How to Preserve Strawberries for Winter
A delicious strawberries and cream dessert or strawberry milkshake on a warm summer afternoon is awesome, but unfortunately this fruit don’t last the whole year round. Because of its sugar content, the berry breaks down easier. If you’re determined to have strawberries even when the cold winter comes, don’t worry. There are several effective tips to help you do this.
What You’ll Need:
Fresh strawberries
Freezer bags
Refrigerator
Strainer
Knife
Procedure:
Purchase fresh strawberries. If possible, opt for those that are locally-grown during the peak of the season. Because they are picked ripe and they don’t travel long distances anymore, fresh local strawberries are a great choice. Ask the people at the supermarket to help you out with this.
Wash the strawberries and remove their hull. Put them under cold running water, cutting the top off with a knife. The stems and the leaves must be completely gone before you freeze the berries, because they might affect the fruit’s flavor. You shouldn’t slice the strawberries anymore, though.
Put the strawberries in a strainer to remove excess water. Leave it there for a few minutes, until the water has run off. This is because excess water might affect the strawberries in the freezer.
Now it’s time to bag the strawberries. There’s no need to add sugar in the strawberries. Get a freezer bag and fill it with the drained berries. Be very careful not to bruise the strawberries as you prepare them. Do not cramp the strawberries in the bag, or they will be crushed.
Remove the excess air from the bag, then seal the strawberries. Flatten the package, so there’s only one or two layers or strawberries in the bag. Suck the air out as you seal the container.
Put the strawberries in a freezer. The bags must be in a single layer. Let them freeze. When the bags have frozen aptly, you can then stack them up.
Defrost your strawberries when you want to use them.
With these easy steps, you can have strawberry shortcake or strawberry milkshakes any time of the year. Enjoy!