Here is how to freeze peaches so you can enjoy the sweet juiciness of your favorite stone fruit all year long.
There is nothing I love more than a fresh, ripe, rosy peach. The juice running down your arm as your teeth sink into the sweet flesh as you lean over the sink to catch the juice. Who wouldn’t want to preserve this yummy summer treat all winter?
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What type of peaches freeze well?
The best type of peach for freezing is a freestone peach. A freestone peach has fruit that falls right off the pit. The freestone peaches are perfect for eating, canning, and freezing. Freestone peaches tend to be larger than clingstones, with a firmer, less juicy texture, yet still sweet.
What is a clingstone peach?
Clingstone peaches are named so because the peach clings stubbornly to the stone or pit. Clingstone peaches are typically is the first to be harvested, May through August. The flesh is yellow, with bright red touches close to the stone. Clingstone peaches have a soft texture, and are juicier and sweeter — perfect for desserts. Although clingstones are good for eating fresh, they are seldom found in the local market. The commercial industry uses clingstones for peaches canned in various levels of syrup.
How to blanch peaches for freezing:
- Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.
- Slice each peach just enough to pierce the skin. The slice should only be an inch or two long. There is not an advantage to having a longer slit.
- Drop the peached into the boiling water.
- After 15-30 seconds the skin where the slit is will separate. The peach if now blanched.
- Plunge the peach into a bath of ice and water. This will stop the cooking process.
- The peach skin will now easily slip off the flesh.
How to freeze peaches:
- Blanch the peaches and remove the skin.
- Slice the peach off of the pit.
- Cut them as thin or as thick as you would like.
- Spread them in an even layer on a sheet tray lined with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat
- Once frozen, package them in 2 cup portions in freezer-safe containers.
- For best results, I use a FoodSaver to seal and vac my peaches. Be sure to have enough FoodSaver bags on hand if you are going to be freezing a bushel or more of peaches.
Properly stored, frozen peaches will maintain quality for about 12 months in the freezer, although they will usually remain safe to eat after that.The more air you can remove from the freezer container, the longer they will maintain their quality.
Place frozen peaches in the refrigerator and let them thaw overnight. Drain the peaches into a bowl the next day, and save the juices to be thickened if you are baking a pie. Alternatively, peaches can be thawed in the microwave in 50-second intervals at 50% power. Another method of thawing peaches is to run the container under continuing warm running water.
Ascorbic acid will keep the frozen peaches from turning brown. If you don’t have ascorbic acid, toss the peaches with a little sugar and lemon juice, let them stand about 15 minutes to dissolve the sugar, then freeze them. I don’t use either of these methods when I freeze my peaches. I found that working fast and in small batches will also keep the peaches from turning brown.
Peaches can be frozen with the skin on but I often find that the recipes I am going to be using them in call for peeled peaches. It is easier for me to blanch and peel them from the beginning. But there is no reason not to freeze peaches with the skins on.
Frozen peaches just pop off the tray. No need to use a spatula to chip them off once they are frozen.
I like to use ‘seconds’ from my local farmers market. My thinking is I can pinch some pennies by buying the not so picture perfect fruit for my canning and freezing needs. The fruit is not picture perfect. But 99.9% of the rest of the fruit is perfectly good.
There was one or two with a bump in them. But it can be easily cut out with a paring knife. Just be sure to remove the entire bruise.The bruise can lead to decay and you don’t want to have that in your frozen peaches.
Recipes that use peaches:
How To Freeze Peaches
Ingredients
- 2 cups Peaches fresh
Instructions
How to blanch peaches for freezing:
- Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.
- Slice each peach just enough to pierce the skin. The slice should only be an inch or two long. There is not an advantage to having a longer slit.
- Drop the peached into the boiling water.
- After 15-30 seconds the skin where the slit is will separate. The peach if now blanched.
- Plunge the peach into a bath of ice and water. This will stop the cooking process.
- The peach skin will now easily slip off the flesh.
How to freeze peaches:
- Blanch the peaches and remove the skin.
- Slice the peach off of the pit.
- Cut them as thin or as thick as you would like.
- Spread them in an even layer on a sheet tray lined with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat
- Once frozen, package them in 2 cup portions in freezer-safe containers.
- For best results, I use a FoodSaver to seal and vac my peaches. Be sure to have enough FoodSaver bags on hand if you are going to be freezing a bushel or more of peaches.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
originally published Sep 4, 2012
Sarah Mock
CEO/Owner/Founder/Culinary Blogger
Sarah Mock is a classically trained Chef and graduate of Johnson & Wales University. A culinary blogger for 12 years Sarah helps the home cook prepare her recipes with professional results.
Audry says
I like the article. Peaches are some of my favorite fruits.
Sarah Mock says
I like them better than a canned beach. Not as ‘fresh’ as a fresh peach but not as processed as a canned peach. Perfect for adding to yogurt,making into a pie or any baked treat.
McFeinics says
What is the consistency of the peaches when thawed? I’ve never had them frozen before