Storage Techniques
Freezing Strawberries - Pick em' now, eat them all year!
Begin with about 4-5 quarts of Strawberries. This will suit most large kitchen bowls for the process defined below. This amount also makes it worth the time and effort to properly process the fruit. Try to get organic strawberries when possible.
Some people prefer to only freeze 1-3 quarts at a time because that is all the freezer space they have for the pre-freezing process. In addition, freezing smaller batches allows you to pick up just a few quarts per week during Strawberry season from your supplier, allocating smaller amounts of grocery dollars over a longer period of time. Should you be picking your own, you may wish to make more frequent trips to avoid overdoing it.....(especially when not used to bending and picking for an extended period of time)
TIP** - Avoid taking on too many Strawberries at once. For the beginner, it is suggested that you start with only 2 quarts so you can measure the amount of time you will need in the kitchen. You'd be surprised how long it takes to de-stem 6 or more quarts of Strawberries. The last thing you want is to fall short of the task at hand and end up with rotten Strawberries because you couldn't finish the job!
Wash your Strawberries thoroughly under cool running water. Gentle toss them under the water to remove dirt and debris. Use a colander to drain the excess water. Allow the Strawberries to sit in the colander for 20-45 minutes so that as much excess water can be drained. Use a towel underneath your colander to soak up the water. Less water on your Strawberries means less ice crystals will form on them during the freezing process.
Using a tomato corer, gently remove the stems from the Strawberries. Alternatively, you can use a knife, but the sharp edges of a tomato corer allow you to dig out the heart of the stem leaving as much fresh fruit intact as possible. Place pressure on the Strawberry with your thumb, guiding the corer into the meat of the fruit. Once you get the hang of this procedure, you'll be de-stemming like a pro!
Place Strawberries on rimmed cookie sheets lined with wax paper, keeping a bit of space between the Strawberries so that they don't stick together during the freezing process.
Place Strawberries in freezer for 3-5 hours, or until frozen. You can use a stackable cookie cooling rack to add "shelves" in your freezer, or prop up the cookie sheet on items currently in your freezer. When they are frozen they will be hard, like ice cubes and they will retain their color.
If you forget about the Strawberries in the freezer and discover them days later or way past the initial freeze point (It might happen at least once in your lifetime - don't beat yourself up!) you will have a white coating of freezer burn on the berries.
TIP** - If you've discovered freezer burnt Strawberries, all is not lost! Simply rinse off the white coating under running water and place rinsed strawberries on a towel (while frozen!) for 2-3 minutes to drain excess water. You can then proceed with bagging them.
Remove the Strawberries from the freezer. You may consider using a oven mitt to avoid freezing your fingers... Only carry as many trays as you can comfortably handle, as spilling the frozen Strawberries all over the kitchen is never fun! Lift the corners of the wax paper and free the Strawberries, as you'll notice that they stick to the wax paper. This is where you will learn to appreciate the value of wax paper. The Strawberries are easily released, thanks to the wax coating. Place the Strawberries in quart or gallon plastic freezer bags, label and store in your freezer for later use. You'll note how easily the Strawberries move around within the bags because of the pre-freeze treatment on the cookie sheets.
When you need Strawberries throughout the year for a recipe or smoothie, you can simply grab however many you need. Try to use up your frozen Strawberries within one year. It is good practice to LABEL your freezer Strawberries with the year that they were processed to keep track of them. A sharpie on a fresh bag is best when labeling. If you wait to label until after you've filled your bags, the sharpie must deal with the instant moisture condensation from the bag, and won't write as well. Repeat every Strawberry season to ensure your yearly supply of these delicious and nutritious fruit gems!
TIP** -To quickly defrost a handful of Strawberries, place the frozen Strawberries in a quart size ziploc bag and fill with the hottest tap water you can get from your faucet. Seal the bag and wait about 5 minutes. Walla, your Strawberries are ready!
