I want to show you how to freeze cherries for the winter in the refrigerator. This is the easiest way, but at the same time your berries will remain beautiful, will not lose juice and will not stick together when frozen.
Below I tell you in detail how to properly freeze cherries for the winter, so that later you can add them to various compotes, pies, pies, dumplings and much more. After all, in winter we have access to a rather small assortment of different fruits, so pre-made preparations will definitely come in handy.
Freezing cherries at home is mandatory for me every year, as I really love these berries and use them in many ways. And the most delicious sponge cakes are made with them. So, I advise you to take my advice and freeze the cherries for the winter. I also advise you to look at it, which is called five minutes and cook quickly and easily. It is quite economical to prepare and any housewife can handle this process.
Necessary:
- Cherries - any quantity
- Freezer bags or plastic food containers
How to freeze cherries for the winter with pits
First of all, I’ll tell you how to choose berries and whether you need to wash cherries before freezing. I always choose berries that have tails. They are always denser and the juice remains inside. Then I transfer them to a colander and rinse them well under running water.
After this, I tear off the tails and place the berries on paper towels to dry. Tear off the tails carefully so as not to damage the integrity of the berries. There is no need to remove the bones. Also at this time I remove those that I don’t like in appearance, if they have any damage or are not dense enough.
When they are already dry on all sides, I transfer them to a food-grade plastic container or freezer bags. Then I put them in the freezer until completely frozen. As you can see, freezing cherries for the winter at home is a simple and not long process.
Now you know how to freeze cherries for the winter in the refrigerator so that they retain all the juice and freeze as individual berries. I will use them in various baked goods in the future. I advise you to freeze more of it.
1. The best berries are for freezing. Overripe, with a wormhole, or wrinkled ones are not considered the best - they are rejected immediately. Lightly colored ones are also rejected - they will add acidity to the overall taste.
2. The best freezing is dry. The rule is true for all berries, and especially for cherries with their smooth surface. The main enemy of dry quick freezing, which is called “shock” freezing, is moisture: it will become ice, binding the delicate fruits. Thanks to barely noticeable droplets, the berries are covered with frost, prickly hoarfrost and small pieces of ice.
There is only one way out: after washing, thoroughly dry the fruits, spreading them in a thin layer on a paper towel. It is important to shake the cherry “scatter” frequently so that the drops rolling off the smooth sides of the cherry are absorbed into the paper.
3. Freeze in a container. It is convenient to use a plastic one, specially designed for storing berries, with a corrugated surface and an airtight lid. The optimal volume is from 200 ml to 0.5 l. If there are no containers, any plastic container stored in reserve will come to the rescue. Requirements for the container are small volume, tight lid, clean surface.
If you can’t find any containers, trust the plastic bags - they won’t let you down. The only negative is that the bags will have to be tied when filling and untied when used, so it is advisable to use dense ones with a collapsible Zip-Lock fastener.
Freezing cherries in a bag is simple: expel the air, simulating vacuum packaging, and tie tightly.
In order for the berries to freeze quickly, without becoming covered with frost and wrinkled, it is important to lay them out in a thin layer. The bundles are laid out in the chamber at a distance from each other. Once frozen, they can be folded compactly.
Important: do not freeze open cherries: after drying, the skin remains quite moist, and the evaporation surface is relatively large. That is why frozen cherries are covered with a coat of frost and sharp pieces of ice.
4. The main thing is the freezing temperature. For fast, i.e. shock, possible only if there is a freezer, the optimal temperature will be from -23...-35 °C and up to -40 °C. The fast freezing mode is set in the chamber - most often it is designated as Super freeze or Quick freeze, then they switch to the standard storage mode. As for conventional refrigerators, their capabilities start from -18 °C and end at -22...-30 °C. This temperature is sufficient for high-quality quick freezing.
In old-style refrigerators with a lower temperature in the freezer compartment, difficulties are possible: when freezing slowly, the cherries may become covered with frost and may stick together into a conglomerate of ice and scarlet liquid. This product can be stored for no more than 1-2 months and used only in baking. Such berries are not suitable for use without heat treatment or for decorating desserts.
5. How to defrost without loss. Once in the heat, the berries are instantly covered with frost, then they “release juice.” To avoid condensation turning into droplets of water before your eyes, so as not to drain the precious liquid in which all the taste and aroma are concentrated, the cherries are defrosted slowly. First, you should put the container with berries in a regular refrigerator for 2-2.5 hours - certainly in the lower compartment, then - until completely defrosted in a cool place.
