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It’s still summertime and we know that summer is the season for the good fruits for the snack.
There is a way to freeze the fruit properly and if done properly, they can preserve up to eight months to one year.
When freezing fruits, it’s best to do it at their peak in order to get the best of the preserving and nutritional value and of course, the best flavor.
We need to keep in mind that the higher the temperature of your freezing might deteriorate your fruits.
Here are the 10 top tips for freezing summer fruits:
1. Talk to your produce people at your local stores or farmers market and ask them when the peak time is for the fruits that you are are purchasing. Remember that freezing fruits at their peak times is the best!
2. It’s very important to freeze your fruits immediately after you have purchased them in order to maintain their flavoring and their nutritional values.
3. Gently wash and COMPLETELY dry your fruits before freezing. This step is a MUST DO!!!
Do not soak the fruits in water… this is to avoid any loss of nutrients and flavor.
4. For strawberries, it’s best to remove the green tops and to make sure that they are unblemished and that there are no moldy spots on them.
For Cherries, it’s best to pit them.
And last but not least, for blueberries, blackberries and strawberries, freeze them whole.
5. For stone fruits such as peaches, plums and nectarines, they really should be peeled and pitted. You also need to slice them before freezing them.
As for apricots, you can pit them and half them and than freeze away.
6. Place your berries in a single layer on a baking sheet and place that sheet into the freezer. You can line the sheet with parchment paper if you too… good step to consider.
7. As for having a smaller freezer, you can skip the baking sheet and just put the fruit into an airtight zip-lock bag.
8. If you used the baking sheet- when the berries are frozen than you can roll them into a zip-lock freezer bag or a heavyweight air tight container.
9. Why the baking sheet is a good step to consider- since the berries were frozen separately, they won’t be stuck/frozen together.
Keep in mind that if you do skip the baking sheet and just tossed the berries into a zip-lock bag, the fruit will be frozen together.
10. If you’re using the frozen berries in baking, gently toss the frozen berries with a little flour before adding to your batter.
* Freezing grapes*
You can wash and freeze them in a zip-lock bag. Some grapes do come with small seeds inside of them. If that’s the case, it’s your decision if you want to remove the seed or just freeze the grapes with it in.
