How to freeze peaches?
Many housewives freeze fruits and vegetables for the winter, but not many of them freeze peaches. Thawed fruit can be used as a dessert or eaten fresh. Before freezing this fruit, you should familiarize yourself with the technology and freezing rules, and then do everything right so that the peach does not lose its taste in the future.
Features of freezing peaches
To freeze peaches for the winter, it is worth buying fruits that are grown in the Kuban or in the Crimea. Such fruits are available for sale at the end of the summer period, and at the beginning of summer, only imported fruits are on store shelves, which are mainly processed with chemicals for long-term storage.
The peach is a delicate fruit and should be handled with care as there is a high risk of damage to the fruit. Fruits that are damaged and rotten should not be frozen.
For this event, you should choose only ripe fruits, but not overripe. They should not taste bitter and acidic, because when frozen, such qualities only increase. The appearance of the fruit also matters: some varieties of peaches have a too dense peel, which must be removed later.
So that frozen peaches do not lose their nutritional and taste qualities after freezing, you must follow the rules when choosing and preparing fruits.
Fruit preparation is of the utmost importance and consists of several basic operations.
- Regardless of the variety of peach, the first step is to thoroughly wash them under running water. After that, they must be laid out on a cloth that absorbs moisture and blotted with paper towels.
- If you chose peaches with a dense skin, then it is recommended to remove it. For this purpose, you need to make an incision in the form of a cross on the skin of the fruit, and then, using a slotted spoon, lower the fruit into a boiling liquid and immediately transfer it to a cold one. Quickly remove the skin from the fruit.
- If you decide to freeze peaches in slices, then after removing the skin, you need to cut the fruit in half and remove the seed.
- Often, the flesh of the fruit in the air becomes dark in color, and in order to prevent this, certain actions should be taken. Pieces of peaches should be dipped in an acidified liquid and held for about 60 seconds. At the same time, 10 g of citric acid is required for 1 liter of water. After you need to get the fruit and put it on a sieve so that the water is completely glass.
- To harvest fruits, you need to pick up special containers or bags that are designed to freeze fruits. The main thing is that the container is tightly closed. This condition is necessary, because peaches are able to absorb odors emanating from nearby products.
Freezing Peach Recipes
Consider recipes for freezing peaches at home.
Whole fruits
For this procedure, whole fruits without any damage are suitable.Some housewives wrap each fruit in white paper, but paper towels can be used for this purpose. Wrapped fruits are put in a plastic bag and placed in the freezer. To keep peaches fresh after defrosting, it is necessary to perform a gradual defrosting of the fruit.
peach puree
If you have fruits that are not suitable for freezing whole or in slices, then you can make puree from such fruits. This dish is perfect for feeding small children.
- First of all, the fruits are washed in cold water.
- Pitted and damaged areas are removed from peaches.
- Prepared fruits are crushed in a blender to a puree consistency. Sugar can be added if desired.
- The resulting mass is laid out in special containers, which are further tied with polyethylene material and put into the freezer. If you do not have such containers, then they can be replaced with plastic bottles.
With sugar
Prepared fruits are cut into medium-sized slices or cubes and placed in layers in special containers, with each layer sprinkled with sugar. Do not chop the fruit too finely, because basically such a product is used after defrosting as a filling in the preparation of sweet pastries.
Special containers are closed as tightly as possible with lids and put into the chamber.
In sugar syrup
For this recipe, you will need overripe fruits or those that, when cut, can release a large amount of juice.
- The first step is to prepare the syrup. At the same time, 300-400 g of granulated sugar will be required for 600 ml of liquid. Citric acid can be added if desired.The proportions of the ingredients are optional, you can add sugar and citric acid to your taste.
- Sliced fruits are placed in special containers and poured with ready-made chilled syrup, but there should be free space (1 cm) to the edge of the container. Otherwise, when freezing, the sugar solution may spill out of the container.
- Soaked fruits should be kept in syrup for several hours, and then placed in the freezer. According to the reviews of housewives who have already frozen this fruit, you can not keep the peaches in a sugar solution, but immediately put the fruit containers in the freezer.
sliced
- A special tray is covered with polyethylene material or parchment paper. Place slices of fruit on top so that they do not touch each other.
- The tray is placed in the freezer for 120 minutes so that the fruits have time to harden.
- Frozen fruits are laid out in portion bags and placed in the freezer.
There is another recipe for freezing peaches in slices, but only in this case, the skin must be removed according to the instructions for preparing the fruit for freezing. It is recommended to remove the peel from whole fruits, and after cutting the fruit into slices or slices.
Peach halves recipe
- Fruits are thoroughly washed and dried.
- Cut the peaches in half and remove the pits.
- You can treat the pulp of the fruit with citric acid so that they do not acquire a dark shade. To do this, you need to lower the fruits in an acidified liquid for 15-20 minutes. Some housewives do not perform this procedure, but freeze the fruits in an unprocessed form.
- Halves of the fruit are laid out on a tray with the skin down. There should be a distance between the stacked fruits (0.5 cm).The fruit tray is placed in the freezer for initial freezing for 120 minutes.
- Frozen fruits are laid out in portion bags and put into the freezer for further storage.
Proper storage
In order for thawed fruits to please you with excellent taste, you must follow the rules for storing fruits in the freezer.
At temperatures from -6 to -12 degrees, peaches are stored for 6 months, if the temperature is below -12 degrees, then the shelf life increases to 9 months. At the same time, during the period of storage of fruits, there should not be sudden changes in temperature, otherwise the fruits will either deteriorate or lose their taste.
To properly defrost the fruit, you should carry out delayed defrosting. Can be thawed on the shelf in the refrigerator or at room temperature. It is forbidden to defrost fruits in hot water or in a microwave oven. Otherwise, not only the appearance of peaches will deteriorate, but also a large amount of nutrients will be lost.
You will learn more about how to freeze peaches in the next video.