-water home-canning recipe using raw pack.
Before you begin
- Method
- Boiling-water canning
- Pack
- Raw pack
- Jar size
- Half-pints or pints only
- Headspace
- 1/2 inch
Altitude and processing schedule
20/25/30/35 minutes at 0–1,000/1,001–3,000/3,001–6,000/above 6,000 ft.
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Mixed Fruit Cocktail — NCHFP
Ingredients
- 3 lb peaches
- 3 lb pears
- 1 1/2 lb slightly underripe seedless green grapes
- 10 oz maraschino cherries 1 jar
- 3 cups sugar
- 4 cups water
- ascorbic acid solution to prevent darkening
Equipment
- Boiling-water canner
Directions
- Stem and wash grapes and hold in ascorbic acid solution. Dip ripe but firm peaches in boiling water 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, cool, slip skins, halve, pit, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Peel, halve, core, and cube pears. Hold prepared fruit in solution.
- Combine sugar and water and bring to a boil. Drain mixed fruit.
- Add 1/2 cup hot syrup to each jar, then a few cherries. Gently fill with mixed fruit and more hot syrup, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.
- Process raw-pack half-pints or pints in a boiling-water canner for 20/25/30/35 minutes at 0–1,000/1,001–3,000/3,001–6,000/above 6,000 ft. Quart jars are not recommended.
Recipe Notes
Private Notes
Questions or results?
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Tried this recipe?
Share your results how it turned out.Serving suggestions
Serve as appropriate for the preserved fruit, or use in breakfast dishes, desserts, sauces, and baking after opening.
Frequently asked questions
Can I change the process?
Only make changes expressly permitted by NCHFP. Do not change fruit proportions, omit the holding step, use quart jars, or shorten processing.
What if a jar does not seal?
Refrigerate promptly, or reprocess within 24 hours using a new lid and the complete tested process when permitted.
How this recipe compares
Unlike single-fruit packs, this recipe depends on a specifically tested fruit mixture.
Troubleshooting
Keep prepared fruit in the directed ascorbic-acid solution to limit darkening.
Discard jars showing leakage, bulging, spurting, mold, or other spoilage. Never taste to determine safety.
Source & provenance
National Center for Home Food Preservation: Mixed Fruit Cocktail.
Garden planning for this recipe
Plant, space, variety, zone, and timing estimates live on dedicated ingredient pages:
Typical canning season
Season: All Year
Months: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
How much of the main ingredient should I grow?
12–25 lb of Mixed produce per person per year
This is an annual planning range that includes preserving and typical fresh use. Plant, row-foot, and square-foot estimates are shown only when compatible cited yield or spacing data is available.
Garden yields vary by cultivar, climate, soil, pests, and care. Always measure the exact prepared ingredient amount required by the tested canning recipe.