When canning fruits, recipes frequently call for “syrup”. This is easily made by combining sugar (or sweetener) and water in a pot and heating until the sugar is dissolved. Depending on the fruit you’re canning, you may need a heavier (higher sugar) or lighter (lower sugar) syrup. Light and medium tend to be the most common for canning, but you can use even the lightest syrups for almost any fruit. Heavier syrups don’t work well with everything. This chart shows you how to make them:
Type of Syrup | Notes | Approximate Sugar % | Sugar/Sweetener | Water | Syrup Yield |
Ultra-light | Similar to the to the sugar level in most fruits, lowest calorie option
|
10 | 1/2 cup | 5 cups | 5 1/4 cups |
Extra Light | Normally used for very sweet fruit, like figs
|
20 | 1 1/4 cups | 5 1/2 cups | 6 cups |
Light | Normally used for sweet apples and berries
|
30 | 2 1/4 cups | 5 1/4 cups | 7 cups |
Medium | Normally used for tart apples, apricots, peaches, pears
|
40 | 3 1/4 cups | 5 cups | 7 cups |
Heavy | Normally used for very sour fruit, like grapefruit
|
50 | 4 1/4 cups | 4 1/4 cups | 7 cups |
Honey | You can use honey instead of sugar, add more or less to taste/necessity
|
1 cup honey | 5 cups | 6 cups |