Strawberry season is a quick one. It might most likely be as non everlasting as just a few weeks if it was a cold spring. That’s why as shortly as these berries are ready, you’ve purchased to be ready too. As a consequence of in case you must get pleasure from selfmade strawberry jam and totally utterly totally different tasty treats, you’ve began working fast every time you select strawberries.
They spoil shortly.
Nonetheless freezing them, ah, now that provides you a bit of little bit of bit respiration room within the midst of your busy summer time season season. Freezing strawberries is quick to do and doesn’t heat up the kitchen.
Nonetheless freezing berries has its private challenges.
What variety of events have you ever ever ever ever tried to freeze strawberries, solely to complete up with an icy, pink block that’s inconceivable to work with?
Appropriately, not this 12 months. I’ll current you straightforward strategies to flash freeze your berries so it’s doable you’ll attain into your freezer and seize a whole bag of frozen strawberries or pluck out fairly just a few particular explicit particular person berries at a time. No icepick obligatory.
The Largest Objective to Freeze Strawberries
I don’t study you, nevertheless my favorite topic to make with up to date strawberries is jam. Chances are you’ll defend your grape jelly. And don’t even get me started on the entire seeds in raspberry jam. Peach jam is pretty good, nevertheless in the long term, strawberry jam continues to be my favorite.
Standing in a scorching and humid kitchen all day making and canning it, nonetheless, is simply not my favorite.
So, I freeze my berries immediately after selecting them and save jam-making for the autumn. Jam-making is appropriate for these cool days in October when the house is chilly, nevertheless you don’t ought to flip the heat on nonetheless. That’s the time to make jam, not when it’s 90 ranges out, and the humidity is 80%.
Why Flash Freezing Works
Flash freezing sounds super intimidating, paying homage to you need some fancy cryogenic machine that shortly zaps your meals into frozen oblivion. Whereas that’s weak to be the case contained within the meals enterprise, it’s doable you’ll nonetheless buy the desired consequence at residence using no more than the freezer you already have.
Flash freezing is actually freezing meals earlier than it’s packaged for storage.
By freezing meals first, you end up with individually frozen berries fairly than that giant block of strawberry ice we talked about earlier. And the one “fancy” gear needed is sort of just a few baking trays.
Let’s leap in.
Units Wished
- Colander
- Paper towels or clear kitchen towels (ideally ones you don’t ideas getting stained)
- Paring knife
- Spoon
- Parchment paper
- Baking sheets
- Plastic zipper-top freezer baggage
- Room in your freezer – this one is sort of a biggie. You need room to rearrange your baking trays contained within the freezer whereas the berries bear their preliminary freeze.
- Non-compulsory – Vacuum sealer and baggage – that’s truly not obligatory nevertheless is nice to have. Eradicating as heaps air as potential from the bag prevents freezer burn and retains the berries up to date longer.
Making ready Strawberries to Freeze
It’s essential to rinse the berries appropriately earlier than you freeze them. You solely ought to freeze clear berries, as as quickly as they thaw, it might doable be virtually inconceivable to clean them.
Depart the husks on and rinse the berries in a colander with chilly water. In case you’re freezing a whole lot of berries, work in small batches to make sure grime and particles get sprayed away. Then gently pat the moist berries dry and unfold them out on a transparent kitchen towel to finish drying while you rinse the rest.
As quickly as your strawberries are rinsed and dried, take away the tops.
There are fairly just a few gizmos accessible accessible within the market for eradicating strawberry husks and comparatively further time-saving-hacks on the internet. All of them are a bit silly and ineffective in my knowledge. The one topic it’s possible you’ll take away strawberry tops is true in your silverware drawer – a plain, earlier spoon.
Shield the strawberry and use the spoon to softly scrape/dig off the proper, starting applicable the place the leaves end. The husk comes off merely with out taking a substantial amount of the berry with it. Easy-peasy and one a lot lots a lot much less goofy gadget taking up space in your drawers.
Whole or Sliced Berries?
