Do I Dare to Peel a Peach?

Apologies to Mr. Eliot.  I couldn’t resist . . .

Peaches.  Soft, fragrant, juicy, sweet, fuzzy peaches.  Wait–back up.  Fuzzy?  That kind of ruins the image, doesn’t it?  But there’s no denying it:  peaches are fuzzy.  Some people don’t care–they’re not scrubby, like kiwis, or thorny, like prickly pears.  But I don’t love the fuzz.  So when I want to snack on a peach, I peel it first.  And when I want to make a cobbler, I find myself peeling a couple of pounds of peaches, and thinking maybe blueberries would’ve been easier . . .

Here’s a trick for quickly peeling a whole pile of peaches.  My demo shows just one, but this is most efficient when you have lots of peaches (for the record, it works on tomatoes, too).  Do as many at one time as you can fit in a single layer in whatever size bowl you’re using.

Start with your peach.  See the fuzz?

Put the peach in a bowl that is deeper than the peach is tall, and not to much wider.  Then put the kettle on to boil (or boil some water in whatever way you prefer; I know my mother is reading this and wondering why in the world I don’t just use the microwave–because I like using a kettle, that’s why!).  You only need enough water to cover the peach.

Pour the boiling water over the peach, and count off 30 seconds (I counted to 40 for this one, but that was because I was messing around with the camera.

Then use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove the peach from the (still) really hot water, and put it on a towel.  Some books will tell you to plunge the peach in ice water, but I can’t be bothered.  It’ll be cool enough to handle in just a few seconds.

Hold it over a bowl to pull the peel off, because you don’t want to lose a single drop of peach juice.  Really, you don’t.

You can use your thumbnail to just pierce the skin at the pointy end, and it should slip right off.

Seriously, it couldn’t be any easier.  Unless peaches didn’t have fuzz.  In which case they’d probably be nectarines, which are nearly as much fun.