When people tell me that they don’t know how to preserve, I ask them if they use a fridge or a freezer. Although we don’t often think of using a freezer as preserving food, it absolutely is a preserving method. Many of our Grandparents (and some of us today) had cold cellars and used them to store fruit, vegetables and meat through the winter. Somehow we saw their cold rooms as preserving but don’t see our fridges as doing the same!
While we’ve been eating lots of peaches lately, a busy week resulted in a bunch being abandoned in the fridge. They were becoming soft (and some were bruised). I already have a cupboard full of canned peaches and peach jams and the dehydrator was full of other things. The easiest way to preserve these was to freeze them.
Make sure you know how to pit a peach. It took me years to figure out that simple trick and it makes the whole experience fast, clean and easy.
Before freezing peaches, it is best to know what you are going to use them for.
If you’re planning to eat slices (they have the consistency of fruit-salad peaches), you are best to peel them. Click if you don’t know how to peel a peach (and learn how I did this incorrectly for years). At this point you can freeze them on a tray (make sure they don’t touch). Once frozen toss them into a freezer bag or other container for storage.
Because I have canned peaches (and I can be lazy), I just cut them up (with the skins on) and toss 2-3 peaches in a small freezer bag (If I wanted to be really energetic, I could puree them in a blender and freeze the pulp in small bags or ice cube trays).
USES FOR FROZEN PEACHES
Most of the peaches I have frozen will be blended and added to other things such as:
- Yogurt
- Granola
- Milkshakes
- Smoothies
- Salad Dressings
- Cocktails
But there are other uses for chopped-up frozen peaches including:
- Adding to homemade BBQ sauce
- Glazing ham/ pork
- Added to a salad
- Mixed with honey and served with a cheese tray (or on toast)
You could also use the frozen peaches to:
- Infuse vodka
- Infuse white wine vinegar
- Make jam/ fruit leather (roll-ups) later in the winter
- Ferment fruit wine
Following our speech at TEDxToronto, we’re sharing at least 10 easy preserving recipes in the next 3 weeks. If you’re looking for easy places to start, these recipes are for you (but note: the other recipes really are just-as-easy)! The actual speech is expected online on Tuesday, October 8, 2013.