r/LifeProTips • u/Antiviralposter • 1d ago
Food & Drink LPT- How to pick a perfect peach
How to pick peaches- from your Asian auntie.
Now, I am mostly familiar with yellow peaches but I am sure this technique will work with other peaches.
First off, you should know that the sweetness and juiciness of a peach has little to do with how soft or firm they are. You can have a rock hard peach ripen in your kitchen over a few days and it will be delicious. You can have a soft, yielding peach from the farmers market and it will be mealy and dry. So picking a delicious peach has little to do with if a peach yields to your touch at first.
When you look at your peach, you want it to have red and orange colorings or a significant blush alongside its base color of yellow flesh. You want it to have both a blush and a base color because you know it has been out in the sun and has been given time to grow. Likewise, avoid green tinged peaches as they have been picked too early. You should also see a prominent seam- this means that it has had enough time on the stem for it to have aged properly- juvenile peaches are not going to have the depth of flavor as a mature peach.
Then, taking the peach to your nose, you want to inhale deeply where the stem is to make sure there is a “peach” like fragrance. As the peach softens, that fragrance will become intoxicating and you will know it is ready for eating before you even enter the kitchen. But it doesn’t need to be strong when you first buy them- just a little bit of fragrance tells you they will be perfect later.
Finally, as you hold the peach in your hand, consider the weight of the peach in relation to the volume. If it feels heavier than it should in relation to its volume, it will more likely be a juicier peach. Remember- the peach has to feel heavy for its size. Big or small peaches can both be delicious but they must feel like they have been watered sufficiently during their growth. This is an important part- more than color or fragrance- because dry mealy peaches are not as tasty raw. They must be baked or cooked with sugar to soften and hydrate the fibers therein. Still delicious but it takes more work.
There is some debate as to which kind of peach is better: cling or free stone. People argue that cling peaches have a better flavor as they come earlier in the season so you can satisfy that craving sooner rather than later. But for me, I think the wait for free stones later in the season has merit. It’s a little easier to eat and tends to be less messy.
Speaking of mess, I know some people like to keep the fuzz on their peaches and some people like their peaches peeled. Peeling a ripe peach is a joyful thing for me- when the flesh is soft and yielding, the peel comes right off with a gentle tug. But eating peaches with the fuzzy bits also means you can taste the sweetness of the sun right there. So it’s definitely up to the connoisseur.
I hope this helps you during peach season.
Edited for grammar and green tinged peaches tip in comment.
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u/Marlowe_Eldridge 1d ago
Any tips for mackinaw peaches? They’re only ripe for two weeks.
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u/Antiviralposter 1d ago
Alas, no. They are a miracle of nature though.
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u/kel7star 17h ago
Like the aurora borealis
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u/oh_look_a_fist 6h ago
At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely within your kitchen?!?
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u/ilford_7x7 1d ago
Yeah and what if I've lost my sense of taste and smell from spending too much time in a fumigated apartment
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u/cwsjr2323 1d ago
For texture and using your memory to trick yourself into smelling and tasting, buy canned or frozen.
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u/GeoBrian 1d ago
First tip is don't get banned from Joe's Fruits. But if you do, I have a friend, Bob Sacamano, that'll buy them for you.
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u/c-lem 1d ago
I've been interested in some seeds for quite a while, but I'm afraid they're a bit pricey for the novelty.
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u/FreshFondant 1d ago
I love juicy peaches, but I find that the majority of the time the peaches are ROCK HARD in the store. Should we still buy them? How do we get them to ripen and how long should we expect it to take? Is there a "never buy when they are..." situation? I hesitate to buy out of fear of yet another disappointment and waste of money.
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u/Antiviralposter 1d ago edited 1d ago
When you pick up the peach and it feels light- don’t buy.
The best comparison is a tennis ball vs a billiard or baseball. You want it to feel like your wrist yields to its gravity.
I suppose I could do a scientific analysis of this but unfortunately, I like to eat them too fast.
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u/thewholecatastrophe 1d ago
I’m not OP; just sharing my own peach ripening ritual in case it’s helpful! I put hard peaches from the store into a little brown paper lunch sack, crumple the top down to close it, and leave them on top of the fridge. I check them every day or so. They usually ripen right up in a few days. Once they smell and feel ripe, I transfer to a bowl in the fridge and eat them over the next couple days.
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u/Antiviralposter 1d ago
This is the way.
But also…
NEVER REFRIGERATE A PEACH!
They don’t like the cold.
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u/coleman57 1d ago
I like ripe peaches cold, though I also enjoy them at room temperature. As long as I don’t put them in the fridge before they ripen, I find they’re fine.
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u/Antiviralposter 1d ago
I feel bad for them if they get too cold. They like the sun. Right?
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u/coleman57 1d ago
I figure they had their season in the sun, and how much worse can it be in the fruit drawer after a few days in a paper bag?
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u/lilsourem 9h ago
This is setting up a lot of people to walk into the kitchen and find their peaches overrun by ants they didn't even know they had.
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u/ZeusTheMooose 1d ago
When I worked at Whole Foods we stored all the peaches and stone fruit in the walk ins
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u/Falconman21 1d ago
My wife buys peaches from a roadside stand, they’re never ripe.
Usually takes a few days to a week, we just leave them in the paper bag. They’re soft to the touch when ripe.
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u/88secret 1d ago
Don’t buy them if there’s any hint of green near the stem. Means they were picked too soon and won’t ripen well.
