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How To Freeze Strawberries?

Before you freeze strawberries, you need to pick them. They should be ripe, not overripe, firm to the touch, with dark flesh. It is not advisable to wash strawberries, but it is probably impossible to do otherwise. Therefore, strawberries should be gently washed in cool water, removed from the water, and dried on a paper towel (during drying, the berries should lie next to each other, not on top of each other – in one layer). It is better to remove the strawberries from the water with your hands, not with a colander, as it can damage the berries.

If you are going to freeze the strawberries whole, it is not recommended to remove the green stalks, because the strawberries will immediately leak juice and split.

Since strawberries do not tolerate repeated freezing, it is better to freeze them in small portions in plastic containers.

Vitamins in strawberries and other fruits are best preserved when frozen. It is important to know that for maximum benefit, you need to freeze berries as fresh as possible, and torn tails or damage over time cause oxidation (loss of vitamins and minerals) and bacterial growth. Therefore, it is best to use the quick freeze mode in the freezer or set the temperature to the lowest setting in advance (e.g. 24 hours). Also, do not put too many berries in the freezer – some instructions recommend freezing no more than 5-7 kilograms at a time.

Three ways to freeze strawberries:

  1. How to freeze whole strawberriesPut the berries on a plate and leave them in the chamber for a day. Then pour them into an eraser container and leave them in the freezer for a longer shelf life. Unfortunately, strawberries get deformed after freezing and lose a little flavor. Therefore, it is better to freeze them with sugar instead.
  2. Freezing whole strawberries with sugar
    This method of freezing will cause the strawberries to lose their juice, but when they are thawed in the winter, the taste and shape of the berries will remain the same as before they were frozen. To freeze strawberries with sugar, you need to take about 300 g of fine sugar per 1 kg of strawberries. If the sugar is coarse, it is better to grind it into powder. Put the prepared strawberries (without stems) in a suitable container and sprinkle each layer with sugar. Put it in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours, and wait until the strawberries release their juice. Then put the berries with the sugar that has not dissolved into a container and pour the juice over them.
  3. How to freeze strawberries in puree form. Another way is to freeze strawberry puree. To do this, crush or grind the prepared dry strawberries in a blender. Pour the puree into a container and put it in the freezer. It is better to add sugar to the puree when you defrost it in the winter. You can experiment by adding whole strawberries to the puree. This way, they will definitely retain their flavor when defrosted. 

If there is not enough space in the chamber, then after 2-3 days, you can remove the strawberry puree from the container and wrap it in cling film. Or you can use special freezer bags.

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Written by Bella Adams

I'm a professionally-trained, executive chef with over ten years in Restaurant Culinary and hospitality management. Experienced in specialized diets, including Vegetarian, Vegan, Raw foods, whole food, plant-based, allergy-friendly, farm-to-table, and more. Outside of the kitchen, I write about lifestyle factors that impact well-being.

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