Freezing is a great way to preserve fruits and vegetables. It is quick and easy to do and if you follow the directions you will have a high quality nutritious product. We have talked in previous blogs about the enzymes that are contained in fruits and vegetables. If these enzymes are not inactivated they can cause a loss of flavor, color and nutrients. Blanching is essential for high quality vegetables to stop the enzyme activity. Fruits are usually not blanched. Instead ascorbic acid or a commercial mixture of ascorbic acid and citric acid are used to control the enzymes and to keep the fruit from turning a dark color.
Today I am going to focus on different ways to freeze fruits. Fruits can be frozen using a syrup pack, sugar pack or dry pack. Many fruits have a better texture if they are frozen using sugar but it is not a necessity if there are family members that cannot eat sugar. The way that you preserve the fruit depends on how you will be using it when it comes out of the freezer. Fruits in a syrup work well for desserts that are uncooked. Dry pack or unsweetened fruits are best in cooked recipes. Remember always use fruit that is of optimum maturity. Freezing does not improve the quality of fruits that are either over ripe or under ripe.
- Syrup Pack
The sweetness of your fruit is will help you determine the proportion of sugar to water syrup to use. A light syrup is best for mild-flavored fruits and a heavy syrup works well for sour fruits. To make the syrup, dissolve the desired amount of sugar in water. Allow ½ to 2/3 cup syrup for each pint. Add fruit and cover with additional syrup leaving ½ inch headspace for wide top pint jars, 1 inch for wide top quart jars, ¾ inch for narrow top pints and 1 ½ for narrow quart jars. To keep the fruit from turning dark add powdered ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) to the cold syrup. Keep the fruit submerged in the syrup by using a piece of crumpled parchment paper or freezer paper to press the fruit down in the syrup before closing the container. This will ensure that the fruit is not out of the syrup where it could turn dark.
- Sugar Pack
Peaches, strawberries, plums, cherries and other soft fruits work well when freezing in a sugar pack. Simply sprinkle sugar over the fruit and mix gently until the juice is drawn out and the sugar is dissolved which usually takes about 15 minutes. Dissolve the ascorbic acid in 2-3 tablespoons of cool water and add it to the fruit before you add the sugar.
- Dry Pack
Berries work well freezing without any added sugar. To freeze this way put the fruit in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with freezer paper. Put the sheet in the freezer for a few hours or until the fruit is frozen then transfer it to a freezer bag. The fruit will be frozen individually so if you want to grab a handful to put on your cereal you will be able to, without thawing all of the fruit in the freezer bag. If the fruit you are freezing in a dry pack typically darkens, dissolve ascorbic acid in 2-3 tablespoons of cool water and add to the fruit before freezing.
- Artificial Sweeteners
Sugar substitutes can be added either prior to freezing or just before serving. They give a sweet flavor but they do not provide the benefit of color protection or thickening of the syrup like sugar does. Use the directions on the sweetener to determine how much you should use.
By preserving fruit in the freezer you will be able to enjoy it year round, but for best quality use within 8 to 12 months of freezing.
