Freezing Fruit

Need some tips on how to freeze this wonderful fruit that we have at this time of year?

By Deb Moser, the co-founder of Central Farm Markets and Meatcrafters, a food photographer, writer and trained pastry chef, shared this with us and we thought you might like to see these tips as well!

1. Talk with your local farmers at the farm markets. They can tell you when the fruits will be at their peak. This is the best time to load up for freezing, especially if you have a chest freezer. With deeper freezers it is possible to freeze several flats of berries at a time.

2. It is important to freeze your fruits right away to maintain their flavor and nutritional value.

3. Gently wash and dry your fruits and make sure that they are completely dry before freezing. Do not soak the fruits in water as this will cause a loss of nutrients and flavor.

4. For strawberries, it is best to remove the green tops and make sure there are no blemishes or moldy spots. For cherries it, is best to pit them for later use. Blackberries, blueberries and strawberries can be frozen whole.

5. Stone fruits such as peaches, plums and nectarines should be peeled, pitted and can be sliced before freezing. Apricots can be pitted, halved and frozen.

6. Place berries in a single layer on a baking sheet and place it in the freezer. You can line the sheet with parchment paper if you like.

7. For smaller freezers, you can skip the baking sheet step and put the fruit right into airtight, zip-locked bags.

8. When the berries are frozen, roll them into a zipper-top freezer bag or other heavyweight air tight containers.

9. Because they are individually frozen, the berries won’t stick together and you can grab any amount you need quickly and easily.

10. If using frozen berries in baking, gently toss the frozen berries with a little flour before adding to your batters.

Thank you, Deb!  Now we can freeze these yummy fruits and have them to enjoy throughout the winter months!

Abundance – yes, that’s abundance!