We have a cherry tree and sometimes buy fruit cheaply, but don't get it eaten as quickly as it ought to be. My next door neighbor gave me a blueberry (a huge one) that she'd frozen. That got me thinking, so when we harvested the cherries yesterday, I quickly put most of them in dollar store snack bags and tossed them into the freezer.
We've had a scorcher going on, and the humidity's been horrid. What a delicious, cooling treat the frozen cherries are today! We also have frozen raspberries, watermelon and blackberries.
I think clumping also depends on the berry or fruit. My strawberries clump, but not blueberries or cherries. Some berries have a smoother outer skin and won't naturally clump. Textured fruit, like strawberries or chopped pineapple, are more likely to stick together.
I haven't had trouble with clumping too much. some pinapple clumped but they weren't hard to break free. the cherries clumped a tiny bit, maybe 4 (2 pairs) in a bag of 20 or so. I wonder if it depends on the type and brand of freezer? so for me, it's just a matter of tossing 3 or 4 handfuls into snack bags and tossing them into the freezer. since our weather's in a rocketing/plummeting mood this summer, it is now too cool to need snacks to cool down by, but a lawn mowing or some hard work in the garden still gets them eaten. they are so much better than a soda or flavored drink to cool down by.
Up here in Alaska where the berries are plentiful I pick about 20 cups of rasberries and blueberries every year. Here is my process. Pick them and then throw them on a cookie sheet to freeze for about 1.5-2 days. Then, I transfer them into ziplocs (or my favorite a reused cheese shaker). This way they do not freeze into a huge clump and will come out as individual berries.
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Tip: Preserve Summer Time's Best Flavors by Freezing Fresh Fruit (PDF) (07/07/2009)
Freezing fruit can be an easy way to enjoy the bounty of your garden and orchard all year round. Compared with other preservation methods, freezing saves time and nutrients, and keeps fruit fresh-tasting and colorful.
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Tip: Preserve Summer Time's Best Flavors by Freezing Fresh Fruit (PDF)
Archived on 07/07/2009
Freezing fruit can be an easy way to enjoy the bounty of your garden and orchard all year round. Compared with other preservation methods, freezing saves time and nutrients, and keeps fruit fresh-tasting and colorful.
Contents include:
Choose Freezer Containers Carefully
Preventing Browning
Packing Fruit
Try a syrup pack for cherries (sour or sweet).
Freezing rhubarb, as easy as "pie".
This article is available in PDF format. Click here to download it.
