Q. This is a question I never thought I would ask, but here goes! My toddler likes to eat canned fruit, but he only eats a small amount at a time. He also never wants to eat the same canned fruit two days in a row. I end up with a lot of opened cans of fruit that never get eaten, particularly canned peaches. I was wondering if it would be alright to freeze them. That way I could freeze the leftovers in serving sized that are right for my toddler and then thaw them in the fridge the night before. I’m not sure how well canned peaches will freeze with the syrup. Can you freeze canned peaches?
Can you freeze canned peaches?
A. Yes, you can freeze canned peaches! It’s not a common question, but there’s no reason why canned peaches can’t be frozen. The high sugar content in the syrup may slow down the freezing process a bit, but you should still be able to freeze them with success. The peaches are already softened by being in the syrup mixture, so freezing them won’t affect the texture very much.
The key to freezing canned peaches is to ensure that the syrup doesn't get freezer burned. Particularly if you plan to serve it to a toddler, you want to make sure that the flavour stays as close as possible to its pre-frozen taste. If you are concerned about texture, then I would recommend freezing the canned peaches in small, hard containers rather than freezer bags so that the peach slices don’t get pressed down and mushy once thawed.
How do you freeze canned peaches?
Start with clean canned peaches. By this I mean that you should separate what you are going to freeze and place it in another container before feeding the toddler. Saliva or other bacteria could enter the syrup and multiply otherwise. When you’re ready to freeze the canned peaches, spoon individual serving sizes into small, hard freezer safe containers.
Fill almost to the top, and leave a bit of headroom for expansion. Label and date the containers and stack them in the freezer. Remove containers from the freezer the night before or several hours in advance when you are ready to serve them to your toddler. Give the fruit a stir to reincorporate the flavours and to make sure there are no leftover frozen pieces. The fruit may seem sweeter than before frozen. Do not refreeze previously frozen canned peaches.
I freeze bananas in the peel and will be doing peaches as well but what about canned pears, fruit cocktail - both regular and tropical, jar cherries, mandarin oranges, pineapple, etc.? I have to buy in bulk because of an extremely limited food budget to get thru the month and never get to have fruit & cottage salad because of the prices of the smaller cans of fruit.
I normally purchase the fruit in juice rather than syrup due to health issues. NO not diabetic.
Thanks for your assistance.
"fruit & cottage salad" should say fruit & cottage cheese salad