How to properly freeze peaches for the winter fresh in the freezer at home
Many people love peaches, because these fruits have an incredibly pleasant taste and delicate aroma. This is a real storehouse of vitamins and nutrients. To be able to feel the excellent taste of these fruits in the cold season, you can stock up on them for future use. One of the most convenient ways is freezing. How to properly freeze peaches for the winter? This can be done in different ways, it is easy and fast. Properly frozen and preserved, the fruit will make a wonderful winter treat.
Such a blank can be used in the future for the preparation of desserts, and also as a filling for baking. Fragrant slices will be an excellent addition to various cereals in the diet of both adults and children. They are tasty on their own.
Features of freezing peaches for the winter
Peaches are a very delicate fruit and can be easily damaged. Therefore, when preparing for freezing, they must be handled carefully.
To prevent the flesh from oxidizing and darkening, the peaches are dipped in an acidic solution for a few minutes. Prepared slices of ripe fruit can be placed in a weak solution of citric acid (add an incomplete teaspoon per liter of water). In this case, they will not darken during storage.
It is also prepared quite simply: from lemon juice and water with a temperature of about 15 degrees. For a liter of water, the addition of 4 tablespoons of juice will suffice.
It should be noted that these fruits very easily absorb extraneous odors, therefore, the bags must be airtight, and during storage, the fruits should not be placed next to products that have a strong odor (fish, meat, seafood).
It is also worthwhile to think in advance about where the fruit will be used in the future. Depending on this, the portion in the package may be larger or smaller.
Selection and preparation of fruits
Care must be taken when peaches are to be frozen. The fruits should be moderately ripe, without damage or traces of rot. It is imperative to wash the fruit, even if you plan to harvest it without the skin.
It is preferable to freeze small fruits whole. It is better to cut large fruits into pieces - this will save space in the freezer. Overripe fruits do not need to be frozen whole or in slices, but they will make an excellent fruit puree that can also be successfully stored in the freezer.
The peaches must first be washed gently and allowed to dry naturally or wiped dry with a towel.
Peach freezing recipes at home
Freezing is a great way to store vegetables and fruits. Moreover, it is fast and convenient. However, fruit can be frozen in a variety of ways. Below we will discuss the most popular recipes.
Whole peaches with pits
This is the fastest way of freezing, since no additional processing of the fruit is required, except for washing and drying.
To freeze the whole, together with the stone, each prepared peach must be wrapped in paper, put in a bag so that the fruits do not crush each other, and sent to the freezer.
Dry paper towels are great for wrapping fruit.
There should be enough space in the freezer for such a workpiece.
Skinless slices
When freezing peaches in the fridge, they must be washed and peeled. To do this, the fruits are blanched for 20-30 seconds in boiling water. Then you need to remove the skin from the fruit and cut them into slices. After that, the prepared peaches are dried, carefully folded into plastic bags and sent to freeze in the freezer.
With parchment
To properly freeze peaches using parchment, you must first wash, peel and peel them if desired. To do this, you need to make cuts on the peaches in the form of the letter "X" and lower them in boiling water for thirty seconds. After that, take out the fruits and put them in ice water.
Then the fruit needs to be cut into convenient pieces, pitted and cut into slices. Next, spread the slices on parchment so that they do not touch each other, cover with another sheet of parchment on top and send to the freezer.
This method of freezing also requires a significant amount of freezer space.
Peaches in bulk
You can freeze peaches in bulk with the skin or, if you wish, remove it. This will not affect the taste of the product. If there is a desire to remove the skin, then the washed fruit should be placed in boiling water for 15-20 seconds, and then in cold water, after which the skin can be easily removed.
Next, you need to divide the fruit into halves or smaller slices. To avoid darkening during the freezing process, the workpiece is briefly placed in water with the addition of a small amount of lemon juice or citric acid.
Then the fruits are taken out of the water, dried additionally and placed on any flat dish, covered with plastic wrap or baking paper. Peaches should not be in contact with each other. In this form, the fruit is sent to the freezer for 3-4 hours for preliminary freezing.
After that, they are folded into bags or other containers, and sent for long-term storage in a freezer.
With sugar
Usually, such a blank is most often used for baking sweet confectionery products, so it is better to pre-cut the peaches into convenient slices. For this method of freezing, prepared peaches are placed in a bag or container, layering the fruit with sugar. Storage containers are filled to the desired height, tightly closed and placed in the freezer.
You can freeze the fruits in this way immediately, without pre-processing in the freezer.
In syrup
For freezing in syrup, you can use slightly overripe peaches and those that have started the juice. You will need the following ingredients:
- fruit;
- sugar;
- water.
Prepare the sweet syrup first. To do this, take 350-400 grams of sugar for every 600 ml of water. The water is brought to a boil, sugar is stirred well in it until it is completely dissolved.
Fruits placed in a container are poured with slightly cooled syrup. In this case, the use of plastic bags would be inappropriate.
The billet is allowed to stand for 1-2 hours to soak the fruit, and then it is frozen in the freezer.
It is important not to fill the container to the brim with syrup to avoid spilling it out.
Peach puree
To prepare a healthy and tasty fruit puree, peaches must first be peeled. Then remove the bone, cut into pieces and grind with a blender.
Sugar can be added to taste or not added at all if desired. In this case, it will be completely natural. The prepared puree is distributed in containers. They are sealed tightly and sent to the freezer.
The puree can be pre-placed in ice freezer tins and frozen. Then the finished mashed potatoes are placed in an airtight bag and frozen. These cubes are a wonderful addition to baby food during the cold season.
Further storage
It is not enough to freeze this delicate product, it is important to observe the rules for its storage.
If the freezing rules have been followed, the peaches will not darken during storage and will have a pleasant appearance and taste in the future.
If the temperature in the chamber is from 9 to 12 degrees, then frozen fruits can be stored for 6 months. At temperatures below 12 degrees, frozen fruits are stored for at least 9 months. There should be enough space in the freezer for the workpieces.
How to defrost peaches
For further use, frozen fruit should be defrosted.
When properly defrosted, the fruit will retain its flavor and shape. Defrost peaches gradually, at room temperature or on a refrigerator shelf.
The slower the process is, the better the final fruit will look. In no case should you defrost in hot water or microwave oven - this will not only worsen the appearance of the product, but also destroy most of the stored vitamins.
Frozen peaches can be used in various desserts, or they can be eaten just like that.
