Preserve Those Yummy Strawberries by Freezing Them

Freezing strawberries at home is so simple, and the end result is far better than the frozen strawberries you can purchase at your grocery store. If you have a lot of fresh, just-picked strawberries from your home strawberry patch, follow these simple steps to ensure you will have a delicious supply of strawberries to last you throughout the year! If you have never tried freezing strawberries, do not be afraid! You can't go wrong when you follow these simple instructions!

When choosing strawberries to freeze be sure to choose only non-blemished berries. Also be sure that they are not too ripe, or too water logged. Strawberries are very porous so they will absorb any water that they are surrounded in. It is best to pick your strawberries following a few days of sun with no rain! That will ensure the sweetest and firmest strawberries of the harvest. Strawberries with high water content will loose their flavor almost immediately after being picked.

You can freeze strawberries in freezer containers or freezer bags, but I highly recommend the freezer containers. Because strawberries are so soft, a bag does not provide the protection they need. Bags can become smashed very easily which leads to flattened berries! Be sure to wash your freezer containers and dry them thoroughly before placing your berries inside.

To prepare your strawberries all you need to do is wash them and rinse them very well. You will want to rinse them several times by placing them in a colander and running the water over them. Be very gentle with your strawberries so that you do not bruise them. It is important to remove all chemicals from the berries during this step because after they are frozen you will not be able to rinse them.

After the berries are cleaned, you simply need to slice them. You can freezer berries whole, but I recommend slicing or quartering them. That leads to a delicious berry sauce after freezing and thawing a container. If you leave them whole, they will still be soft after freezing, so you may as well slice them when they are firm and easy to slice!

You can place the sliced strawberries directly into the freezer containers. Fill the container to the fill line, or just below it. There is no need to add liquid or any preservative to the berries. If you like you can sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar into a quart container, and a teaspoon of sugar into a pint container. The sugar will help bring out all the natural flavors of the strawberries. You can also add the sugar just before eating the strawberries after they have thawed. I personally like to add it before I place the container in the freezer.

Once you have the container filled, and the sugar added, you will want to be sure to wipe the rim of the container so that it is perfectly dry. Then snap the lid on place. By drying the rim, the lid will seal tighter to provide a better frost free container! Then you can just place them in your freezer and leave them there until you are ready to eat them! I love fresh strawberries, and this method of freezing strawberries retains all the delicious flavor of fresh strawberries! Next time you have some extra strawberries, try this method of freezing them! You'll enjoy those strawberries for months from now, long after the strawberry fields are empty!