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The Best Ways to Keep Fresh Peaches

Fresh peaches are delicious by themselves, but can also be enjoyed sliced over cereal, mixed into ice cream or yogurt or baked in a peach cobbler. The fruit is also low in calories, even though it has a rather sweet taste. According to Missouri Families.org, an entire medium peach has only 37 calories. Peaches, however, are a very delicate fruit and can quickly rot if not properly stored.

  1. Choosing a Peach

    • When picking a peach, choose one that's free of bruises and has a peach or golden undertone to the skin's coloring. You also want a peach that hasn't fully ripened, unless you're planning to immediately eat the peach. The delicate fruit can go from ripe to rotten in a matter of hours. To determine the fruit's ripeness, gently squeeze the fruit. If it's firm in your hand, it isn't yet ripe. If the peach is soft, it's ripe.

    Ripening a Peach

    • If the peaches you bring home aren't ripe, help the process along. Place your peaches in a brown paper bag, such as a grocery bag, and fold over the top of the bag, so it's loosely closed. Don't stack the peaches atop of one another. Put the bag of peaches on the counter and allow them to sit for two to three days at room temperature. Check the peaches each day. They're ripe and ready to eat when they're soft to the touch.

    Storing Ripe Peaches

    • Ripe peaches stay fresh when stored in the refrigerator. The skin of a peach is thin, so it can absorb other flavors if it's stored near items with strong scents. For this reason, store peaches in a plastic bag in a separate drawer, if possible. Peaches taste best when served at room temperature. Remove the peach from the refrigerator an hour or two before eating.

    Rotten Peaches

    • Peaches can be stored in the refrigerator for up to five days before they begin to go bad. Once brown spots start to show through your peach's skin, the fruit has started to rot. You can salvage the peaches by cutting out the brown spots and eating or cooking the remaining flesh. Other signs that your peaches are about to go bad include a strong, sweet fragrance and juice leaking from the peach's skin.

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