What's the best way to freeze peaches to use later in jam? I don't
really want to sugar them before freezing.

Thanks, Dianna
_______________________________________________
To reply, please remove "fluff" from my address.

In article >,
Dianna Visek > wrote:

> What's the best way to freeze peaches to use later in jam? I don't
> really want to sugar them before freezing.
>
> Thanks, Dianna


I suppose you could do it like the pros do -- chunks on a cookie sheet
until frozen, then bagged. I don't think I'd bother with any acid to
prevent darkening, but that's just me.

I've not done it, but I wonder how it would work if you smashed a
recipe's worth and bagged and froze that. I can't see why not.
--
-Barb
<http://jamlady.eboard.com> Updated 7-19-2006, Visit to our Country
Estate
"If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all."

Dianna Visek wrote:
> What's the best way to freeze peaches to use later in jam? I don't
> really want to sugar them before freezing.
>
> Thanks, Dianna
> _______________________________________________
> To reply, please remove "fluff" from my address.


They freeze better with a little sugar. If you freeze, say, 2 quarts of
peeled sliced peaches in quart freezer bags with a half a cup of sugar
(and a little vitamin C) in each bag, just subtract that much sugar from
your jam recipe.

Best regards,
Bob <-- wishes he still had peach trees

"Dianna Visek" > wrote in message
...
> What's the best way to freeze peaches to use later in jam? I don't
> really want to sugar them before freezing.
>

Whether you do it with or without sugar, I think you'd want to peel them
first.

Or does the freezing process make the peels easy to remove after freezing?
If so, maybe just halve and pit first.

Anny

How does the sugar improve the result? In the absence of any better
info, I peeled and chopped the peaches, and stirred in 1 1/2 tsp lemon
juice per cup.

Thanks Dianna


On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 23:41:21 -0500, zxcvbob >
wrote:

>Dianna Visek wrote:
>> What's the best way to freeze peaches to use later in jam? I don't
>> really want to sugar them before freezing.
>>
>> Thanks, Dianna
>> _______________________________________________
>> To reply, please remove "fluff" from my address.
>
>
>They freeze better with a little sugar. If you freeze, say, 2 quarts of
>peeled sliced peaches in quart freezer bags with a half a cup of sugar
>(and a little vitamin C) in each bag, just subtract that much sugar from
>your jam recipe.
>
>Best regards,
>Bob <-- wishes he still had peach trees

_______________________________________________
To reply, please remove "fluff" from my address.

Dianna Visek wrote:

> How does the sugar improve the result? In the absence of any better
> info, I peeled and chopped the peaches, and stirred in 1 1/2 tsp lemon
> juice per cup.

I don't know for certain, but I imagine because sugar is hygroscopic it
draws moisture/liquid out of the peaches. When they freeze, there's
less water inside the peaches and when they thaw there's less ice
cyrstals to puncture the cell walls.

In short: improves texture.

But I might be wrong.

B/

Brian Mailman wrote:
> Dianna Visek wrote:
>
>> How does the sugar improve the result? In the absence of any better
>> info, I peeled and chopped the peaches, and stirred in 1 1/2 tsp lemon
>> juice per cup.
>
> I don't know for certain, but I imagine because sugar is hygroscopic it
> draws moisture/liquid out of the peaches. When they freeze, there's
> less water inside the peaches and when they thaw there's less ice
> cyrstals to puncture the cell walls.
>
> In short: improves texture.
>
> But I might be wrong.
>
> B/


It improves the texture and I don't know why. Brian's explanation is
the best I've seen.

The little bit of sugar that gets absorbed into the peaches may also
interfere with the growth of ice crystals, so they do less cellular
damage (or maybe none of the sugar is absorbed, but the sugar
concentration in the peaches goes up anyway as water is drawn out.)

The sugar also tastes good when you eat the partially-thawed peaches
right out of the freezer container. :-)

Bob

On Tue, 25 Jul 2006 09:35:50 -0700, Brian Mailman
> wrote:

>Dianna Visek wrote:
>
>> How does the sugar improve the result? In the absence of any better
>> info, I peeled and chopped the peaches, and stirred in 1 1/2 tsp lemon
>> juice per cup.
>
>I don't know for certain, but I imagine because sugar is hygroscopic it
>draws moisture/liquid out of the peaches. When they freeze, there's
>less water inside the peaches and when they thaw there's less ice
>cyrstals to puncture the cell walls.
>
>In short: improves texture.
>
>But I might be wrong.
>
\
Barb Schaller wrote about something like this. Sugar your fruit and
let it sit for several hours before you put it in ice cream. You no
longer bite into fruit flavored ice cubes.

