What can I do with a large amount of peaches?

The average peach pie recipe uses 6 pounds of peaches. That leaves you with approximately 81 pounds, minus what you used for the peach butter and peaches in syrup. I recommend using at least a few peaches to make a peach liqueur. Peach brandy is fabulous. I also recommend freezing. You can just cut them in slices (or chunks) and freeze in one layer on a baking sheet. Transfer to bags to store. That way, you can use them all winter. What a luxury!

I searched the web and found some recipes for peach brandy. My tree produced tons of peaches and I am trying to keep up with the production. So I think that I will give freezing some a try.

I searched the web and found some recipes for peach brandy. My tree produced tons of peaches and I am trying to keep up with the production. So I think that I will give freezing some a try.

You could make several bottles of peach vinegar. The web has lots of recipes for fruit-flavored vinegars using white wine or apple cider vinegar. You have to sterilize the jars you use for the soaking, but it's an easy process.

Drying is a good option (although I REALLY like the peach daquiri idea and am thinking on using it for peach margaritas instead when my 20 lb box arrives Friday...). If you want to dehydrate please go to the national center for food preservation site for information on pretreating, appropriate oven temp, and conditioning -- all very important to ensure success. See http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/dry/csu_dry_fruits.pdf

Don't forget to dry some. If you don't have a dehydrator, quarter them (peel on), arrange as many as you can on a cookie rack on a cookie tray, skin side down, not touching one another. Put them in the oven at about 175F overnight or for hours. Take them out when they are leathery consistency I.e. before they get so dry s to be really crispy. Store them in ziplock bags.
Smaller ones will dry a little faster, so it's worth checking a few at a time. They are a treat all winter

Peeling isn't bad if you get the make-an-x-in-the-bottom/toss-in-boiling-water-for-30-45 -seconds/drop-in-ice-water-bath cycle going - the peels really slip right off. I made roasted peach buttermilk ice cream yesterday, and there's a summer peach cake in the oven right now. You can make a lovely jelly from the skins and pits, too, y'know, but I'm thinking you already pretty much have your hands full with the peaches, never mind the skins.. ;) Still, it's a beautiful jelly. But the thing you really need is help. Time to call in friends or neighbors and get an assembly line going. Their compensation can be a jar or two of each thing you make.

My dad used to get a bushel of peaches every summer to make a huge vat of peach daiquiris. He'd freeze the daiquiris in gallon freezer bags. The alcohol doesn't freeze solid, so it only takes a minute or two to get to the perfect slushiness once you take them out of the freezer. You blend up the peaches, so leave the skin on if you want to.

Ginger peach jam? aargersi has a nice recipe on this site. You can plunge the peaches in boiling water for a few seconds to loosen the skins and make peeling a cinch. Also, I make brandied peaches and do not peel the skins.

I just made peach sorbet from a food network formula - delicious!

I'd make a huge vat of Peaches and WIne--handfuls of sliced peaches steeped for 12 hours in a dry white wine--and have a party.

Come to think of it, with 87 lbs of peaches, make that ginger peach chutney for you and everyone you know!

Ginger peach chutney?

Oh my! When I have more peaches than I know what to do with, I just slice them with skin on, sprinkle with "Fruit Fresh" or similar and seal air-tight in freezer zip-loc bags (suck the air out). This method has worked very nicely for me so far. We use peaches frozen this way for anything baked as well as ice cream and sorbet. I also use them defrosted to top my oatmeal, where degraded texture is not a problem.