Freezing Fruits

Fruits should be frozen in suitable containers.

Properly frozen fruits will retain much of their fresh flavor and nutritive value. Their texture, however, may be somewhat softer than that of fresh fruit.

Freezing is one of the easiest, most convenient and least time consuming ways to preserve foods at home. Freezing does not sterilize food; the extreme cold simply retards growth of microorganisms and slows down changes that affect quality or cause spoilage in food. Properly frozen fruits will retain much of their fresh flavor and nutritive value. Their texture, however, may be somewhat softer than that of fresh fruit.

Before preparing fruit for freezing…

Assemble the containers you will use. Containers should be moisture-vapor resistant, durable, easy to seal and should not become brittle or crack at low temperatures.

Containers suitable for freezing fruits include: plastic freezer containers, flexible heavy duty freezer bags or glass canning jars. If canning jars are used, be sure to use wide-mouth jars for fruits packed in liquid. Regular (narrow mouth) jars break too easily at the neck.

Some household containers are not recommended for freezing. The cardboard cartons that milk, ice cream or cottage cheese come in are not moisture-vapor resistant enough. Regular jars break too easily at freezer temperatures.

Before beginning to work with fresh fruits, keep these suggestions in mind.

• Select products of best quality at optimum maturity and freshness. Freezing does not improve quality.
• Select varieties suitable for freezing. (Check a seed catalog or ask the grower.)
• Work under the most sanitary conditions .
• Choose fresh, firm-ripe fruits
• Freeze them before they lose their freshness. Sort for size, ripeness and color.
• If the fruits can't be frozen immediately, refrigerate them.
• Work in small quantities: enough for only a few containers at a time, to prevent loss of quality and nutrients.
• Wash and drain all fruits before removing hulls, cores, pits, seeds or skins. Wash small lots at a time through several changes of cold water. Lift produce out of the water so the dirt washed off will not get back on the food. Do not let the fruits soak.
• When preparing fruit for freezing do not use galvanized, copper or iron equipment. The acid in the fruit could react with the metals forming harmful compounds or off flavors.
• Prepare each fruit as directed by a standard freezing method.

For more information on freezing fruits contact your local county Extension office.