How to Freeze Berries and Peaches

Preserve the Fruits of your Garden

Oct 4, 2009 Deborah Harding

Just think of enjoying the flavor of home frozen blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and peaches in the dead of winter.

Berries are easy to freeze and need little preparation. When they are thawed they are not firm as they would be fresh, but the flavor is preserved. They can be eaten alone, put on ice cream or over pound cake, or used in recipes.

Peaches take a little more time but in January they taste even more delicious than they did in the summer.

Blueberries

There are two ways to freeze blueberries. The first and easiest is to dry pack them in a freezer bag or container. Some say to NOT wash the berries before you freeze them. Just sort out bruised and damaged berries and place the good ones on a cookie sheet with sides. Place in the freezer for about 1 hour so they freeze a bit then remove and place them in labeled freezer bags or containers, leaving ½ inch headroom for expansion, and return to the freezer. Once you take them out of the freezer you should wash them. The reason to avoid washing them is to avoid soaking them in water for them to take up causing them to become soggy when thawed. They still won't be as firm as fresh but they are a little more firm than if sugar packed.

To sugar pack blueberries just sprinkle ½ cup of sugar over 1 quart of berries and let sit for about 15 minutes before putting into a quart container or freezer bag leaving a ½ inch head space. Place in the freezer. Blueberries dry or sugar packed can last up to 1 year in your freezer.

Raspberries

Raspberries both red and black can be frozen using the sugar pack method or the syrup pack method. To sugar pack place 1 quart of washed raspberries in a bowl and sprinkle ½ cup sugar over top. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour then place them in containers or freezer bags. You will notice that a great deal of juice has collected in the bowl. This is natural in sugar packing, just pour it in the container or bag along with the berries, leaving a ½ “ head space, and place in the freezer.

To syrup pack place 5-1/4 cups water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add 2-1/4 cups sugar to the boiling water and stir constantly for several minutes until the sugar dissolves and mixture thickens slightly. This is for a light syrup. If you have a sweet tooth and wish to have a medium or heavy syrup please refer to Basics of Freezing Fruit for increments of sugar to water. Place 1 quart washed berries in a container and pour the syrup over making sure to leave a ½ inch head space before sealing. Wait until they cool to place in freezer. You can put syrup packed raspberries in freezer bags but wait first until the syrup cools. Containers work better. Raspberries frozen with both methods will last about a year.

Strawberries

Strawberries can also be dry, sugar or syrup packed. To dry pack them wash the berries and remove the stems. Pat them dry with paper towels and place on a cookie sheet with sides. Put in the freezer for about 1 hour or until the berries are frozen. Place in freezer bags leaving ½ inch head space, seal and place in freezer.

To sugar pack strawberries place one quart washed, with stems removed in a bowl. Sprinkle ½ to 1 cup sugar over top and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Spoon berries and resulting juice into freezer bags leaving ½ inch head space, seal and place in freezer.

To syrup pack follow the directions as per the raspberries above. Strawberries will last with all methods in the freezer for 1 year.

Peaches

These are a little more time consuming. You will need about 5 to 6 washed peaches per quart. They must be peeled so get a pot of water on the stove and get it to boil. Dip the peaches in the boiling water for 20 to 30 seconds and remove them to ice water. The skins will easily peel off. Remove the pit and cut in slices. Peach slices will start to discolor rather quickly so either drop them into a combination of 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice to 1 quart of water or use a fruit pectin and follow the instructions. Drain and pat the slices before placing them in freezer bags.

Peaches can be sugar packed. Just follow the directions above for Strawberries. They can also be syrup packed. To make syrup place 6 cups water in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Add 2 cups of sugar and boil until it dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool. Mix the syrup with the peaches and pack in freezer bags leaving ½ inch head space, then place in freezer.

When you are ready to use your berries or peaches just remove them from the freezer and thaw in the refrigerator for a few days or on the counter for a few hours and enjoy even in the dead of winter.

The copyright of the article How to Freeze Berries and Peaches in Food Trends is owned by Deborah Harding. Permission to republish How to Freeze Berries and Peaches in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

blueberries