Freezing Peaches

Freezing peaches is a great way to enjoy the juicy fruit all year long. Frozen peaches are often preferred over fresh peaches during the winter months, while the fruit is out of season. When you have a good supply of frozen peaches on-hand, you can quickly pull them out to enjoy them as a snack or use them in cobblers and pies. Plus, by freezing peaches you maintain many of the natural nutrients they contain that are often lost during the canning process.

To freeze peaches, you will want to select the best fruit possible. Only use well-ripened fruit. When handling the fruit be very careful not to bruise or damage the peaches to maintain their sweet taste.

Freezing peaches can be done in a number of ways, including sugar packing, syrup packing or you can crush or puree the fruit. To begin, the peaches will need to be washed well and peeled carefully.

To sugar pack the fruit, all you need are 1 1/3 pounds of peaches, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon ascorbic acid and 3 tablespoons water. To avoid darkening of the fruit, mix the ascorbic acid with the water and sprinkle over the peaches. Next, add half the sugar to the container you’ll be using, add the fruit and pour the rest of the sugar in. Make sure you leave space at the top of the container for freezing.

Freezing peaches can also be conducted by syrup packing the fruit. You will need to use 40 percent syrup, 1/2 teaspoon ascorbic acid and peaches. Syrup packing the peaches is done very similar to sugar packing the peaches. Add the ascorbic acid first. Next, add the half the syrup and peaches, and then pour the second half of the syrup over the peaches. Press water resistant paper over the peaches, seal and freeze. It’s really that simple.

Another method that can be used when freezing peaches is to crush or puree the fruit. Once pitted, crush the peaches. If you want to puree the peaches, a food processor is very helpful. It’s also best to heat the peaches for about 4 minutes to make both processes easier. After they are crushed or pureed, add 1/8 teaspoon ascorbic acid, place into a container and freeze the peaches.