Can you freeze fresh strawberries? Yes, freezing strawberries is always a good resource to enjoy at any time of the year. In this way, we can make different recipes with strawberries whenever we feel like it. Freezing them correctly is a simple process. We will only have to consider some factors that I will detail below to make it easy for you to do so.
Can you freeze fresh strawberries?
Obviously, there is no one way to freeze strawberries. They can be frozen whole, chopped or crushed, with or without sugar, etc … We just have to bear in mind that each way of freezing them is different, giving us more or less play to prepare according to which recipes.
Steps before freezing our strawberries
Whichever method we use to freeze them, we must always do them following the same steps:
- Select only those strawberries that are in perfect condition. They should not be damaged or beaten.
- Wash them thoroughly to remove any trace of dirt that they may have.
- Then we will soak them for 5 minutes in plenty of cold water, to which we will have added a splash of vinegar. In this way, we disinfect the strawberries eliminating many of the bacteria that are on their surface.
- We will let them drain on a strainer and we will remove the peduncle. To do this with a lace (small, light and handy knife), we will make a circle around the leaves and remove these without damaging the strawberry.
Freezing whole strawberries
They can be used for smoothies, gazpachos, cold soups, ice cream and desserts.
Dry them well with absorbent kitchen paper. Spread them on a tray so that the strawberries are separated. This way we will prevent them from sticking together, making them easier to remove when using them. After 2 hours of freezing, we store them in special freezer bags (zip closure), removing the air completely. Once packed, we take them back to the freezer until we are ready to use them.
Freezing diced strawberries
Chopped strawberries are ideal for making jams, smoothies, ice cream, and desserts.
Dry them well with absorbent kitchen paper. Cut them to the desired size (in half, in quarters or smaller pieces). Then we take them to the freezer in zip bags or airtight containers.
Freezing crushed strawberries
In this format, they are perfect for syrups, ice creams and smoothies. Blend them well (optionally, we can add a little sugar). Then we take them to the freezer in zip bags or airtight containers.
Freezing strawberries with sugar
They are also used for smoothies, although they are mainly used in ice cream and desserts. We will prepare a light syrup. For this, we put water and sugar in equal parts in a saucepan. We bring it to a boil and when the mixture starts to boil, we will lower the heat. We continue to cook the syrup over low heat (3-5 minutes) until the sugar has completely dissolved.
We let the syrup cool at room temperature until it is completely cold and we put the strawberries inside. Then we take them to the freezer in zip bags or airtight containers. For every 500g of strawberries, we will need 125ml of syrup. For example, if we have 2 kg of strawberries, we must prepare 500ml of syrup.
How to freeze strawberries?
In general, to freeze our strawberries, we must remove them from the freezer at least 4 hours in advance and leave them at room temperature.
If these do not contain sugar and we have frozen them “Naturally,” we will put them on a strainer to remove the freezing water.
If, on the other hand, we have frozen them with sugar, we just have to remove them from the freezer and let them thaw at room temperature.
As interesting information about freezing strawberries, I will tell you that we can keep them frozen for up to 6 months in the freezer without fear of spoiling or losing their properties of the strawberries.