IIRC you put 1/2 of the sugar your recipe calls for on the fruit. I
put mine in the refrigerator overnight.


--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974

The Cook wrote:

> On Tue, 25 Jul 2006 09:35:50 -0700, Brian Mailman
> > wrote:
>
>>Dianna Visek wrote:
>>
>>> How does the sugar improve the result? In the absence of any better
>>> info, I peeled and chopped the peaches, and stirred in 1 1/2 tsp lemon
>>> juice per cup.
>>
>>I don't know for certain, but I imagine because sugar is hygroscopic it
>>draws moisture/liquid out of the peaches. When they freeze, there's
>>less water inside the peaches and when they thaw there's less ice
>>cyrstals to puncture the cell walls.
>>
>>In short: improves texture.
>>
>>But I might be wrong.
>>
> \
> Barb Schaller wrote about something like this. Sugar your fruit and
> let it sit for several hours before you put it in ice cream. You no
> longer bite into fruit flavored ice cubes.

Wait.... Now I remember. 30 years ago, when I was in my macropsychotic
salad days I owned an ice cream store with our
private/reserve/"home-made" brand. Preservative-, color*,
thisthatnother-free. I learned that the fruit flavors had to have the
fruit 'marinated' or the result above happened. I knew I knew that from
somewhere but I wasn't sure. It's like zxcvbob said, the sugar needs to
replace the water in the fruit.

> IIRC you put 1/2 of the sugar your recipe calls for on the fruit. I
> put mine in the refrigerator overnight.

I do that with strawberries, but leave them out to ferment slightly
before making into strawberry-Grand Marnier conserve. Layer an equal
amount of sugar:berries.

B/

"Brian Mailman" > wrote in message
...
> The Cook wrote:
>
> > On Tue, 25 Jul 2006 09:35:50 -0700, Brian Mailman
> > > wrote:
> >
> >>Dianna Visek wrote:
> >>
> >>> How does the sugar improve the result? In the absence of any better
> >>> info, I peeled and chopped the peaches, and stirred in 1 1/2 tsp lemon
> >>> juice per cup.
> >>
> >>I don't know for certain, but I imagine because sugar is hygroscopic it
> >>draws moisture/liquid out of the peaches. When they freeze, there's
> >>less water inside the peaches and when they thaw there's less ice
> >>cyrstals to puncture the cell walls.
> >>
> >>In short: improves texture.
> >>
> >>But I might be wrong.
> >>
> > \
> > Barb Schaller wrote about something like this. Sugar your fruit and
> > let it sit for several hours before you put it in ice cream. You no
> > longer bite into fruit flavored ice cubes.
>
> Wait.... Now I remember. 30 years ago, when I was in my macropsychotic
> salad days I owned an ice cream store with our
> private/reserve/"home-made" brand. Preservative-, color*,
> thisthatnother-free. I learned that the fruit flavors had to have the
> fruit 'marinated' or the result above happened. I knew I knew that from
> somewhere but I wasn't sure. It's like zxcvbob said, the sugar needs to
> replace the water in the fruit.
>
> > IIRC you put 1/2 of the sugar your recipe calls for on the fruit. I
> > put mine in the refrigerator overnight.
>
> I do that with strawberries, but leave them out to ferment slightly
> before making into strawberry-Grand Marnier conserve. Layer an equal
> amount of sugar:berries.
>
> B/
>

wow! So if you were to freeze ANY fruit for later use - mainly for jam -
would you always add sugar?

I'm always freezing fruit (for jammin' later) , but I've never added
sugar...now I'm thinking I might.........