However, defrosting the gifts of summer is not always advisable. So, for baking, for pies and rolls, they are used frozen, carefully sprinkled with starch. When preparing fruit drinks and compotes, they don’t wait for defrosting either—they simply put the berries in boiling water.
When you go to the market in the summer, your eyes widen. There are ripe, aromatic raspberries, tart gooseberries, sour currants, as well as apricots, peaches, and young apples. There are so many vitamins, and you need to eat everything now, otherwise tomorrow the fruits and berries will be gone. Cherries fade especially quickly, but how you want to preserve their extraordinary sweet and sour taste! After all, for many of us, cherries are the queen of berries. How delicious it makes baked goods, and how tender and aromatic the sour desserts are. If you adore cherries like I do, I recommend freezing them for the winter. The main thing is to find large and ripe berries that are not overripe or beaten. In general, freezing cherries at home is a fairly simple process, but following some rules will help preserve the juiciness and usefulness of the berries.
Basic rules for freezing cherries:
1. As little time as possible should pass between picking the berries and freezing them. To preserve the dense structure of the berry and a full set of vitamins, it would be ideal to freeze the berries on the day of collection.
2. For freezing, moderately ripe, scarlet-colored berries are used, without damage or rot.
3. The most favorable temperature for freezing is from -18 to -23 degrees. These temperature indicators will ensure long-term storage, from 7 months to a year.
4. It is recommended to close the container for storing berries tightly; this will protect the product from absorbing foreign odors and excess moisture from the storage environment.
5. It is best to package the berries in convenient portions immediately, at the harvesting stage, since freezing the berries is permissible only once. Thawed berries cannot be re-frozen; they will lose all their beneficial qualities, lose their shape and lose most of their juice.
Frozen cherries are used to make compotes, make desserts, and make dumplings. In short, you can cook whatever you want with it.
1. Recipe for freezing cherries for the winter with pits
Ingredients:
- fresh ripe cherries.
Freezing method.
1. Wash the berries thoroughly in cool water, sort them, tear off the stalks. Place clean cherries on a kitchen towel and let dry.
2. Cover the bottom of a flat dish with parchment. You can use a small baking sheet, a large flat plate, or a cutting board. Place the berries in one layer. This will allow them to maintain their shape and integrity. Place in the freezer, the berries should be completely frozen (this usually takes 2-3 hours). If the freezer allows, you can place several baking trays on top of each other at once, but the cherries should not be bruised.
3. Take the container with frozen cherries out of the freezer.
4. Place the berries in jars and seal tightly with lids. I use glassware - it has always been considered environmentally friendly and more suitable for storing food. You can also use special containers made of food-grade plastic and containing special markings such as:
It is very convenient to store berries in small baby food jars - one or two of these jars is enough to cook delicious cherry jelly or compote in winter.
Repeat steps 2-4 with the remaining berries. All cherries come out whole and do not stick to each other. And if you shake the jar, you will hear the ice cherries rattling loudly against its walls.
2. Recipe for freezing cherry juice for the winter
Ingredients:
- sugar to taste.
Method of preparation and freezing.
1. Remove the pits from washed cherries.
2. Place the berries in a bowl, add sugar to taste.
3. Grind into a homogeneous mass.
4. Place the finished sugar-cherry mixture in food containers and place in the freezer.
5. Frozen cherries are ready for the winter! It is necessary to defrost cherries gradually. The container/jar with the workpiece is removed from the freezer and left to thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. Under no circumstances should glass jars be placed in hot, boiling water, as the glass may crack due to a sudden temperature change. Frozen fresh cherry juice can be used in the preparation of smoothies, milkshakes, juices, compotes and other tasty and healthy drinks.
Bon appetit and a warm winter!
It would seem that it could be simpler than freezing berries. I put it in the storage chamber and that’s it.
But no, in order for the frozen cherries to turn out whole and neat, you must follow the following recommendations:
- Freshly picked fruits must be frozen; the longer they are stored, the less useful they are;
- Do not use damaged or overripe berries;
- Do not freeze wet berries, they will stick together and lose their “marketable” appearance;
- freezing should be carried out in batches;
- For storage, you need to use separate containers so that when selecting the required amount you do not damage the cherries located nearby.
