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margaret roach, head gardener

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farm-fresh peaches, frozen to perfection

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peaches to freeze
AFRIEND WITH AN OLD PEACH TREE made me a beneficiary of too many fruits to keep up with one bumper-crop year, and into the freezer some went. But in my overzealous drive to avoid added sugar in my diet, I made an error that affected the quality and storage life of the frozen fruit—a mistake I didn’t make again. I’m sharing my tactics for freezing farm-fresh peaches this summer, so you can make peachy recipes anytime you please.

My semi-failed batch of peaches went wrong for a couple of reasons, besides skipping the sugar entirely. How to freeze peaches:

what I did wrong when freezing peaches:

I let the peach fruit get overripe before putting it into suspended animation. If you’re freezing fresh (uncooked) fruit, you want it to be ripe but still firm—not already so soft as to be on a downhill slide.  Fruit that drips down your chin when you bite into may be a sensuous summer pleasure, but it’s too far gone for putting up. More treacherous, though…

I didn’t reckon with the air pockets inherent in stuffing any irregular-shaped pieces of something solid into freezer bags, boxes or jars.  Air pockets invite freezer burn, which means deterioration of peaches.

peaches to freeze 2

what i do now:

I pack ripe-but-firm fruit in syrup. Peaches are easy to freeze in liquid—goodbye, air spaces between fruit slices!—and it needn’t be the traditional heavy, sugary kind. (And P.S.–you don’t have to consume the syrup, but can drain it off later.)

White grape juice (below) can act as simple syrup.

Even if you prefer a sugar-based syrup, a light simple syrup of just 1:3 parts sugar to water will do. No need for heavy syrup (1:1 ratio) or even medium (1:2). To make light simple syrup, gradually add 2 cups of sugar into 6 cups of water and heat just until dissolved. Chill the syrup before using to pack fresh fruit.

Whichever liquid you use, layer as much fruit as possible into the container before filling all the crevices with “syrup.”

Pieces will want to float to the top, poking above the liquid. The standard trick is to crumple plastic wrap in the “headspace” left above the contents to allow for expansion during freezing, then remove the wrap. I just top up with more juice after the contents freeze, to cover any escaped bits, protecting them from burn.

freezing peaches ingredientsAnother essential ingredient: an anti-oxidant. Tossing the fresh-cut peaches in lemon juice will retard browning, but ascorbic acid powder (available at health food stores in the vitamin aisle from brands such as Now or Solaray) is probably more effective because you know just how much oomph you’re getting. A half-teaspoon, or 1,500 mg. of ascorbic acid powder per quart of syrup, is recommended. Have the ascorbic acid-laced syrup or juice ready, and drop the fruit directly into the mixture as you slice.

I think jars are easier than freezer bags, and (as discussed) the less plastic in contact with our food, the better. If you want to use bags, select freezer strength, and stand them up while freezing so that any air migrates to the top, where you can force it out after the food freezes at least halfway, before resealing the bag.

Still prefer to pack fruit “dry”? Get out the sugar.  The National Center for Home Food Preservation recommends 2/3 cup granulated sugar per quart (or 1-1/3 pounds) of cut fruit that was first tossed in ¼ tsp. (750 mg.) of ascorbic acid and 3 Tbsp. of water. Let the sugared fruit sit 15 minutes before packing and freezing, taking care to eliminate air spaces as above.

When it’s time to defrost, do so in the refrigerator or under cold water, then use the fruit at once. If your recipe doesn’t require any liquid, pour it off, and improvise: Use it as both the liquid and sweetener in a bread or other baked good you are making. Nothing goes to waste!

And one more thing: To peel, or not to peel? If you want to, the touted “trick” is to score the skins lightly with an “X,” then drop the fruits into a pot of boiling water for about half a minute, then into a bowl of ice water to make the skins easy to rub off. It’s the same tactic used for skinning tomatoes when canning whole tomatoes.

With peaches, though, I think it yields a raggedy piece of fruit, so I peel them with a vegetable peeler—or leave the skins on, another reason for the ripe-but-firm fruit rule. Imagine peeling overripe peaches! And what’s a peach with a hint of fuzz, anyhow?

this peach clafoutis won’t last

peach clafoutis 3
MY BEST PEACH RECIPE (above) isn’t sugar-free at all, and it doesn’t last very long. It’s for Peach Clafoutis (the easiest of fruit desserts, though it puffs up and looks gorgeous as if you’re a master baker). Confession: I borrowed the batter from my friend Martha.

peaches: the botanical viewpoint

ALTHOUGH I DIDN’T KNOW how to freeze peaches well at first, I did have some peach savvy—mostly of the scientific or botanical variety. Did you know peaches are related to roses, for instance (that and other stone-fruit trivia is here)?

peaches for freezing

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79 comments
July 6, 2011

comments

  1. Kristie says

    August 24, 2016 at 3:02 am

    Any idea how I can travel with 20-25 pounds of Colorado peaches across country to the Midwest without harming or over-ripening them? I have big plans for them if they make it! I have a cooler, and half the peaches are at the point of dripping when you bite into them. I will stop and freeze them at a friend’s house if I must!

