How to properly freeze raspberries for the winter.

Preparing raspberries for freezing.

Raspberries collected on your own plot or purchased at the market should be frozen as quickly as possible, before they lose their beneficial properties. Moreover, it deteriorates quite quickly. But first you need to carefully wash the berries. To do this, place the raspberries in small portions in a colander and place them under a gentle stream of water. Or dip the colander several times into a large container of clean water. Then the berries should be dried on a cotton cloth, spread out in one layer. After an hour, the raspberries will dry out and you need to sort them out, removing damaged and overripe berries. There are several ways to freeze raspberries: whole, puree, whole berries in puree, seedless puree.

Freezing whole raspberries for the winter.

Place the prepared raspberries on a cutting board or tray in one layer. It is important that the berries do not touch each other, otherwise they will stick together when frozen.

Place the tray in the freezer for several hours to freeze the berries. Remove from the freezer and place in a bag or plastic container and place in the freezer for permanent storage.These raspberries can be used to decorate a cake, morning oatmeal, or pour over jelly.

Planet “FOOD” will tell you how to freeze raspberries for the winter using whole berries?

Freezing raspberry puree.

You can also use overripe berries for puree. Puree the prepared raspberries using a wooden pestle or blender. You can add sugar if desired, then the consistency of the puree will be softer. It is convenient to freeze the mass in plastic cups or special rectangular containers. You can also use silicone molds for this.

If you don’t have enough containers, but you will be freezing a lot, you can do it as follows. Cover the container with a plastic bag, pour in the puree, and freeze. Remove it from the freezer, remove the freezer bag from the container and put the finished puree back into the freezer for storage. During the freezing process, the puree in the bag will take the shape of the container it was poured into. Thus, it will be convenient to store it in the freezer, and the container will only be used to give a convenient shape for the finished puree.

Video: Freezing raspberry puree.

Freezing whole raspberries into puree.

Add whole berries to the raspberry puree, mix carefully so as not to damage the raspberries, freeze in a convenient container.

Freezing seedless raspberry puree.

If you like to eat raspberries, but the small seeds bother you, you can freeze seedless raspberry puree. To do this, rub the prepared raspberry puree through a sieve and freeze. Raspberries frozen in this way are ideal for sweet sauces for desserts and added to drinks.

Defrosting raspberries.

It is better to defrost berries in the refrigerator, if time allows. Or at room temperature if you need raspberries urgently.It is better to freeze the puree in a small container so that you can use the entire portion at once. When re-frozen, raspberries lose their beneficial properties. If you plan to prepare a dish subject to heat treatment (for example, compote) from raspberries, then you do not need to defrost them, but use them immediately for cooking.

As you can see, you can easily and quickly freeze raspberries for the winter if you know some subtleties. And then in winter you will have a supply of healthy and beautiful berries.