How to freeze summer peaches
After I mentioned that I was freezing my bruised peaches, you all had questions about the process.
And since I like to write about what is helpful to you, I figured a post about peach-freezing might be good.
First thing you need to know:
Peach freezing is pretty darn simple
In fact, that's true for most fruit.
In most cases, all you have to do is cut up the fruit and then stick it in the freezer.
No need to be scared!
To prep peaches: quarter, pit, peel, and slice
If you want to leave the peach peels on, you certainly can, but I usually just pull mine off.
And of course, I cut out any bad spots. I'm usually working with bruised peaches I bought at a discount, so there are almost always bad spots to work around.
You can make your peach slices as big as you want; think about what you want to eventually use your frozen peaches for, and slice accordingly.
(For instance, if you want to use them in smoothies, make the slices fairly small so that they blend up easily.)
Do not just dump your peach slices into a bag
That's a very easy way to freeze fruit, but the end result is not very user-friendly.
You'll have a large and unwieldy chunk of fruit and you'll have to thaw the whole thing to use even one peach slice.
Freeze peach slices on a baking sheet first, then transfer to a bag
This is an extra step, I know, but it's worth it!
Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray or line it with a silicone baking liner. This makes it super simple to transfer the frozen fruit to a bag.
(I picked up my liner at Aldi; keep an eye out for them there during the holiday baking season.)
Evenly spread the peaches on the sheet, taking care that they don't touch each other.
Then put the whole baking sheet into the freezer.
Once the peaches have frozen solid, you can transfer them to a freezer bag. Since they'll be individually frozen, you can easily remove as many or as few as you need.
Do you need to use an anti-browning product?
If you are making a fruit salad with peaches, then it's smart to use something to keep them from browning (lemon juice, or a product such as FruitFresh).
The browning isn't dangerous, but it does look kind of unappealing.
I do not find this to be necessary when I freeze peaches, though, because I slice them and then put them in the freezer right away. Once they're in the freezer, I don't have significant problems with browning.
Why do you freeze your own peaches?
First, local summer peaches taste way better than the frozen ones you can buy. I've tried a bag or two from the store, and my goodness, they are not nearly as sweet and ripe as the ones I freeze.
Secondly, if you can get your peaches at a good price, home-frozen will be cheaper. I paid $15 for about 25 pounds of bruised peaches.
Even at Walmart prices, $15 would only get me seven pounds of peach slices (and Walmart frozen peaches are really cheap, about $2/pound)
Taking into consideration the weight of the pits and the occasional peach that is too far gone to save, I am still positive I get far more than $15 worth of frozen peaches from my half bushel purchase.
Thirdly, when I buy bruised peaches, I'm saving less-than-perfect fruit from getting thrown out. That makes my heart happy!
How do you find bruised peaches?
If there's a fruit farm or stand near you, ask if they sell bruised peaches or seconds at a discount.
I get them from a stand near my house; in the summer, whenever I am near the stand, I pop in to see if a box is available. Sometimes I strike out, sometimes I come home with a big box for $15.
How long do home-frozen peaches keep?
That all depends on the type of freezer you have.
In a deep freezer that is not self-defrosting, mine have still been good a year later.
In a freezer that self-defrosts, your peaches are more likely to get freezer burnt. I'd use your past experience as a guide.
Think about how long a bag of frozen strawberries stays fresh-tasting in your self-defrosting freezer, and use that to decide how long you can store your peaches.
As a rule, though, if you want to store food long-term, you should have a freezer that does not self-defrost.
What kind of bag do you store frozen peaches in?
Ziploc-type freezer bags work really well, and sometimes I have saved Costco-sized frozen fruit bags to reuse.
The only downside to this is that sometimes I have grabbed a bag from the freezer thinking it was strawberries, and it was actually home-frozen peaches!
Whatever bag you use needs to be thick and tough (frozen peach slices are very hard and sometimes sharp enough to pierce a flimsy bag) and it needs to be tightly sealed to keep the air out, since air is the enemy of frozen foods.
What can you use frozen peaches for?
My favorite use is in smoothies; the combo of a banana, vanilla yogurt, and frozen summer peaches is so good! It's almost like a milkshake.
You can also use them to make peach cobbler, and I like to thaw a few to stir into my winter oatmeal, along with some heavy cream (peaches and cream are always a winning combo!)
Frozen peaches work great in this fruity overnight baked oatmeal recipe as well.
You could try using them in a baking recipe (such as muffins) but just be aware that thawed peaches will be a little wetter than fresh peaches and you might want to thaw and drain before using.
Any other peach-freezing questions?
Let me know in the comments. And feel free to share any fruit-freezing tips you have as well.
We made the mistake once (notice, I said "once") of buying Walmart's Great Value brand of freezer bags. Don't make this mistake. They (nearly every one) tore/broke/failed. Not a big deal if you don't mind uncovered food and if it's in a large frozen block. . . but blueberries!?! It was a mess. The extra money for the name brand was worth it for us.
Ohhh, that would be SO frustrating. Definitely a case where it makes sense to pay more.
A couple of thoughts:
1) I'm trying to think of a circumstance in which it would matter that the peach slices are freezer burnt. It won't for smoothies, cobblers, or pie. Maybe maybe for poached? I dont think so but maybe I'm wrong on that one.
2) Another possible source is the supermarket. Ask if they sell seconds. Mine sometimes has boxes of bananas. at $3 for a 50 lb box, it hardly matters if I can't fit all of them into my freezer. Often many of them only look bruised and so are edible; and if I have to compost some, that's still better than the store putting them in the trash, and still cheaper for me.
