Monday, July 13, 2009

Four Easy Steps To Freezing Berries

Berries are expensive, especially out of season. Freezing them is so easy its ridiculous. So save money, buy berries when they're in season and on sale, and freeze those bad boys for later.



A few weekends ago, I bought all these pints of blueberries and raspberries for $1 (the 1/2 pints of raspberries were 50 cents). Besides being in season, the reason they were so cheap was because they were on the verge of going bad. I had to pick and choose through the containers to make sure I didn't grab any moldy ones.



So I ended up with 16 pints of berries about ready to go bad. The day after I bought them, I made the blueberry and raspberry rhubarb pies I just posted about, but that still left me with about 12 pints of berries on the brink of destruction. The weather was super nice, and I didn't want to waste any more time in the kitchen. No problem! I quickly and easily froze the rest. Here's how.

Berries are super easy to freeze, requiring just these four steps:
  1. Wash the berries to remove any dirt and/or nastiness.



  2. Lay berries out on a baking sheet.



  3. Place trays in the freezer for a day or two until the berries are frozen.



  4. Scoop the frozen berries into plastic freezer bags and throw those bad boys back in the deep freeze.


Easy! Next time someone comes over unexpectedly, impress them by whipping up some quick blueberry muffins or cobbler. Frozen berries are good for frozen fruit smoothies or as a replacement for ice in a fancy cocktail.



Tips:
  • You may want to measure the berries when putting them in your freezer bag so you'll know the exact amount of cups you have for future recipes.

  • I also suggest writing the date you froze them and the amount on the bag so you don't forget how long they've been stuck under that frozen pizza.

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