Freeze Summer Berries Now to Savor Later

On a hot summer day, there’s nothing quite like biting into a sweet, perfectly ripe strawberry. Berries are an indispensable part of the summer months, from their prominent place in farmers’ markets to the natural reds and blues they contribute to the Fourth of July BBQ spread. It’s hard to beat a dessert of freshly picked berries as you sit out on the porch enjoying a peaceful summer night. 

Unfortunately, as summer comes to a close and we prepare for the long, cold winter months ahead, these delightful morsels won’t be so readily available. Unless you’re satisfied with bland, hard berries that can’t come close to matching their fresh, locally-grown counterparts. But remember that you can shake off the winter doldrums and preserve a little taste of summer by freezing and storing fresh summer berries.

How to Freeze Berries

Properly freezing fruit is a more involved process than simply sticking a bag of berries in your freezer (doing so leaves you with a frozen berry blob). Like a bear going into hibernation, steps need to be taken to properly prepare the fruit for its winter respite and minimalize the effects of freezing.

First and foremost, make sure that the fruit you are storing is fresh and at the peak of its ripeness. Throw away any pieces that are bruised or blemished, as these are more likely to stick together when freezing. Make sure that you’ve thoroughly cleaned each piece of fruit. Cut away any stems or greens and allow the batch to air-dry. Once the berries are cleaned, trimmed, and dried, spread them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and put the sheet directly in the freezer for about an hour. Faster freezing is important to maintain the fruit’s natural flavor and texture, and spreading them out ensures that the berries won’t freeze together.

After this initial freezing period, place the berries in an airtight container. Extra thick plastic freezer bags and plastic freezer containers both work well. If you are using bags, ensure that all the air is pushed out of the bag and that it is tightly sealed. Label all your containers with the date and contents so that you can keep an organized freezer. Frozen berries should last 6-8 months, which will cover your berry needs until the following summer!

For a variation on dry packing, you can syrup-pack or sugar-pack your berries. Cook’s Illustrated Magazine claims in their esteemed “Master Steps for Freezing Fruit” that packing fruit in sugar—simply pouring regular sugar over the berries when laid out on the cookie sheet—is the best way to maintain the fruit’s original taste and sweetness.

 

Syrup packing utilizes sweetened syrup to marinate the fruit for freezing. A good recipe for syrup is 2 ¾ cups of sugar dissolved in 4 cups of water. When defrosted, these berries are juicier and great for uncooked desserts and sauces. The dry and sugar packed berries are better for cooking.

More Ways to Store Summer Berries!

Along these lines, berry jams and preserves are another delicious way to store summer berries. Jams are made using crushed berries while preserves and compotes feature whole pieces of fruit (or halves for strawberries). A traditional mixed berry preserve calls for about five pounds of berries, two lemons, one orange, sugar, and low sugar pectin. You will also need 16-ounce canning jars – this recipe yields 8 jars worth – and jar lifters or tongs to safely maneuver the jars in boiling water. Again, you’ll want to use fresh, ripe berries at the peak of their season (24-36 ounces of each berry type).

1. Trim and rinse all of the fruit, cutting away any stems or greens.
2. Sterilize your canning jars in boiling water for 5 minutes to prevent any bacterial issues.
3. Mix your fruit together in a large pot over medium high heat and add lemon juice, orange zest, and 3 tablespoons of pectin.
4. Stirring continuously, bring the mixture to a low boil for 12-15 minutes. For jams, lightly crush the berries as you stir. For preserves, leave the fruit whole.
5. If you are making jam, reduce the heat to low and cook for an additional 15 minutes to allow the mixture to thicken.
6. If you are making preserves, remove the mixture from heat and ladle the preserves into your canning jars. Leave a bit of headspace at the top of the jar, clean the rim, and put on the lid.
7. Using your jar lifter, return the canning jars to the boiling water for 12 minutes to process the jars.
8. When you remove the jars from the water, be sure that you hear the “pop” sound that indicates the jars are thoroughly sealed.
9. Allow the jars to cool completely before refrigerating.

Once refrigerated, the preserves are good for three months. They are excellent to use as spreads or toppings for desserts.

Also consider utilizing your fresh berries as a gourmet Christmas gift. You can make a delicious berry dish for a special berry-lover in your life. Or, they can serve as a yummy addition to any Christmas dessert. Your loved ones will surely appreciate the gift of a sweet taste of summer on a winter’s day!

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and store those berries before they’re completely out of season! Your taste buds will be glad you did come January.