Peeling peaches for smoothies? Yes or No

Fresh Farms had peaches for $.49/lb so I grabbed a few pounds to relieve the tedium of our regular strawberry/blueberry. I know I can blanch and remove the peel without a lot of effort before I freeze them but I wonder if I can be totally lazy and leave the peel on and just wash them? Besides, who wants to heat up the kitchen with a large pot of boiling water.

I seem to recall people eating peaches unpeeled but memories dim at my age. I don't think I have to peel them, especially if I make the smoothies in a blender.

So LTH best and brightest, to peel or not to peel? Thanks in advance!

Also, since we add a little agave syrup or ripe banana sometimes, I am guessing I don't have to totally let them soften up before processing.

I eat unpeeled peaches all of the time. If you don't like the texture, peel them, if not, don't.

Peach stater here votes for no peel. The skin is edible. If you're using in a smoothie, it should just get pulverized anyway.

I'll have to look for these at Fresh Farms.

I'd peel them. As you yourself noted, it's not that difficult, and the finished product is markedly superior.

I vote for (a) not blanching, which is going down the road of defeating the whole convenience factor of smoothies, but (b) peeling, unblanched, just because I suspect the peel will gum up the works. Curious to know how it will turn out, though, so I hope you will run trials with and without skins and post back on the results.

See:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ch ... 4206.story

Peaches are very likely to have pesticides on their surface. Being hard to wash, removing the skin is probably a good idea.

Frozen & thawed peach peel isn't very pleasant in my experience, it gets kind of dry & leathery (my mother freezes peaches occasionally from their peach trees, though in recent years she's been more likely just to turn them into jam as its easier to store) & isn't that nice in a smoothie unless your blender can really go to town on it. I'd vote to ditch it.

I heard somewhere (maybe the Good Food podcast) that if you freeze tomatoes whole, the skin slips right off the frozen fruit. I wonder if the same thing would work for peaches?
For my part, I always peel peaches-- flocks of fuzzy skin does not sound good for smoothies (or anything, really). I also freeze peaches for pie filling by macerating the fruit with sugar, then boiling the juices down so you don't end up with a watery pie. Not so important for smoothies.

Jen

Before you freeze the peaches, why not make a couple of smoothies? One with peel, one without, and see which you like best?

My bet would be on peel-free smoothies, but YMMV.

A more important question is: How good are these peaches? As somebody who doesn't find it easy to get to farmers' markets, I'm always looking for good sources of storebought peaches, but they are hard to find.

The essence and oil that deliver the distinctive peach note aroma are in the skin. I personally wouldn't even consider removing the skins.

=R=

Here's what I do. I pit and slice them into 6th's or 8th's, then I freeze them in single layers.
Once they are frozen and thawed for a few minutes, the skin slips right off.
They are perfect for smoothies or to make a puree.

I'm in the no peel camp. Too much goodness in those skins.

Forgot to respond back. Too many variables with other ingredients to notice too much of a difference. The tiny pieces of peel add an attractive visual note to the smoothie. With the time and hassle savings in not peeling, that's the way for me.

Thanks for all the responses.