A sun-ripened peach concentrates the sweetness of summer. Since some years the trees bear fruit by the kilo, you cannot process all the peaches fresh. Deep-frozen, however, peaches retain their valuable ingredients and fruity taste well into the following year.

Peaches can be frozen in different presentations

Specifics of freezing peaches

Before you freeze peaches, you should remove the furry skin and pits. Otherwise, the fruit may become bitter over time. It should also be noted that freezing changes the consistency for the worse. There are two recommended ways to freeze peaches, depending on how they will be used later:

  • Freeze peaches in chunks or wedges
  • Freeze mashed peaches

Preparation: Core the peaches and remove the skin

To remove the thin peach skin, first score the bottom of the fruit crosswise with a knife. Then blanch the peaches in boiling water for a few minutes. The skin can now be easily removed from the fruit.
Then cut the peaches in half to remove the pits. Now you are faced with the choice of the form in which you want to freeze the fruit. You can either cut the peaches into wedges or pieces or prepare a puree.

Freeze peach slices and pieces

If you plan to use your frozen peaches to make compotes, or if you need chunks for desserts or fruity meat dishes, you should opt for a chunky option when freezing.

  • Cut the peeled and pitted peaches into convenient pieces.
  • Drizzle with lemon juice to prevent the pieces of fruit from turning brown.
  • Put the pieces in your freezer either in sufficiently large freezer bags or plastic boxes.

Freeze Peach Puree

To prepare peach sorbet or to use the peaches in jam or a fruit sauce at a later date, you should puree the fruit before freezing. The peaches take up very little space in the freezer and are optimally prepared for further processing.

  • Roughly chop the prepared peach halves.
  • Put them in a saucepan or bowl and carefully puree the peach pieces with a hand blender.
  • Put the resulting puree in freezer bags or ice cube molds and put them in the freezer.

Advice on thawing and shelf life of frozen peaches

Peach pieces should be thawed in a sieve at room temperature before further processing. This will prevent the pieces of fruit from becoming excessively mushy and also allow you to catch the fruit juice.
If you want to heat the frozen peaches for further processing, you can put the puree in a saucepan without first defrosting it.
The fruit can be kept for several months in both variants, whether chunky or pureed. After a year at the latest, however, they noticeably lose their aroma, which is why it is advisable to consume the peaches promptly.

The garden journal freshness ABC

How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?

The garden journal freshness ABC as a poster:

  • as a free PDF file to print out yourself

Category:

Trees