I really enjoy eating fresh blueberry crunch and drinking strawberry smoothies in December. You can too!
Fruits can be frozen and still be as appetizing and tasty as fresh fruit if they are properly selected, prepared, packaged, frozen, stored, and thawed.
However, if you try to slip by on just one step, you can ruin the quality of your fruit. Follow reliable research information given here, and your family and guests will want second, and even third, servings. Too, the nutrients in these fruits will still be there.
Selecting variety
Blueberries make excellent frozen products. The rabbiteye blueberry grows well in Alabama, provided it is planted on a suitable location and given proper care. Rabbiteye varieties recommended for freezing are Tifblue, Homebell, Menditoo, Gardenblue, and Woodard.
Some peach varieties freeze better than others. Cling free peach varieties are the best to preserve.
Be sure to use the correct methods to prevent excessive browning in frozen peaches. Select suitable varieties and use correct methods to prevent excessive browning in frozen peaches.
Almost any strawberry variety gives a satisfactory frozen product. Tennessee Beauty is recommended for north Alabama, Albritton and Headliner for central and south Alabama, and Dixieland and Pocahontas are recommended for any part of the state.
It may be best to can apples and save space in the freezer for other foods. However, some apples freeze well. Select firmfleshed varieties with good cooking quality.
Wild blackberries freeze very nicely. They are found in many parts of the state. The muscadine grape is one of the best native fruits of this state. While varieties vary in quality, most of them are good. Hunt is a leading commercial variety. Other good varieties include Scuppernong, Thomas, Dulcet, Yuga, Creek, and Jumbo.
Alabama-grown watermelons and cantaloupes are generally not high in solids; therefore, when they are thawed, the pulp disintegrates very rapidly. If you freeze them, be sure to add a syrup of sugar and water.
Picking
Select fruits that are firm-ripe. They will have the flavor, color, texture, and nutrients that are characteristic of the fruit. Soft peaches, berries, etc., are not good to eat when they are fresh, so naturally, they won’t be after they have been frozen and thawed. The same is true of underripe fruit.
It’s best to pick fruit from the bush or tree so it won’t be bruised. Fruits prepared for freezing within 12 hours after picking are better than those kept a longer time.
The Kieffer pear, which is extremely hard, is perhaps the only fruit grown in Alabama that is recommended to be picked when two-thirds to three-fourths full size—when the green of immature fruit gradually fades and the fruit becomes lighter or slightly yellow. It must then be stored one layer deep in a cool (60 to 65 degrees F), dry place for 2 weeks. This pear is not frozen often and is a better product if canned.
Preparing
Put peaches in a basket or thin cloth bag and immerse them in boiling water for 1 minute to remove skin. Do not put too many in at one time.
If you do, the boiling water cannot circulate around the peaches, and the skin will not become loose.
Remember, too, that you need a firm-ripe peach. Hard ones will “hold” the skin, and overripe ones will become mushy. To stop the cooking action, immerse peaches in cold water. Skins will easily slip from the peaches.
For strawberries and blackberries, first wash and then remove the calyx (hulls). If the calyx is removed first, the grit and dirt will get into the fruit. Lift fruit from the water rather than pour water from the fruit.
Prepare only 2 or 3 pints of fruit at one time. When these are in the freezer, prepare 2 or 3 more pints. This will reduce darkening of the fruit.
Peeled peaches, apples, and pears turn brown due to oxidation. Some varieties turn brown more than others. The following solutions help prevent fruit from darkening.
1) To 1 gallon of water, add 2 tablespoons salt and 2 tablespoons vinegar. Distilled (clear) vinegar is best. Do not allow fruit to stay in this solution longer than 15 to 20 minutes because the fruit may absorb the salt and vinegar flavor. Rinse fruit before sugar or syrup is added.
2) To 1 gallon water, add 1 teaspoon citric acid. (This is available in powder form at drugstores.) Do not leave fruit in this solution longer than 30 minutes because fruit may have a slightly acid flavor. Fruit does not need to be rinsed.
3) To 1 gallon water, add 1 teaspoon ascorbic acid. (This is available in powder form at drugstores.) Fruit does not need to be rinsed.