How to freeze pitted cherries for the winter at home
fresh cherries
Having collected fresh fruits, they must be sorted to remove damaged or rotten ones, as well as to clean them from leaves and stalks. Rinse under running water and leave in a colander to drain excess water.
Place the berries on a paper towel or kitchen cloth to finally get rid of unnecessary moisture.
Special plastic containers are best suited for freezing cherries in the refrigerator. If you don't have enough space in the freezer, you can use regular bags to store ice cubes. You need to divide the berries into portions (depending on how much you need to make compote, jelly, dumplings, etc.) and put them in the freezer.
Now you can please your family in winter and surprise your guests with aromatic and truly summer cherry dishes.
We hope you find the tips useful.
Benefits of cherries
Why freeze cherries when you can buy them at the supermarket? Of course, for those who do not have storage conditions, this is the only option, not counting, of course, conservation. But if you are lucky and have a freezer at home, or the refrigerator has enough space for freezing, it is better to prepare the berries yourself. It is not known under what conditions the sold cherries were grown, how they were processed, how they were stored, transported, etc. We won’t say anything about the price at all. In winter, frozen cherries are worth their weight in gold, and you will have such a treasure in your refrigerator.
What a delicious compote it makes, and if you add berries to the filling for dumplings or pies, the smell of summer will immediately settle in the house.
You can freeze cherries either with or without the pit, which is what we did. In most cases, modern housewives prefer the second option. It’s good to take out the seeds if you have a special harvester, but there’s always not enough time to do it manually.
The most valuable substance in cherries is coumarin, which affects blood clotting, but magnesium, zinc, iron, etc. are no less valuable. Cherries have the ability to reduce temperature and effectively fight viruses, so by brewing tea in winter using frozen berries, you can give a worthy rebuff to the flu and colds.
Good day to all!
- freeze cherries with pits,
- freeze pitted cherries.
How to freeze cherries with pits for the winter.
In the summer, at the height of the berry season, there is so little time! All the berries ripen quickly, right after each other. We didn’t even have time to roll it up, but the cherries were already ripe. The easiest way to prepare cherries is to freeze cherries with pits.
To do this, rinse the berries, drain the water or scatter them on a towel to dry them, then put them in bags or special containers and put them in the freezer. Just containers or bags need to be tightly closed.
The method of freezing cherries with pits is good if you make compote from cherries in the winter or just eat the berries. You can freeze berries with tails, then you can decorate dishes with them.
In the same way, you can freeze any other berries - currants, gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, wild strawberries, blueberries. Wash it, pour it into a container and into the freezer. All vitamins are retained to the maximum.
If you want to freeze cherries so that they can be quickly used for filling pies or dumplings, it is better to use the method of freezing pitted cherries.
How to freeze pitted cherries for the winter.
I prefer to freeze pitted cherries. That's how appetizing and tasty it is!
In this case, in winter it is enough to take the berries out of the freezer, slightly defrost them, and you can add them to the oven, my favorite, make dumplings, add to champagne, milkshakes. And just eating these cherries is delicious.
So, the cherries need to be washed and allowed to drain. Then we take out the seeds with an ordinary pin. It is better to wear thin medical rubber gloves on your hands, because cherry juice is difficult to wash off your hands and nails.
Sprinkle pitted cherries with sugar. For 1 liter of cherries, 2-4 tbsp is enough. l. Sahara. You can freeze without sugar, but when the berries are sprinkled with sugar, they will become sweeter and tastier during storage.
For freezing, I use either ready-made plastic containers or juice or milk boxes.
The boxes must be opened, washed well and filled with berries. Square and rectangular packages are convenient to place in the freezer - they fit tightly to each other and save space in the freezer. And packaging recycling is possible.
They are just the right height for me in the freezer compartment. But just in case, check. If liter packages are too tall, use half-liter or ready-made freezer containers.
We will eat frozen cherries in the winter, bake pies with them and make compotes, but in the summer we will prepare salads from fresh vegetables and fruits.
Take away - An exclusive collection of salads for beauty and health that help you lose weight.
You know how to freeze cherries for the winter, now it’s up to you to decide whether you do it with or without pits. In any case, it will be tasty and healthy! If you liked this method of preparing berries, share it on social networks. Buttons under the article.
And as a farewell, I offer a video on how to make pitted cherry jam from my friend Elena Mak.