Peach season is here and it's time to celebrate the many forms of this delight. Whether you're yearning for a juicy peach to savor by the kitchen sink or the necessary ingredient for an iconic peach pie, knowing about different peach types will ensure you make the right choice. Be it freestone peaches ideal for slicing into a salad or a cobbler, or white peaches perfect for a quick snack but unsuitable for canning, the options abound.

Steve Johnston, a sixth-generation cultivator at Apple Castle in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, advocates visiting local farms to increase your knowledge of specific peach varieties. “There are several peach varieties that enjoy greater popularity in specific parts of the US, like the southeastern states compared to the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest. So, don't hesitate to ask questions when you visit a farm," he shares. Redhaven, a variety with delectable, creamy flesh is Johnston's personal favorite.

No matter your locality in the U.S., Johnston insists you're likely to come across two basic types of peaches: freestone and clingstone. The pit in freestone peaches is not stuck to the fruit's flesh, making them optimal for recipes. Conversely, clingstone peaches have pits firmly attached to the flesh, making them more labor-intensive. One type that sits in between the two is semi-freestone peaches.

While freestone peaches are more plentiful at grocery stores, clingstone peaches mostly grace farmers markets or orchards. Clingstone peaches are sweeter, offer better shape retention for canning, or pie fillings which is why they make up most commercially-packed peaches. If you're up to the task of handling clingstones, Johnston suggests a hack: “By slicing the peach horizontally (around its equator) and then twisting it apart can trick the peach into releasing the pit”. Remaining pieces can then be cut vertically.

When it comes down to color, yellow peaches, identifiable by their orange-yellow skin and creamy yellow flesh, offer a traditional tangy-sweet taste. Contrasting to their rosy counterparts, white peaches have a sweet, floral flavor due to their low acidity and white flesh. Although yellow peaches slightly surpass white ones in sugar content, the latter impress with their overt sweetness. "Some people interpret it as raw, undiluted sweetness which they adore, while others find them less flavorsome due to the lack of acidity," says Johnston.

Both white and yellow peaches come as freestone and clingstone and work well in similar recipes. Be mindful that the soft flesh of white peaches might lead to a mushy texture in baked goods, so consider altering acid levels, or try them in a white peach tart. Yellow peaches are usually better suited for savory dishes like honey-glazed pork chops with peach salsa.

Interestingly, canning isn't recommended for white peaches due to their low acidity which can't eradicate harmful bacteria using a water bath or atmospheric steam, as per Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. White peaches also bruise more easily than their yellow counterparts, a reason why yellow peaches enjoy greater popularity in the U.S.

Then there are the uniquely contoured, doughnut-shaped flat peaches, famous for their juicy and exceptionally sweet flesh. They're mainly freestone, facilitating easy pit removal. The Saturn variety of white-fleshed donut peach, bred in the U.S. in the 1980s, is a hit among these peach types, though there are yellow ones too, now.

Johnston advises storing these peaches butts down, humorously adding “you’re likely to start devouring it immediately.” Though traditionally found at farmers markets, donut peaches are also increasingly spotted at supermarkets nationwide.

Lastly, less fuzzy, tangier nectarines, count as a peach type due to a genetic mutation. They are widely used interchangeably with noticeable peaches, and the skin can be left on when baking. Similar to peaches, nectarines come in varieties with white or yellow flesh, and can be freestone or clingstone.