Anyone else planning on buying strawberries this week at King Soopers or Sunflower Market and freezing them? A dollar per pound is about as low as they go, so I usually buy a bunch and freeze for smoothies and whatnot. Can’t say I expected to see that price this early in the year, though!
I had a cooking epiphany the other night: typically when I freeze strawberries, I just wash them, cut off the tops and then freeze whole. Well, I only ever use frozen strawberries for smoothies, homemade ice cream, or frozen yogurt – all things that I usually end up pureeing the strawberries for.
I realized that instead of freezing them whole I’d save a lot of wear and tear on my blender if I quartered them before I froze them! So I’m a little slow, but I’m glad I finally figured it out.
I cut and froze about 7 lbs of strawberries, and about 12 oz of blackberries. I’ll probably head to King Soopers before the sale is over to buy some more blackberries. We love summer fruit cobblers, but I rarely make it with fresh fruit… I try to buy blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries when they’re at rock-bottom and then freeze so I can use them whenever I want, not just when it’s on sale.
Got any other tips and tricks for freezing fruit?
My mom always puts about 1/4 cup of sugar in with a pint of strawberries before freezing, which makes them break down and soft so that they make a nice topping for strawberry shortcake when you thaw it, or topping for ice cream, or ready to make into pie filling.
I freeze my berries on a cookie sheet first, and then transfer them to a ziplock bag. This way, the berries do not freeze together in one big glob.
Angela, do they not stick to the cookie sheet at all? I’ve thought about doing that, but don’t have enough cookie sheets or room in my freezer! :) Always wondered how they wouldn’t stick to the cookie sheet.
I usually put mine in bags and then try to remember to go back and break them up a bit before they freeze all the way.
Carrie,
I do the same thing with cookie sheets for a bunch of different things (cooked beans, celery, fruit, chicken breasts) and I just put down a layer of wax paper first. You can easily get them off the wax paper with a spatula.
You guys are a lot more industrious than I am. I just throw beans and celery in a bag and then break it up when I’m ready to use it. :) The celery doesn’t clump together much, though the beans do.
I use both techniques: put the berries in a gallon bag, then lay the gallon bag on a cookie sheet so the berries freeze flat. Once they are frozen I just take out the cookie sheet – no need to transfer to another container!
Carrie, I use wax paper just like Beth said.
Ah, ok, that makes more sense.
Just an FYI, I was in King Soopers yesterday (Stetson Hills & Powers) to purchase strawberries and they did not have any. When I asked about them I was told that there was a quality control issue and none of the King Soopers in town had them. They did have a ton of great looking blackberries though!
there’s lots at the Hartsel location
There are some at the Powers and Briargate location too.
Thanks for the tips. I am planning on freezing some too…
I was just at Powers and Stetson Hills today and they had LOTS of strawberries…not sure what happened, but there were lots!
You could always puree some of the berries and freeze flat in baggies in 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup portions. :D I just fill a bowl (or an inch or two in the sink) with some hot water and let the puree sit until thawed, just a few minutes.
We’ve gone through 4lbs strawberries since Wednesday night, so I don’t plan on freezing any! I was surprised you said you washed before freezing. I’ve always been told with berries not to wash before freezing, but to wash upon thawing. Hmm, wonder why?
I’ve always been told this too. I think it has something to do with the water freezing on the berries when you freeze them or something like that.
I’ve always been told this too. I was told it was because washing them and then freezing them caused them to be mushier when they were defrosted, but in my experience they are pretty mushy either way, so I’m not sure why it would matter. I do know that washing and not allowing them to dry before freezing makes a lot of water frozen to the berries, which could make something much more watered down if you were using them in a recipe.
According the food safety info I have, you wash strawberries before you freeze them. Drain them well and rest them on a towel to dry, then you won’t get the mushiness.
However, when you bring them home, if you wash them all right away and stick them in the fridge, they won’t keep as well. Fresh berries should be washed just before you eat them.
Hope that helps!
-Laura at TenThingsFarm
Thanks!
The strawberries are mushy after you freeze them because it takes so long for them to freeze in our home freezers. It causes lots of little ice crystals that break the cell membranes, or something like that, there was a Goods Eats episode about it. Alton Brown suggests using dry ice to freeze strawberries if you don’t want them to be mushy. Here’s a link to the recipe.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/frozen-strawberries-recipe/index.html
I read an article somewhere (?) that we will have a bumper crop of strawberries this year and that prices will be the lowest in years. Hope that really happens!
Carrie! You must get yourself a strawberry corer! I am not a kitchen gadget person at all, but this little tool saves SO MUCH of the strawberry that is okay to eat around the leaves and such. I bought mine through Pampered Chef, under $10, but I’m sure they have them at Bed, Bath & Beyond as well.
Yes! We stocked up too! We actually had chocolate covered strawberries last night…YUMO!
I also do the cookie sheet thing in the freezer and I have never had any problems with them sticking. And since they freeze so quickly that way you can freeze them in shifts and it not be too timely or too much for your freezer to hold.
We freeze strawberries this way, too. I also freeze banana slices in gallon size ziplocs and lay flat to freeze so then I can easily break off some of them for smoothies or to thaw for banana bread. This lets me stock up on marked down bananas and make use of them as a good way to sweeten up green smoothies.
Rachel how do you freeze bananas and then thaw them?
Just today I sliced up 12 mangos from the sale at Kings and put them on wax paper on a cookie sheet. I will freeze them in a zip lock bag for smoothies or cooking. I do this all summer with the great crop of raspberries we have in the yard, too! I always wash first and let dry thoroughly.
If you don’t have a corer you can use a straw from fast food places. It works great and you can also use the same technique to pull more of the center out and fill it with your favorite flavor cream cheese and have stuffed strawberries.
I put up ten half-pints of strawberry jam today. :)
Someone posted on here they freeze celery? Ok maybe just me but I put peanut butter on my celery and eat it. If you freeze it whats do you use it in and doesn’t it get mushy?
What beans do you freeze oh and why?
Thanks,
Christina
LOL, yeah, don’t think freezing would work for that. I mostly use it in soup bases and as a base for pot roast. We don’t eat it raw hardly at all, and it’s never on sale when I want it for a recipe. Plus, I never use much at once. So I chop it and freeze it in a bag and then just take a handful out when I need it.
I’ve only cooked/frozen pinto beans, but I mainly do it just because they take so long to cook. I like being able to have cooked beans in the freezer so I can use them in an hour instead of 8 hours. :)
I have been cheating lately and buying canned pinto beans but my mom showed mr how to make beans in the pressure cooker quickly I am just not good at it but you can use the crock pot at night or all day.
how do you freeze bananas and then thaw them?
I was at the KS at Briargate Blvd/N. Union today (across from Memorial North Hospital) and they had OODLES of the strawberries.