Freezing Peaches
A Beginner's Guide to Freezing Peaches
Freezing peaches is a good way to have a tasty treat when peaches are not in season. You can use them in all sorts of ways, from baking to making smoothies. They are also great on ice cream or in yogurt.
The first step in freezing peaches is to pick out the peaches. You should get in the range of four to five pints frozen peaches for each ten pounds of fresh peaches. The cling-free kind are the best for freezing as the pit will come out easily. Make sure to get ripe peaches--ones that are ready to eat, not too hard and not too mushy. Wash, peel and pit your peaches, and cut to the size desired--halves, quarters, or sliced.
When freezing peaches, you need to make a decision as to whether you wish to pack them in sugar syrup, fruit juice or water. Those packed in sugar keep the best color and flavor. If you need to watch how much sugar you eat, you can use water or even a sugar substitute such as Splenda or Equal. Not all sugar substitutes will work so, if you prefer to use another kind, you will need to do a little research first.
If you want to try freezing your peaches in sugar, first mix ¼-teaspoon ascorbic acid and ¼ cup water. Sprinkle this over amount over each quart of peaches. Then add a 2/3 cup of sugar (white) to each quart. Mix well. Spoon your peach mixture into your containers, leave one-half inch headroom, and then seal your containers and pop them in to the freezer.
If you prefer freezing peaches in sugar syrup, get out a pot and fill it with one part sugar to every two parts water (i.e.1/3 cup sugar to 2/3 cup water). Cool the syrup. Next, pour a half cup of syrup into each pint container, add peaches--pour in more syrup--make sure to leave some headroom (½ inch). Take a piece of wax paper, make it into a ball, and place it on top of the fruit before closing and sealing. Seal your containers and place in the freezer.
You can also freeze peaches in water or in fruit juice. For every quart of liquid, add ¼ teaspoon ascorbic acid. Then spoon your peaches into the container, seal it and place it in the freezer.
If you prefer to freeze pureed peaches or crushed ones, you should pick out and prepare the peaches the same as above. Then blanche them by placing them first in hot water for a minute and then cold water for at least a minute. Peel and remove the pit. Crush peaches with a tool such as a potato masher or puree them in a blender. Add ¼ teaspoon ascorbic acid to each quart plus one cup of sugar. Then you are ready to pack the peaches into their container, leaving ½ inch for headroom. Seal and freeze.
Thaw your peaches for use in mid-winter when peaches are out of season for a delicious treat.