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The best way to Flash Freeze Strawberries

The best way to Flash Freeze Strawberries
The best way to Flash Freeze StrawberriesA bag of flash frozen berries on kitchen table.

Strawberry season is a quick one. It may probably be as temporary 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. Because of in case you want to take pleasure in selfmade strawberry jam and completely different tasty treats, you’ve began working fast whenever you select strawberries.

They spoil shortly.

Nevertheless freezing them, ah, now that gives you a bit of bit respiration room in the middle of your busy summer time season. Freezing strawberries is quick to do and doesn’t heat up the kitchen.

Nevertheless freezing berries has its private challenges.

What variety of events have you ever ever tried to freeze strawberries, solely to complete up with an icy, pink block that’s inconceivable to work with?

Correctly, not this 12 months. I am going to current you simple strategies to flash freeze your berries so it’s possible you’ll attain into your freezer and seize an entire bag of frozen strawberries or pluck out numerous explicit individual berries at a time. No icepick important.

The Biggest Objective to Freeze Strawberries

I don’t study you, nevertheless my favorite issue to make with up to date strawberries is jam. You can protect your grape jelly. And don’t even get me started on all the 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, however, is not my favorite.

So, I freeze my berries immediately after selecting them and save jam-making for the autumn. Jam-making is right for these cool days in October when the house is chilly, nevertheless you don’t have to flip the heat on however. That’s the time to make jam, not when it’s 90 ranges out, and the humidity is 80%.

Bag of flash frozen strawberries laying on top of a basket full of fresh strawberriesBag of flash frozen strawberries laying on top of a basket full of fresh strawberries

Why Flash Freezing Works

Flash freezing sounds super intimidating, reminiscent of you need some fancy cryogenic machine that shortly zaps your meals into frozen oblivion. Whereas that’s prone to be the case inside the meals enterprise, it’s possible you’ll nonetheless acquire the desired consequence at residence using no more than the freezer you already have.

Flash freezing is definitely freezing meals sooner 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 numerous baking trays.

Let’s leap in.

Instruments 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 type of a biggie. You need room to rearrange your baking trays inside the freezer whereas the berries bear their preliminary freeze.
  • Non-compulsory – Vacuum sealer and baggage – that’s certainly not important nevertheless is sweet to have. Eradicating as lots air as potential from the bag prevents freezer burn and retains the berries up to date longer.

Getting ready Strawberries to Freeze

It’s important to rinse the berries correctly sooner than you freeze them. You solely have to freeze clear berries, as as quickly as they thaw, it would possible be nearly inconceivable to clean them.

Mesh colander holding strawberries in sink, berries sprayed with water.Mesh colander holding strawberries in sink, berries sprayed with water.

Depart the husks on and rinse the berries in a colander with chilly water. In case you’re freezing an entire 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 numerous gizmos accessible available on the market for eradicating strawberry husks and rather more time-saving-hacks on the net. All of them are a bit silly and ineffective in my information. The one issue you might take away strawberry tops is true in your silverware drawer – a plain, earlier spoon.

Strawberries on parchment paper, spoon used to remove their tops.Strawberries on parchment paper, spoon used to remove their tops.

Preserve the strawberry and use the spoon to softly scrape/dig off the best, starting correct the place the leaves end. The husk comes off merely with out taking loads of the berry with it. Easy-peasy and one a lot much less goofy gadget taking over space in your drawers.

Whole or Sliced Berries?

Fresh strawberries sitting on parchment lined baking sheetFresh strawberries sitting on parchment lined baking sheet

It is worthwhile to resolve whether or not or not it is advisable freeze your berries complete or sliced. The truth is, that is dependent upon what you intend to do with them later. We’re huge followers of smoothies in my residence, so most of our berries get frozen complete.

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 thing smaller than ¼” as they’ve an inclination to get icy the longer they’re saved inside the freezer.

I imagine it’s possible you’ll already see the place that’s headed – it’s a great suggestion to do some berries every strategies. It’s good having every complete and sliced frozen berries ready at hand.

Overhead view of sliced strawberries on parchment-lined baking sheetOverhead view of sliced strawberries on parchment-lined baking sheet

Flash Freeze

Whenever you’ve washed and dried your berries and chosen complete or sliced, it’s time to freeze them.

Place complete 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 less than one facet. Freeze for numerous hours until the berries are frozen steady.

Whole frozen strawberries on parchment-lined baking sheet.Whole frozen strawberries on parchment-lined baking sheet.

For sliced strawberries, you’ll want to put down a bit of parchment paper in your baking sheet sooner than arranging the berries on it. Make sure the berries aren’t touching, in order that they don’t stick collectively as quickly as they’re frozen. As soon as extra, set your baking tray inside the freezer and allow the sliced strawberries to freeze steady. Sliced berries take a lot much less time to freeze than complete berries, typically solely just a few hours.

Bright, red sliced strawberries frozen on parchment-lined baking sheet.Bright, red sliced strawberries frozen on parchment-lined baking sheet.

Storing Your Frozen Berries

To forestall the berries from sticking collectively, it’s important to work shortly to bundle deal them. Protect them inside the freezer until you’re in a position to put them in freezer baggage.

Whereas it might take a lot much less time to dump them into greater baggage, you’ll have greater style, and the berries could be a lot much less extra prone to stick collectively within the occasion you retailer them in smaller batches. Quart-sized baggage work good for strawberries, every sliced and whole.

Vacuum sealer bag with frozen, whole strawberries in itVacuum sealer bag with frozen, whole strawberries in it

Take into accout, everytime you’re taking away the bag from the freezer to get berries out, they could start to thaw, even when only for a few minutes.

In case you employ an enormous bag, over time, this may increasingly 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 nearly closed, then using a straw or your mouth, suck out the extra air from the bag sooner than sealing it. Label your berries with the date and put them immediately once more inside the freezer.

In case you’re using a vacuum sealer, use the sunshine setting. This may increasingly take away air and allow room so the berries aren’t crushed collectively, which could set off an enormous berry brick. As soon as extra, place the sealed bag inside the freezer immediately.

Frozen strawberries protect for spherical eight to 12 months, nevertheless for the simplest style, try to make use of them inside six months of freezing them. As quickly as thawed, the berries must 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, you might be surprised when that beautiful frozen berry thaws proper right into a mushy blob. Sadly, there’s merely no getting spherical this concern.

Strawberries have an exceptionally extreme water content material materials. When that water freezes, it turns into tiny crystals contained within the berry, which pierce the cells of the berry. Whereas it’s frozen, the berry can nonetheless keep its kind, nevertheless as quickly as thawed, the crystals thaw too. What was as quickly as a steady berry loses its berry kind.

This certainly not impacts the flavour, nevertheless within 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 possible you’ll be disillusioned.

To ensure that you some ideas for what to do with these tasty berries, I’ve purchased some good choices.

Basket full of shiny, red strawberries on a white enamel kitchen table.Basket full of shiny, red strawberries on a white enamel kitchen table.

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 protect correctly and will probably be beloved all 12 months prolonged.

You might also have to ponder dehydrating just a few of those ruby berries too. Although the strawberry season doesn’t ultimate prolonged, there’s no trigger why it’s possible you’ll’t take pleasure in their sweet style year-round.


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