Fresh, juicy peaches are one of summer’s greatest produce pleasures. But because they are delicate and continue to ripen after you get them home, it’s important to learn how to store fresh peaches. For the best tips on how to store ripe peaches, how to store unripe peaches, how to store cut peaches and how to quickly ripen unripe peaches, we consulted Food Network Kitchen's experts, Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN, nutrition expert at FoodNetwork.com and Lanier Pearson, co-owner of Pearson Farm, a fifth-generation family peach farm in Fort Valley, Georgia.

How to Know if a Peach is Ripe

The best way to tell if a peach is ripe is to give it a gentle squeeze; when it gives just a little bit, it’s ready.

Smell the fruit; it will have a distinctive, fragrant peach aroma.

How to Store Ripe Peaches

Peaches can go from ripe to overripe very quickly so eat them immediately if possible. If eating them right away isn't an option, use these tips for how to store ripe peaches:

Step 1: Handle with care to prevent bruising

Peaches are very delicate, so to prevent bruising, handle peaches with the same care you’d practice for transporting a carton of eggs, Pearson recommends. Avoid allowing them to touch one another in transit and once you get them home.

Step 2: Arrange peaches in a single layer

Place them stem-side down without touching each other on a clean linen or cotton towel.

Step 3: The optimal way to store ripe peaches is at room temperature

Keep them away from direct sunlight.

Step 4: As a last resort, store whole ripe peaches in the refrigerator

Refrigerating will pause the ripening process (for example, if you have ripe peaches but aren’t planning to make a cobbler for a few more days). The peaches will last for several days, sometimes up to a week. Before you’re ready to make your dish, allow the refrigerated peaches to come to room temperature.

How to Avoid Overripe Peaches

Peaches can easily become overripe. Tell-tale signs of overripe peaches include little brown spots, the onset of bruising and an increasingly pronounced peach scent that can start to smell fermented.

Pearson's top tip to avoid overripe peaches is to choose freestone peaches, a variety where the flesh pulls away from the pit and the pit pops right out. Freestone peaches tend to ripen a bit slower than clingstone peaches, a variety where the peach flesh clings to the pit. “A lot of times, the skin of clingstone peaches will start to shrivel a little bit. That’s certainly a tell-tale sign that this peach is kind of getting a little overripe. Freestone peaches don’t do that quite as much,” Pearson says.

How to Salvage Overripe Peaches

Overripe peaches can be salvaged by slicing off bruised or discolored parts or peeling the shriveled skin.

How to Store Unripe Peaches

Step 1: Arrange peaches in a single layer

Place them stem-side down without touching each other on a clean linen or cotton towel.

Step 2: The optimal way to store unripe peaches is at room temperature

Keep them away from direct sunlight.

Step 3: Check the peaches daily to assess their ripeness

It will take one to three days for peaches to ripen.

Typically, when you order peaches from a farm like Pearson Farm or purchase them at a farmers market, the peaches won’t be perfectly ripe. “They tend to ripen pretty quickly, usually by the next day,” Pearson says of the peaches shipped from her family farm. “Interestingly, even though all the peaches came from the same box, some may ripen faster than others.”

How to Ripen Peaches Faster

Step 1: To speed up the peach ripening process, place the peaches in a brown paper bag in a single layer and fold the top down

“Peaches release a gas called ethylene and if you trap the peaches together in that bag [the trapped ethylene] will make them ripen much faster than if they’re loose out in the open air on the counter, ” Pearson says.

Step 2: To speed up the peach ripening process even more, add a banana

The ethylene released by the banana will increase the amount of gas in the brown paper bag with the peaches and the speed of ripening.

Step 3: Check the peaches daily to assess their ripeness

How to Store Cut Peaches in the Refrigerator and Freezer

Step 1: Wash the fruit

Use our guide for The Right Way to Wash Your Fruit.

Step 2: Cut the peaches

• Quarter, slice or dice the peaches as desired.
• "If refrigerating, cutting the peaches in larger pieces will give them less surface area for oxidation," says Amidor.
• If freezing the peaches and you aren't sure how you'll use them, Ginevra Iverson, FNK's Executive Chef, recommends keeping the skin on and cutting them into slices for the most versatility. The skin can easily be removed once thawed. "Slices feel most universal if you want to use them for a cobbler or pie," she says. "Peeling them also seems fussy!"

Step 3: If refrigerating, prevent browning and prolong freshness with club soda, lemon or orange juice, or an edible powdered vitamin C product

• Club soda: “Cut peaches and then put them in a bowl with club soda just covering all peaches. Let them soak for 5 minutes then drain; that will keep the peaches from browning,” Pearson says. Plus, you’re left with a peach-infused club soda that’s ideal for mixing into cocktails and mocktails.
• Lemon or orange juice: “The juice is obviously going to change the flavor a little bit depending on what you’re going to do with the peaches," Pearson says. "If I’m making smoothies, lemon juice doesn’t bother me but if I’m going to eat them plain then maybe I don’t want taste of lemon juice."
• Powdered vitamin C product: Pearson also recommends using an edible vitamin c (ascorbic acid) powdered product that comes in a canister and can be sprinkled over cut fruit, such as Ball Fruit-Fresh Produce Protector. "It may not be a favorite of consumers as it has a touch of sugar (dextrose) and an anti-caking agent," says Amidor. "Lemon juice or orange juice would do the same thing."

Step 4: Refrigerate or freeze

• To refrigerate, place the cut peaches in an airtight container or resealable bag and label with the date and contents.
• To freeze, arrange the cut peaches in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and freeze them. Transfer the frozen cut peaches to a resealable bag, remove all the air from the bag and label with the date and contents. This will help to ensure that the peaches don’t freeze in one big clump and that you can easily take the portion you need.

How to Use Leftover Cut Peaches

There are plenty of creative uses and peach recipes for using up leftover cut peaches. Pearson and her family like to use them in peach smoothies, fruit salad and as a breakfast topping for oatmeal, yogurt or pancakes.

The sweet, juicy fruit is a star in peach desserts when baked in a peach cobbler, like our fan-favorite The Best Peach Cobbler, spun into homemade ice cream, such as our No-Churn Peaches and Cream Ice Cream, or blended into a puree and frozen into popsicles.

You can also use them to make a sauce to serve with savory dishes like chicken or pork chops, such as our Peach-Mustard Pork Chops.

And don't forget about peach preserves. “My mom makes a batch every year and it is a great way to have the taste and flavor of peaches in the wintertime when you don’t have fresh ones,” Pearson says.

Related Links:

The 26 Best Peach Recipes To Make All Summer Long

32 Sweet Peach Desserts To Satisfy Any Craving

15 Peach Cobbler Recipes for Every Occasion