    Reply
    • margaret says

      August 28, 2016 at 11:25 am

      Sorry, Kristie, I didn’t see this in time for the trip…hope it was a safe passage!

      Reply
  2. John Snell says

    September 1, 2019 at 8:11 am

    I’m surprised at some of your suggestions! I buy two bushels of peaches and lay them out on the floor, picking out the ripening ones every day or two. These I drop into boiling water and then into cold water so the skins literally slide off. Slice them “pole to pole,” add a small amount of sugar to stimulate juicing and some ascorbic acid (or similar commercial powder) to prevent browning, pop them into gallon freezer bags (about 4-6 cups/bag) which I then flatten out, squeeze the air out, and freeze them flat. I do agree that defrosting them in cold water or the fridge and eating them immediately is the best way.

    Reply
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Podcast: Soups, Soups & More Soups

I’VE FOLLOWED a vegetarian diet for decades, but it wasn’t until just a few years ago that I mastered a really good vegetable soup. Now I’m learning variations on vegetable-based soups, plus ones with beans and even ideas for mushroom soups, too–all thanks to Alexandra Stafford and these recipes. (Stream it below, read the transcript or subscribe free.)

https://robinhoodradioondemand.com/podcast-player/6211/vegetable-soup-ideas-with-ali-stafford-november-5-a-way-to-garden-with-margaret-roach.mp3

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mad gardener, nature addict, award-winning writer & podcaster, rural resident, corporate dropout, creator of awaytogarden dot com and matching book.

Instagram post 2190297402408409324_444552553 Snow day. To be followed by a snow night. #awaytogarden #wavehillchairs
Instagram post 2177779417009402040_444552553 No matter that it was 11F and 17F on mornings this week; my lifelong companions and I are all tucked in, each in our respective offseason spots. Three giant pots of #cliviaminiata that are actually pieces of my long-gone grandmother’s original plant from many, many decades ago, love the offseason bright cold of the mudroom, and get no water till around the new year or so. They need a chill (under 50 but above 35) for about 40 days to trigger timely bloom in late winter/early spring (without it they will bloom whenever, later, like June or even summer). The #alocasia reacts to the cold of the mudroom by shutting down and going dormant and leafless, and then I’ll let it sleep till late winter, when I give it a drink to see if it awakens. That one sleeps and wakes on its own timetable because I do not have a proper spot for it (ideally warm, like 60 or 65 at least, and humid and bright...no can do the humid part here). We have been together probably 10 years anyhow, despite my shortcomings as a #plantparent . #alocasiaamazonica #clivias #houseplantsofinstagram #houseplants #awaytogarden
Instagram post 2172580656557749859_444552553 Gardener: “I raked all the leaves!” Nature: “Oh, really?” (Cue sound of demonic laughter from on high.)
Instagram post 2170506606641504178_444552553 I wanna tell you how it’s gonna be You’re gonna give your love to me I wanna love you night and day You know my love will not fade away Not fade away Nope. Not this #cotinus leaf’s fiery hot love at least. Like the 1957 #buddyholly song I first heard by #therollingstones in 1964, it keeps going. #awaytogarden #fallfoliage2019 #cotinusgrace #notfadeaway
Instagram post 2168987273989949378_444552553 “Jack Frost nipping at your, er, geraniums...” And here it comes.
Instagram post 2166837817953503284_444552553 Constant companions: If you want to keep good company all winter, grow some good keepers. My house is stuffed with piles of #cucurbita awaiting their time in the oven or soup kettle. Each one is a character, distinctive. On one chair in the mudroom two close cousins in #cucurbitamoschata — the horse collar-shaped one called ‘Tromboncino’ or ‘Tromboncino Rampicante’ snuggles with some ‘Butternut.’ The ‘Tromboncino’ are better eaten green and small as #zucchini but I can’t resist their eventual mad size and shape, big enough to wear around your neck. I use their meat for enriching vegetable stock; the ‘Butternut’ are far more rich and delicious. Seed respectively from sandhillpreservation.com #sandhillpreservationcenter and @turtle_tree_seed (whose ‘Butternut,’ selected for “lastingness” for decades, will keep and keep into next spring or more). #wintersquash #awaytogarden #goodkeeper #cucurbitaceae
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Welcome! I’m Margaret Roach, a leading garden writer for 25 years—at ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ ‘Newsday,’ and in three books. I host a public-radio podcast; I also lecture, plus hold tours at my 2.3-acre Hudson Valley (NY) Zone 5B garden, and always say no to chemicals and yes to great plants.

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