So, I find that, texture aside, fruit that has sat in my kitchen freezer through multiple defrost cycles has an "off" flavor. I can taste it in a smoothie for sure; it's hard to describe, but it's definitely a flavor that comes from freezer storage in a self-defrosting freezer.
That's an amazing banana price!
Now I know more than when I woke up, thanks.
Well, kind of! If you never taste anything from freezer burn, then I say don't worry about it. 🙂
well, this was wonderfully timely for me ... I was just given some peaches and planned to use it to make raspbery peach jam but as temps are supposed to hover near 100 degrees today, there is no way I am going to be doing any canning today!! I froze the aspberries over night and was just going to check to see if there was anything I needed to know about freezing peaches and VOILA, your email showed up in my inbox 🙂 thanks for this and I look forward to slightly cooler weather to make my jam
Well, yay! That was very fortuitous accidental timing on my part.
We have been buying a tray of peaches to eat fresh every week. It seems like we never get to the last two before they get overripe and too mushy. Would you think freezing would work for slightly overripe peaches, to be used in baking later? I can see where you could do this for a just a couple of random peaches and add them into same freezer bag gradually.
I do it all the time. I love fresh fruit. Me shopping for fresh fruit is like turning a kid loose in the candy store. I buy way more than is reasonable. When part doesn't keep as long as I hoped or I don't quite get to it all, I freeze. Even a single peach in the freezer is so much better than none.
Yes! I'm almost excited about it 🙂 I hate throwing away things.
If you are making a pound cake, substituting mashed peaches (so the mushy ones would be perfect) for some (not all) of the butter or oil gives it a much "peachy-er" flavor.
Oh yes, for sure! A slightly overripe peach is a great candidate for freezing and then adding to a smoothie or a baking recipe.
I treated my peaches with Fruitfresh last year and they froze beautifully. However, when I take a few chunks out to thaw they seemed to brown quickly. (I eat a few slices with my baked oatmeal and yogurt). So now I zap them in the microwave for about 10 seconds to thaw, works much better.
Great tips! I froze peaches a couple winters ago and still haven't used them...oops! I did use my Food Saver to seal them though, so they look like they're still as good as new. I definitely should have used your tip to freeze them on a baking sheet first, though---part of the reason I haven't used them yet is because they are, indeed, just a huge frozen clump!
I also added just a touch of sugar (along with lemon juice) to mine, just because sometimes peaches can be pretty tart.
I keep meaning to get one of those silpat liners. I use parchment paper for individually freezing things on pans, but then, of course, I have to throw it away. Hate that.
There will be no peaches in our area this year, thanks to a stretch of very hard freezes while the trees were in bud. Boo. No free peaches from neighbors this year. We do have at least five peach trees growing on our own property, though, and the great thing about peach trees is that they start bearing about three years after being planted. So we might even get fruit next year. Yay!
I have some of those silicone cupcake liners and use those to freeze my fruit as well as homemade stock. Each little cupcake liner hold about 1/4 cup of stuff. Once they are frozen I take the "pucks" out of the liners and put them in a ziplock bag for long term storage. It's nice to have a measured amount and I like freezing them in the cupcake pan because it's less likely to spill in my freezer.
Oh, this is a very good idea!
This was a very timely post; I’m freezing peaches later today. I never thought about separating them...but now I see the wisdom in that. We’re getting our first order of just produce from Imperfect Foods this week and I’m anticipating freezing some fruits and veggies!
We don't get much in the way of peaches here in Florida, although UF is constantly making new efforts to produce low-chill peaches. The peaches we find at stands and in stores here had to transport from Georgia, and usually are not all that great. However, I grew up where peaches grow, so this brings back memories for me. We use to get a bushel at a time and we would peel and slice and freeze so many peaches, at least the ones we didn't eat fresh. I don't remember us ever freezing them separately first. It would have made sense, and I freeze many things separately first these days, such as berries.
I usually use Fruit Fresh or citric acid on light colored fruits, just to make sure they don't brown. If they are going to be used in a recipe such as breads or cakes, I don't bother, though. Some fun ways peaches could be used is peach ketchup, peach butter, sweet pickled peaches, peach crumble, roasted peaches, and one of my all time favorites, homemade peach ice cream!
Roasted peaches sounds very interesting! Maybe with some nuts!
I do this with peppers any time I stock up. I find that they keep super well in the freezer, and I'm more likely to include them in dishes if I can take out just the amount I need instead of cutting into an entire pepper.
My freezer "problem area" is storing meat. I always divide up trays of ground beef, but I haven't been able to find an adequate replacement for ziploc bags.
I use sandwich boxes from Dollar Tree for ground meats. I bought mine years ago less expensively, bit it looks like they still sell them for $1.00 each. Each box hold about a pound of meat. They stack well and are top-rack dishwasher safe.
Oh that's an awesome idea! Thank you - I'll check them out.
This is probably silly but I am frightened by the idea of using green vegetables in smoothies. With kale or spinach, for example, do you cook them first? If so, lightly?
Does the taste come through or is it concealed by any sharing fruit?
Kale is so much worse in smoothies than spinach. I really do not love kale smoothies.
Spinach, though, is SO much milder. As long as you put in plenty of fruit with the spinach, you seriously do not even taste it. Definitely try a few spinach leaves first...don't do the kale!
And raw is totally fine.
I sometimes dip peach slices in orange juice to keep them from turning brown. I then package in a lump and then use this package as an ice pack in lunch boxes. Thaws by lunch.