Peaches are America’s foremost rock fruits. However, you can never quickly tell if peaches are ready for picking. If you have a peach tree at home, you probably already know the struggle of sometimes guessing when it’s the perfect time to pick some peaches. Generally speaking, peaches are harvested from July to August.
The best indicator of ripeness and readiness is the color of the fruit. When the fruit has shifted from being green to various yellowing shades, you know the peaches are getting ready to ripen completely. The more mature peaches are, the more flavor they bring and the more natural sugar they possess.
Be wary of overripe peaches as these generally do not store very well. Overripe peaches are also more likely to spoil in storage, so you’d have to consume them more quickly if you don’t want to waste them. If you want to know how to ripen peaches or ripen peaches faster than usual, read today’s blog and discover how the pros are doing. Get a ripe peach perfect every time.
What Is the Fastest Way to Ripen Peaches?
The simplest and fastest way to ripen peaches is by containing the ethylene gas that fruits give off. Ethylene signals fruits to ripen, and the more ethylene in the air, the better the results. To increase the concentration of natural ethylene, place your peaches in a paper bag, and fold the opening of the bag and let nature take its course. This will naturally ripen the peaches faster, so you won’t have to wait too long. If you want to increase the speed even more, you can add a ripe banana into the bag.
Bananas produce tons of ethylene (figuratively), and the additional ethylene from the ripe banana will increase the speed of ripening even more. For larger quantities of peaches, use a more extensive paper bag and perhaps add two or more bananas to ensure that you have ethylene circulating in the bag to fulfill the objective.
How Long Does It Take for Peaches to Ripen On the Counter?
Many people have no problem waiting for their peaches to ripen, so they put the peaches on the counter. There’s nothing wrong with this method. If all goes well, your peaches should be ready to be consumed in 24-48 hours. For best results, remember two things.
First, position the peaches so that they rest on their shoulder points and not on their bottoms. Second, place them on the counter near a window, so some sunlight can help hasten the process. Just placing the peaches on the counter may not be the quickest way to ripen them, but at least you are assured that in two days max, you’re going to have fragrant and sweet peaches ready for eating.
Will Peaches Ripen in The Refrigerator?
Like other fruits, peaches will continue to ripen in the refrigerator, albeit in a prolonged manner. The cold is known for almost halting the ripening process. There are several factors at play here that you should take into consideration. If you place your peaches in the vegetable compartment with other fruits and the other fruits are not sealed, they are still giving off a lot of ethylene. The combined ethylene of all the fruits would have a universal effect on their ripening speeds. In short, if you are storing a lot of fruits in the refrigerator, there is still a chance that they will ripen sooner than you expect. With this in mind, check for fruits daily for signs of ripening and over-ripening, and consume the ripe ones as soon as possible.
Monitor your fruits for visible signs of ripening, and you should be able to tell when it’s time to serve them. If all goes well, your peaches should store nicely for at least a handful of days before they completely ripen. Remember, out in the open, and peaches only need a maximum of two days before they ripen completely.
If you need to keep your peaches even longer, we highly recommend freezing them instead. Frozen peaches will hold nicely for months. People usually freeze peaches, so they have something charming and flavorful for various frozen and cold beverage concoctions.
Additionally, frozen peaches can be used for other items like peach chutneys and even sweet peach jam. There is never a lack of interesting recipes that include fresh peaches, especially if you control the ripening process.
Will Unripe Peaches Ripen After Picking?
Most peaches are harvested just before they become fully ripe, so the answer to this question is yes, they will ripen even if the peaches are picked before they are truly ripe. If you happen to acquire unripe peaches, there are so many ways to ripen them at home fully.
The first method we’ve already discussed: putting them in paper bags. If this isn’t your cup of tea, wrap your peaches with a small towel. Fold the towel’s corner over the fruits to mimic an enclosed space and wait for the ethylene gas to do its work.
This method is best for large peaches as they may not hold well in paper bags. Some people also don’t have paper bags at home, so at least you won’t be stuck without an alternate method. And finally, you can place your nectarines and peaches on the counter.
This is the most common method of doing it and is a generally satisfactory one. Keep in mind that during storage, you need to separate the unripe peaches from the ripe ones.
One easy way to check is by smelling the peach. If the peach has a pleasant, flowery, and sweet smell, that means it’s ripe and ready. If the smell is somehow more subdued, then you may need to wait a day or two before you can add that peach to the ripe batch.
