Freezing Fruit – Instructions And Tips

Those who are lucky enough to have fruit trees in their own garden often enjoy a rich harvest. But what to do with all the delicacies? After all, it is hardly possible to eat all the fruit in a short time. Conveniently, there is the option to freeze fruit. Most varieties do well in the freezer and largely retain their aroma and valuable ingredients even after prolonged storage. We will explain to you the best way to freeze fruit and which fruits are not suitable for the freezer.

Essential notes on freezing fruit

There are three main points when freezing fruit:

• it should keep for many months
• it should keep its good taste
• it should lose as few vitamins as possible

To meet these three conditions, you should prepare and freeze your fruit immediately after picking it.

Also, note that overripe fruit is not suitable for freezing. The same applies to fruit with damaged areas. You can “operate” such at most and process them into mush in advance. When we say “operate” we mean that you first remove the “problem areas” and then chop up the healthy parts of the fruit (remove the pits and stones!) and puree.

Tips

• You can later make jam from frozen fruit, for example.
• Pureeing is also very useful when you’re dealing with bulky fruit and can’t free up enough freezer space. Plums, pears, and apples are predestined for this.

In principle, it is advisable to always freeze the same fruits with a similar degree of ripeness together. You can be sure that the quality will be as uniform as possible after the fruit has been thawed.

It is better not to freeze these fruits

• bananas
• watermelons
• green grapes

It is also better not to freeze some types of plums and cherries.

Which packaging is recommended for freezing fruit?

Freezer boxes or boxes are particularly suitable for freezing fruit. This is mainly due to the fact that they are stackable and can therefore be arranged in a space-saving manner. If you prefer to use freezer bags, it is best to use smaller sizes. In general, you shouldn’t store too much fruit in one container.

Guide value: Leave about ten to 15 percent of the respective container empty.

The fruit can expand a lot when frozen (liquid expands quite a bit) and therefore needs some wiggle room. Otherwise, the fruit will push the lid off.

Note: If you decide to use freezer bags, you must pull out the excess air before sealing – either with a vacuum sealer or with your mouth.

Two methods: Freeze fruit unsweetened or sweetened

You can freeze fruit in a variety of “states”, especially pureed or whole. Most people choose the second option. There are two ways to freeze whole fruit:

• unsweetened
• sugared

Freeze unsweetened fruit

With this variant, the fruit will keep for about eight to ten months.

1. Wash the fruit thoroughly and dry it carefully (it must be completely dry!).
2. Portion the fruit into the containers provided.
3. Seal the containers and place them in the freezer.

Freeze fruit with sugar

With this variant, the fruit will keep for about twelve months. In addition, sugar reduces the decomposition of vitamins. However, remember that sugar is unhealthy.

You proceed in exactly the same way as with the first variant – with the difference that you add a little sugar to the fruit before you put it in the freezer.

Important: Exotic fruits, fruit mixtures, plums, and damsons should be consumed within five to six months.