How to Buy, Store and Cook Peaches

Peaches taste soooo good and they offer so many health benefits that you will want get the best peaches and deal with them properly for maximum enjoyment.

How to Buy Peaches

To make sure you have a good for you juicy, sweet peach here is what to look for:

Always buy organic Peaches are always on the Dirty Dozen list. 12 Foods You MUST Eat Organic
Peaches bruise easily so don’t use your fingertips to check for firmness. Hold the peach in your whole hand.
There should be a slight give to the flesh; not rock-hard or mushy.
Make sure there is not green around the stem meaning they aren’t fully ripe)
Avoid ones that have shriveled skin as that means they’re old.
A well-defined crease.
Ripe fruits yield to gentle pressure and feature sweet aroma.

How to Store Peaches

To ripen peaches keep them on the counter at room temperature until they are ripe.
Once they are ripe, store peaches in the crisper bin of your refrigerator (they will keep for up to five days).
Tip: To quicken the ripening process, place peaches in a paper bag.
Slightly hard but mature fruits can be kept at room temperature until they ripen.

Tips for Eating and Cooking

Ripe peaches that have been stored in the refrigerator should be brought to the room temperature before being eaten to enjoy their full flavour.

Wash them in cold running water rubbing them gently to remove the peach fuzz just before eating. Eat fresh ripe peaches whole along with skin as this is where many of the nutrients are.

To prepare for baking, cut the peach lengthwise deeply until the hard seed felt and then remove the seed.

Sliced peaches will turn brown with the exposure to air due to conversion in iron form from ferrous oxide to ferric oxide. If you are serving them sliced, it is best to rinse slices in water added with few drops of fresh lemon.

Find you have more peaches on hand than you can eat or make into something right away? Try freezing them, slice them, lay them on a baking tray and put in the freezer for a few hours until they’re frozen through. Then put the peaches into a re-sealable plastic bag and freeze until ready to use. They’ll keep at least 6 months (longer in a free-standing freezer) and are perfect to use in baking. It is much the same as Freezing Berries

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Beverly Coffmon

29/08/2013 at 9:31 am

WOW! I’m nearing 70 and have just now learned SOME things about peaches of which I was not aware! Thank you so much for this “new lesson” in life. I’ve always loved peaches; just never really sure HOW to tell if they’re ready for eating! Thank you again; I plan to get some at the supermarket later this week!