Kathi

"zxcvbob" > wrote in message
...
> Kathi Jones wrote:
> > "Brian Mailman" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >> The Cook wrote:
> >>
> >>> On Tue, 25 Jul 2006 09:35:50 -0700, Brian Mailman
> >>> > wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Dianna Visek wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> How does the sugar improve the result? In the absence of any better
> >>>>> info, I peeled and chopped the peaches, and stirred in 1 1/2 tsp
lemon
> >>>>> juice per cup.
> >>>> I don't know for certain, but I imagine because sugar is hygroscopic
it
> >>>> draws moisture/liquid out of the peaches. When they freeze, there's
> >>>> less water inside the peaches and when they thaw there's less ice
> >>>> cyrstals to puncture the cell walls.
> >>>>
> >>>> In short: improves texture.
> >>>>
> >>>> But I might be wrong.
> >>>>
> >>> \
> >>> Barb Schaller wrote about something like this. Sugar your fruit and
> >>> let it sit for several hours before you put it in ice cream. You no
> >>> longer bite into fruit flavored ice cubes.
> >> Wait.... Now I remember. 30 years ago, when I was in my macropsychotic
> >> salad days I owned an ice cream store with our
> >> private/reserve/"home-made" brand. Preservative-, color*,
> >> thisthatnother-free. I learned that the fruit flavors had to have the
> >> fruit 'marinated' or the result above happened. I knew I knew that
from
> >> somewhere but I wasn't sure. It's like zxcvbob said, the sugar needs
to
> >> replace the water in the fruit.
> >>
> >>> IIRC you put 1/2 of the sugar your recipe calls for on the fruit. I
> >>> put mine in the refrigerator overnight.
> >> I do that with strawberries, but leave them out to ferment slightly
> >> before making into strawberry-Grand Marnier conserve. Layer an equal
> >> amount of sugar:berries.
> >>
> >> B/
> >>
> >
> > wow! So if you were to freeze ANY fruit for later use - mainly for
jam -
> > would you always add sugar?
> >
> > I'm always freezing fruit (for jammin' later) , but I've never added
> > sugar...now I'm thinking I might.........
> >
> > Kathi
> >
> >
>
>
> For jam it doesn't matter so much because you're going to cook it to
> death anyway. But if you *might* change you mind and want to eat it
> fresh or make a pie, it'll work better with sugar.
>
> (Freezing in individual pieces on a cookie sheet or jellyroll pan in the
> deep freezer works pretty good too because the ice crystals form so fast
> they don't have a chance to grow very large)
>
> I usually freeze berries, except strawberries, without sugar. They
> don't seem to suffer as much in the freezer as peaches do.
>
> Bob

thanks Bob. I freeze fruit often. If I have it for fresh use and I'm not
using it fast enough, or don't have enough for a full recipe - I stick it in
the freezer, in a jar or freezer bag. I'd rather save up small amounts for
later use than see it go to waste. I've always frozen as is, never with
added sugar.

Come to think of it....I had apples and pears peeled and sliced for a pie I
didn't use all of them so I put them in the freezer as is for later use. I
wonder if they'd be good in a pie after being frozen, or if I should use
them for an apple/pear butter or jelly now.........

Anyway, thanks for the input,

Kathi

In article >,
"Kathi Jones" > wrote:
(snippage)
> > > Barb Schaller wrote about something like this. Sugar your fruit and
> > > let it sit for several hours before you put it in ice cream. You no
> > > longer bite into fruit flavored ice cubes.

Yeah, I think the info was in the leaflet that came with the ice cream
maker.
> > Brian added:
> > I do that with strawberries, but leave them out to ferment slightly
> > before making into strawberry-Grand Marnier conserve. Layer an equal
> > amount of sugar:berries.
> >
> > B/
> >
>
> wow! So if you were to freeze ANY fruit for later use - mainly for jam -
> would you always add sugar?
>
> I'm always freezing fruit (for jammin' later) , but I've never added
> sugar...now I'm thinking I might.........
>
> Kathi


Not me, Kiddo. Berries? No need to. I freeze berries loose on a
cookie sheet and bag them when frozen. I can measure out what I need
when I need it.
--
-Barb
<http://jamlady.eboard.com> Updated 7-19-2006, Visit to our Country
Estate
"If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all."

zxcvbob wrote:

> (Freezing in individual pieces on a cookie sheet or jellyroll pan in the
> deep freezer works pretty good too because the ice crystals form so fast
> they don't have a chance to grow very large)

I saw Alton Brown on "Good Eats" recommend first cooling in the fridge
to bring the temp down (so faster to freeze), and then, if possible,
putting the tray in a picnic cooler with dry ice so as to simulate an
IQF environment.

B/