Selection
Select peaches that are ripe but not overly ripe, mature, sweet, and stone free [meaning the peach doesn’t cling to the stone or pit].
The peaches shouldn’t be soft or mushy, but also shouldn’t be too hard. Unripe peaches will soften but not ripen, and will never have flavor of tree-ripened peaches.
It takes about 5 decent size peaches to make a quart of frozen peaches. Prepare as per instructions –
Preparing Peaches for Freezing
Step 1 – Peel the Peaches . You can simply peel the skins with a sharp knife , however, peaches are thin skinned and you loose a chunk of the fruit like this. It will work though. If simply peeling like this cut them into chunks or slices at the same type and dip them in lemon juice or ascorbic acid to prevent browning.
The correct and most efficient way to peel peaches is by dipping them into boiling water for about half a minute [That’s 30 seconds for the chronologically impaired] , remove the peaches from the boiling water using a religious spoon [a spoon with holes] and put them immediately ,while still hot into a container of very cold ice water [water and ice] for several minutes. The skins will now easily slide off.
Freezing Peaches in Syrup or Juice
Peaches have to be packed in a sugar water solution / syrup or a juice when freezing. The solution is to prevent the peaches from drying and oxidizing [freezer burn and browning] It is not a preservative but does enhance the flavor.
Juices such as Apple , Peach, Nectarine, white grape [not purple grape] juice work very well and help to cut down on processed sugars.
I personally prefer Fruit juice syrups which require no preparation. Simply fill a freezer bag with prepared peaches and enough juice to completely cover the fruit.
Sugar based syrups do require some preparation, they come out similar to what you get when you purchase canned peaches at a supermarket.
To prepare sugar based syrups, heat a pot of water and slowly add the sugar , stirring constantly to dissolve- failure to adequately stir and dissolve the sugar could get you a substance similar to Rock Candy. Allow the solution to cool to room temperature before mixing it with the peaches. When you mix in the peaches be sure to leave head space.
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