Got any vitamin C tablets around that you can crush and dissolve? Same as ascorbic acid in Fruit Fresh. Other wise I'd use the 2 lemons diluted with some water.

Got any close neighbors you can borrow from?

Dave

any kind of acid will work, toss them with lemon juice or slice them into some vinegar water, the drain them. It just keeps them from turning brown. Even if you don't use anything, they'll still taste just as good, they just won't look as pretty.

I do have citric acid. Would that work okay without changing the flavor at all?

Catherine,

Yes using the citiric acid disolved in water will work for the peaches:)

Stacie

How much Vitamin C should be used in how much water?

And/or:

How much citric acid should be used in how much water?

And/or:

How much lemon juice should be used in how much water?

I've been looking for Fruit Fresh with no luck and I want to try freezing some peaches.

Thanks!
Bart

Can't find Fruit Fresh? That is weird. Spices section and in the canning supplies section too of all our grocery stores.

1. 3000mg ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and 1 gallon of water. (Crush tablets thoroughly.)
2. 1/4 c bottled lemon juice in 1 gallon water (doesn't work as well.)

Citric acid? No. Totally different. Doesn't work for this. What you want is ascorbic acid.

Pic of Fruit Fresh below so you know what you are looking for.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Fruit Fresh picture

Thanks Dave!

Only one of the 4 stores I went to tonight had any canning supplies at all(!) and they didn't have any fruit fresh. I'm going to check a couple of stores near where I work tomorrow which is in a different part of town and may have more canning materials.

Thanks again,
Bart

ACE hardware stores usually have it.

Also Agway or other farm stores.

I checked 2 more stores (Giant and Safeway) in Northern Virginia and not only did they not have Fruit Fresh they looked at me like I had 2 heads when I asked about it and tried to explain it. The Giant had a lot of canning supplies but only had pectin for processing.

Oh well, I'm off to buy Vitamin C!

That is really weird! It isn't used just for canning. Here it is in the Spices section all year around and often over in the fresh fruit/produce section.

Dave

After nearly giving up, I managed to find Fruit Fresh in the 2nd big box hardware store that I tried!

If I wanted to dunk peaches into a Fruit Fresh/water solution prior to freezing, how much should I use per gallon? The bottle says use 2 tsp FF per 3 tbs with water and toss, but I'd rather dunk them in a bath while I process the rest.

Does that make sense and how much FF per gallon should I use?

Thanks!

Dave, I had to buy Fruit Fresh on the Internet last year, along with pickling spices. I also couldn't find rye flour, although I finally found a Mormon store that sells whole grains and was able to buy 25 lbs of whole rye berries.
Believe it or not, there are different parts of the country where some things are hard to find because they just aren't commonly used or requested. Maybe the OP lives in a big city where canning isn't popular?
Being in the military for a full career, I've learned you have to adapt to your environment. Every state, city and country has items which ate easy to find and items which are rare or exotic to that locale. Try finding hominy, grits or habeneros in your supermarket up in northern North Dakota!

Tracy -
You hit on something. I'm not the OP, but I'm the one who couldn't find Fruit Fresh. I live in Northern Virginia, just across the river from Washington DC, so it's a fairly urban area, but on the other hand, less than an hour west of here there are a bunch of pick-your-own orchards, and vineyards and farm country.

I wonder if stores don't stock this stuff because "big city" folk don't can? The funny thing is the Washington Post's Food Section just did a big spread on canning.

1 T FF in 1-2 quarts water is what I use so say 2T per gallon. Doesn't need to be exact.

Tracy - yeah I know there are regional limitations, especially when it comes to canning supplies. But since this isn't just a canning/preserving item I thought it would be more readily available. Then again a big bottle of cheapo Vit. C tabs may be a better buy anyway.

Dave