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u/canarduck 1d ago
Yes. Buy the rock hard peaches. When they get soft, they’re ready to eat. But eat them quick! Once they’re soft, sometimes the next day they are over ripe
I’ll leave you to read the OP with regards to picking a good peach
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u/mwm424 1d ago
excellent LPT - I have found the #1 most important thing is the weight/heft/density. if it feels heavier than it looks, youre in business.
also if it's a little mealy, slice it... thin slices cut the fibers and make a slightly mealier peach more palatable.
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u/Antiviralposter 1d ago edited 1d ago
I end up freezing the mealy ones for smoothies.
But definitely- you want heft. Juicier the better.
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u/jkxs 1d ago
This is how I pick watermelon. The people are tapping it but I compare which one is the heaviest for its size lol
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u/West_of_Ishigaki 1d ago
I laugh whenever I see people thumping watermelons and their bellies. To easily spot the ripe melons, simply look at the side that lays on the ground. Find a melon with deep yellow tones and you're set. If it's solid green with little or no yellow, keep looking. It's that simple!
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u/candacepatra 1d ago
Please do more fruits!
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u/Antiviralposter 1d ago
I might. Do you have any special requests?
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u/__thrillho 1d ago
Watermelon, apples, strawberries, blueberries. Nectarines, grapes. Oranges, clementines. Mangos
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u/Oh-My-God-Do-I-Try 1d ago
Dark, with webbing (the brown dry streaks that show up on the skin), and a yellow patch (instead of white): sweet and flavorful. The “heavy for its size” rule applies here too. I use these as guidance for all my watermelons and haven’t had a bad one yet.
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u/dr_jigsaw 1d ago
Cherries, please!
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u/Antiviralposter 1d ago
You know…
I’m just relieved you didn’t pick eggplant.
I will think about the cherry bit.
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u/sffixated 1d ago
Not a fruit, but I would LOVE some advice on choosing daikon radish. Sometimes I get a beautifully mild and tender radish and sometimes I get a stringy fart radish, and I cannot for the life of me tell the difference in the store. It just feels like playing radish roulette.
And thank you for this wonderful peach guide!
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u/Freezytrees99 1d ago
Goddamn I just bought peaches, and went to eat one after reading this and it was first mealy ass peach I’ve ever had, couldn’t even eat it.
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u/yungyoogs 1d ago
This is both helpful and beautifully written. It feels like a balm. Thank you!
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u/JohnHenryHoliday 1d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/L33OnjCuZ5b13v4Vy1
This is who I imagine is writing this LPT.
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u/puan0601 1d ago
umm what about for white peaches though?
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u/Antiviralposter 1d ago
Mostly the same- but I don’t let my white peaches get too soft. I like them a little firmer for some reason.
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u/luke0132 1d ago
Appreciate this tip. Genuinely been picking my peaches based on nothing but vibes. Thanks OP.
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u/lightknight7777 1d ago
The new donut species carried in groceries is crazy. They remind me of the perfect ones I occasionally ran across in my youth on a regular basis.
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u/jamesbrownthedude 1d ago
I'm moving to the country, gonna eat me a lot of peaches.
Peaches come from a can, they were put there by a man in a factory downtown.
And if I had my little way, I'd eat peaches everyday, some soaking bulges in the shade.
I took a little nap where the roots all twist, squished your rotten peach in my fist
and dreamed about you, woman.
I poke my finger down inside, make a little room for an ant to hide.
Nature's candy in my hand or can, or pie!
Millions of peaches, peaches for me. Millions of peaches, peaches for free! Look out!
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u/Sutekija 1d ago
I have a La Feliciana peach tree which is giving me little 1.5 inch peaches for the first time. I am so beyond excited. Any favorite varieties?
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u/StressTraditional204 1d ago
the warning about soft farmers market peaches being mealy is the exact betrayal i needed to hear about 😭
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u/yetanotherjoblessguy 1d ago
Somewhere in the middle, I started wondering if what we’re reading is really about peaches.
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u/vietbaoa4htk 1d ago
adding to this, smell the stem end. a ripe one is sweet and floral there, no smell means it wont get sweeter. and the background under the blush should be gold or cream, any green means it was picked too early and it'll soften but never sweeten
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u/extra2002 1d ago
Can you tell cling vs. free by looking at the peach, or do you need them to be labeled?
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u/Antiviralposter 1d ago
It’s usually due to the varietal- the later in the summer the more likely it is free vs cling.
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u/yamgarden 1d ago
You’re peachtastic! Thank you for this lesson. Please write more fruits! Would love to learn more from you!
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u/iambebop 1d ago
All I can think about now is peaches. It's winter where I am and many months till peach season...
...cries in lack of peach 🍑😭
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u/smurfolicious 1d ago
Pure poetry. Thank you for your beautiful words. I'll be off getting peaches now.
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u/Staring-Dog 17h ago
Wow. That was a beautiful piece of writing. I feel like I could've read that as a passage in a novel or short story. Thanks so much for the lovely info!! Gonna try it out tomorrow for sure!
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u/whyyounogood 1d ago
Thanks, from me, who always gets the mealy, extra crunchy peach. How something is both hard and gritty, yet mushy, is a mystery I have not figured out.
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u/pagenrider 15h ago
Leaving the fuzz on the peach can lead to laxative reaction. Don’t ask why I know.
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u/AssistanceCorrect762 5h ago
I started checking the weight vs size after ruining a whole 5 lb bag with mealy ones; do you ever refrigerate them or always counter-ripen?
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