Loving peaches the way that we do makes it so we are always looking for new ways to preserve our fruit for later consumption. All summer long we eat fresh fruits and vegetables from our garden and the trees in our orchard. Freezing the peaches allows us to continue to benefit from the fresh fruit taste of our summer harvest well into the next growing season.
Frozen peaches are wonderful for a variety of uses including baking, making smoothies, and later canning. I especially like to load up a bowl of frozen peaches and eat them plain for a healthy snack. Emmaline loves to eat hers in a bowl of milk. Freezing peaches makes it so simple to have them available all year round.
Blanch peaches
How to Prepare Peaches for Freezing
The first step in freezing peaches is to prepare 4 large peaches by washing, peeling (I like to blanch them.), and pitting them. If you don’t know how to blanch peaches, take a look at our blanching video.
Next, you want to slice the peaches into 1/2 inch wedges.
Combine the sliced peaches in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 2 teaspoons of sugar.
The lemon juice keeps the peaches from turning brown and the sugar draws the juice to the surface blocking any air from being trapped inside and reducing the chance of freezer burn.
Freeze individually on a tray
Now that the peaches are ready, let’s individually freeze them. This allows the peaches to be removed from the freezer individually instead of in one large ice block.
How to Freeze Peaches
Freezing peaches is done by placing the peaches on a baking sheet and placing it into the freezer to freeze for 2 to 4 hours. I sometimes like to line my baking sheet with a silicone baking mat. The silicone mat makes it easy to remove the peaches from the baking sheets.
place in a freezer bag
After the peaches have been frozen individually remove them from the baking sheet and place them in long-term storage freezer bags that have been labeled with the contents and date.
I remove as much air as possible. Then I lay the bag flat in the freezer so it will stack better.
Note: It is easiest to label the storage bags before putting the peaches in the bag.
