How to Freeze Strawberries. Freezing is Berry Easy!!

If you love strawberries, preserve them for year around use. Take advantage of your garden surplus or store and market sales. Freezing berries is easy and it's a great way for someone to get their feet wet in learning how to preserve food. Grab the coffee, let's begin!

Utensils for freezing strawberries

Paring knife
Big Bowl
Freezer bags or containers
Paper towels
Sugar (optional)
colander (drainer)

How to freeze sliced strawberries.

My favorite method of freezing strawberries is to freeze them sliced. Pick firm, ripe berries, bring them in, wash and trim them. If there are any bad spots, cut them out. Then slice them into a bowl.

IF you want to use sugar, I hesitate to tell you how much. Why? Strawberries come in different types and the weather, soil etc. can affect the sweetness of the berry. I usually put about a tablespoon or so of sugar for every pint. I guess at it and I "taste" test it until I have it the way we like it. This is a very individual thing. You do NOT have to add sugar to your strawberries. I have done them both ways and they come out fine either way.

The sugar will help the strawberries to make juice. Gently stir the berries and sugar. Then dip the strawberries out of the bowl and into freezer bags or containers. I use freezer bags. Fill the bag, let the excess air out and seal. Wipe the bag off with a damp cloth. Date the strawberries before putting them in the freezer.

How to freeze whole strawberries.

Again, pick nice firm, ripe strawberries. If they are overripe, the berry will be "squishy" and not hold it's shape. Wash, trim and cut the bad spots. Set the strawberries in a drainer while working on them. You could use paper towels too. You don't want an excess of water on the final product.

Place the strawberries on a cookie sheet and freeze them. Six hours or so should do fine. Put them in freezer containers or baggies. This takes too much time for me, so I drain them until they are dry and throw them in a freezer bag. They come apart fairly easy. Be sure to date them!

Tips for freezing strawberries.

Don't fill the sink with water and dump your strawberries in it and leave them in the water. Strawberries will lose their flavor from sitting in water. That's why I use the colander (drainer) when washing and stemming them.

Refrigerate strawberries until you have time to freeze them.

Make sure you cut out bad spots and check for mold. Discard all bad strawberries.

You do not have to use sugar.

It's always a good idea to get a hold of your county extension person for their input on all of your canning and freezing projects.

Some say that a strawberry will not ripened after it is picked. I disagree. Just last night I picked strawberries ahead of a rain. A few were dark pink instead of red. This morning they are all red. You can experiment with this. If you're berries are not red..they will not be sweet.

Now that was easy! You can tell someone else how to freeze strawberries!