It is worthwhile to resolve whether or not or not or not or not it is advisable freeze your berries full or sliced. The fact is, that is dependent upon what you intend to do with them later. We’re giant followers of smoothies in my residence, so most of our berries get frozen full.
In case you want having sliced strawberries as a topping for desserts, slice them first. Slicing them in halves, thirds or quarters is best. You don’t want one issue smaller than ¼” as they’ve an inclination to get icy the longer they’re saved contained within the freezer.
I give it some thought is doable you’ll already see the place that’s headed – it’s an unbelievable suggestion to do some berries every strategies. It’s good having every full and sliced frozen berries ready at hand.
Flash Freeze
Everytime you’ve washed and dried your berries and chosen full or sliced, it’s time to freeze them.
Place full berries on the baking sheet, guaranteeing they don’t contact and the chilly air can movement into spherical them. Place the baking sheet in your freezer, conserving it diploma, so the berries don’t roll to not decrease than one aspect. Freeze for fairly just a few hours until the berries are frozen common.
For sliced strawberries, you’ll must put down a bit of little bit of parchment paper in your baking sheet earlier than arranging the berries on it. Make sure that the berries aren’t touching, in order that they don’t stick collectively as quickly as they’re frozen. As rapidly as additional, set your baking tray contained within the freezer and allow the sliced strawberries to freeze common. Sliced berries take a lot lots a lot much less time to freeze than full berries, typically solely just a few hours.
Storing Your Frozen Berries
To forestall the berries from sticking collectively, it’s essential to work shortly to bundle deal them. Protect them contained within the freezer until you’re prepared to put them in freezer baggage.
Whereas it could take a lot lots a lot much less time to dump them into bigger baggage, you’ll have bigger sort, and the berries might presumably be a lot lots a lot much less additional inclined to remain collectively all through the occasion you retailer them in smaller batches. Quart-sized baggage work good for strawberries, every sliced and full.
Take into accout, everytime you are taking away the bag from the freezer to get berries out, they might start to thaw, even when only for a few minutes.
In case you utilize an infinite bag, over time, this may occasionally more and more an increasing number of end in hunks of berries caught collectively as they thaw after which refreeze collectively.
Working shortly, change the frozen berries to the freezer baggage. Zip them virtually closed, then using a straw or your mouth, suck out the extra air from the bag earlier than sealing it. Label your berries with the date and put them immediately as quickly as further contained within the freezer.
In case you’re using a vacuum sealer, use the sunshine setting. This may doubtless an increasing number of take away air and allow room so the berries aren’t crushed collectively, which could set off an infinite berry brick. As rapidly as additional, place the sealed bag contained within the freezer immediately.
Frozen strawberries defend for spherical eight to 12 months, nevertheless for the perfect sort, try and make use of them inside six months of freezing them. As quickly as thawed, the berries ought to be used inside just a few days.
Why Are My Berries Mushy When They Thaw?
In case you’re new to preserving meals by freezing them, it’s possible you’ll be surprised when that beautiful frozen berry thaws appropriate correct proper right into a mushy blob. Sadly, there’s merely no getting spherical this concern.
Strawberries have an exceptionally extreme water content material materials supplies provides. When that water freezes, it turns into tiny crystals contained all through the berry, which pierce the cells of the berry. Whereas it’s frozen, the berry can nonetheless maintain its kind, nevertheless as quickly as thawed, the crystals thaw too. What was as quickly as a gradual berry loses its berry kind.
This truly not impacts the flavour, nevertheless all through the occasion you’re anticipating to have thawed strawberries on excessive of your cake that look just-picked-from-the-berry-patch-fresh, it’s doable you can be disillusioned.
To just remember to some ideas for what to do with these tasty berries, I’ve purchased some good picks.
In case you’ve purchased a bumper crop of berries in your arms, freezing them is a quick and easy means to ensure your harvest doesn’t go to waste. Frozen berries defend appropriately and may most likely be beloved all 12 months prolonged.
You may additionally ought to ponder dehydrating just a few of those ruby berries too. Although the strawberry season doesn’t closing prolonged, there’s no set off why it’s doable you’ll’t get pleasure from their sweet sort year-round.
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