How to Wash Peaches? (An Important Step-by-Step Guide)

You are here because you want to know how to properly wash a peach, right?

Well, we provide an in-depth look at why it is essential to wash this fruit (there could be hidden dangers) when you purchase it at the grocery store, as well as the correct way to go about cleaning it properly.

Keep reading to see this in-depth guide.

Why Clean Your Peaches Before Eating?

Peaches are really an amazing fruit and like with all fruit and vegetables, it is extremely important to wash them properly before you eat them

This is done to ensure that they are clean of harmful bacteria/chemicals, as well as making them safe to eat.

The Centers For Disease Control (CDC) has a comprehensive webpage dedicated to fruit and vegetable safety. On it, they explain that fruits and vegetables can sometimes contain harmful germs, such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria, which has the potential to make you and your family sick.

A Quick Rundown as to Why Clean Your Peach

Washing peaches is a good way to ensure that you remove harmful bacteria from the surface of the fruit.
Bacteria can be in the soil or the trees that the peaches are picked from. Washing the fruit allows for any contaminants to be removed from the outside.
Even if you plan on peeling the fruit, you should still wash the peach. The outside could still have contamination bacteria/chemicals and the knife has to make direct contact with the skin, which could still contaminate the fruit.

How Does Bacteria Get onto Fruit?

There are many different ways bacteria can get onto fruits like peaches. The bacteria may be found in the water that is used for irrigation, fertilizers, as well as bird droppings.

Essentially, bacteria can find its way onto fruit different kinds of ways.

This is why it is extremely important to clean your fresh produce before consumption, as this action can help to reduce the amount of bacteria that may be present on the food.

What to Note Before Washing Your Peaches?

A word of advice when washing your peaches. You should definitely stay away from washing your fruit and then immediately storing them in the fridge without ensuring that they are properly dried off.

When you put wet/just washed fruit in the fridge, the excess moisture is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria to grow.

Too much moisture increases the speed at which peaches rot, which causes you to end up with inedible peaches after a couple of days.

Don’t Wash Immediately

If you are not planning on eating the peaches immediately, you should store the fruit properly and when you are ready to eat it, that is when you wash and clean it.
If for whatever reason you are adamant about washing the fruit before putting it in the fridge, please ensure that it is dried properly.

How to Wash Peaches Properly: Step by Step Guide

Washing peaches is pretty straightforward and as long as you follow the instructions below, you should have no issues:

Take your peach and remove any stems and leaves that still might be on it.
If you see dirt on the fruit, brush it away with your hand.
Take your peaches, place them in bowl and turn on the kitchen pipe to fill up your container.
Swish the fruit around in the bowl, as this will dislodge any leftover dirt, bacteria or chemicals that might have settled on the peach. It is a good idea to make sure that you also get some of the running water on the peach while washing.
Once you have finished your initial wash, move the peaches to another bowl; this is where you will do a secondary wash. If you invested in a fruit and vegetable cleaner, you can use it at this step. If you do not have a cleaner, you can make your own. Pour 1 cup of vinegar to 4 cups of water, if you want, you can add some lemon juice. Once you have your fruit wash, you will pour that into your bowl and swish around the peaches for a couple of minutes. This step will help to remove any contamination that might have been leftover on the peaches.
Once you are finished with the above step, do a final rinse to remove vegetable cleaner mixture.
Get some paper towels or a clean kitchen towel and place the peaches on it, allowing the fruit to air dry.
Start eating your clean peaches and enjoy.

Wrapping It Up

As you can see, it is extremely important to clean and wash the peaches you get from the grocery store.

While they look fresh, there could be hidden dangers lurking like Listeria.

Cleaning is quick/easy and it you just need a couple of minutes to ensure your peach is safe to eat. Follow the instructions above and you really should have any problems.