4) Use ascorbic acid mixture (this is available at grocery stores, drugstores, and freezer equipment dealerships), and follow manufacturer’s directions— usually 2 teaspoons to 1 gallon water. Fruit does not need to be rinsed.
5) Drop peeled fruit immediately into syrup that may or may not have ascorbic acid or ascorbic acid mixture added. For ascorbic acid, use 1/8 teaspoon to each cup cold syrup. Follow manufacturer’s directions for ascorbic acid mixture.
If you use methods 1, 2, 3, or 4, it is not necessary to add ascorbic acid or ascorbic acid mixture to syrup or sugar, provided you prepare only 2 or 3 pints at one time.
However, many homemakers do add one of these antioxidants. Ascorbic acid is vitamin C—one of the vitamins that cannot be stored in the body and should be eaten daily. Ascorbic acid mixture is generally composed of ascorbic acid, sucrose (sugar), and citric acid. Citric acid is from citrus fruits (lemons, grapefruits, etc.).
Freezing fruits with sugar or syrup isn’t necessary, but it makes a better product. Many people are on a low-sugar intake and may want to use one of the sugar substitutes. Check with your physician to be sure this is acceptable. Recipes for using sugar substitutes can be obtained from the manufacturer.
Syrup Pack. A 4-percent syrup (3 cups sugar in 4 cups water) is used for most fruits, depending on the natural sweetness of the fruit and how sweet you like it. Use about 1/2 or 2/3 cup sugar for each pint of fruit. The syrup does not generally need to be heated to dissolve the sugar; just stir it. If it does become necessary to heat the syrup, cool it before adding the fruit.
Ascorbic acid or ascorbic acid mixture can be added.
Follow the manufacturer’s directions for ascorbic acid mixture. For ascorbic acid, use 1/2 teaspoon to 1 quart of cool syrup. Citric acid may give the fruit an acid taste. Allow headspace in freezer containers for expansion. For pint containers with a wide top opening, allow 1/2 inch; for quarts, 1 inch.
For pint containers with a narrow top opening, allow 3/4 inch; for quarts, 1 1/2 inches. Be sure syrup covers the fruit. It may be necessary to put a small piece of parchment (wax) paper on top of the fruit to keep fruit in the syrup.
Sugar Pack. Most fruits need about 1 pound of sugar to 4 pounds prepared fruit or about 2 cups of sugar to 12 cups of fruit, depending on individual taste. When freezing cut strawberries, peaches, apples, or pears, add ascorbic acid or ascorbic acid mixture to the sugar to help prevent fruit darkening. Or add 1/4 teaspoon ascorbic acid to 1/4 cup water and mix well with about 4 cups of prepared fruit; then add 2/3 cup sugar. For ascorbic acid mixture, follow manufacturer’s directions. If fruit is juicy, ascorbic acid or ascorbic acid mixture can be mixed with sugar. Pack fruit firmly to remove as much air in container as possible. Air tends to dry food when it’s frozen. Allow about 1/2-inch headspace for sugar packs for pint or quart containers.
Quick freezing
Always freeze food as quickly as possible so cells will not break down. Broken cells make thawed food soft and flabby and juices seep out.
Place food in coldest part of freezer. If it is a chest type and does not have a special freezing compartment, the sides and bottom are the coldest. In an upright, there are freezing shelves; in some of the newer models, all shelves are freezing shelves. Leave a small space between each package for fast freezing.
For a complete copy of this publication, visit our website at, http://www.aces.edu/Escambia. Just click on publications and then search for HE-0016-B to download or just stop by the Extension Office located at 175 AG Science Drive (behind Southern Pine Electric Cooperative on Hwy 31 South).
Source: HE-0016-B, Summer the Year Round with Frozen Fruits, Evelyn F. Crayton, Nutritionist for Special Endowments in Nutrition and Health, Professor, Nutrition and Food Science; Jean Weese, Professor, Poultry Science; and Patti West, Regional Extension Agent, all with Auburn University. Originally prepared by Isabelle Downey, former Specialist in Food Preservation
