How to freeze blueberries for the winter in the refrigerator at home

Blueberries are well known as fragrant, appetizing and very he althy berries. The valuable properties of its fruits are especially in demand in the cold season, when the body is in dire need of vitamins and other vital substances. For everyone who cares about their own he alth and seeks to protect their family from diseases, knowing how to freeze blueberries correctly will become important.

Do frozen blueberries keep their he alth benefits

Freezing is a quick and convenient way to keep berries in good condition, ready to eat in the winter. An important advantage of such storage of the product is the complete preservation of the beneficial properties of blueberries, including:

• strengthening immunity;
• Support in the tone of the organs of vision;
• memory improvement;
• normalization of digestion;
• prevent early aging;
• weight loss.

Many traditional healers recommend using blueberries to remove toxins from the body, lower blood sugar, treat diseases of the urogenital area In cosmetology, blueberry fruit extract is added to products intended for skin rejuvenation face, eliminating irritation and inflammatory elements.

Preparing blueberries for freezing

After purchasing or buying blueberries on your own, it is important to properly prepare the fruits for freezing. For this you will need:

1. Carefully sort through the berries.
2. Dispose of leaves, small debris, unripe or spoiled fruit.
3. Rinse (for this, blueberries are placed in small portions in a large container of water, after which the peeled specimens are carefully transferred to a colander).

After washing, the blueberries should be laid out on a clean paper towel. Freezing can begin when the berries are completely dry.

Rinsing berries is not an obligatory step in preparation for freezing. If the berries are picked with your own hands, in a clean corner of nature, you can refrain from washing them.

Ways to freeze blueberries for the winter at home

There are several options for freezing blueberries. Berries can be harvested whole for the winter, crushed to a puree state. You can also freeze the juice extracted from the fruit. At your own discretion, you can choose recipes with or without sugar.

It is necessary to freeze the harvested blueberries as soon as possible. It is known that after 2-3 days of storage in the refrigerator, the destruction of the vitamin substances in it begins.

Sugar free

This method of harvesting blueberry fruits is considered the easiest. Dry berries, properly prepared for freezing, are filled with shallow containers (tray, plate) lined with cellophane or cling film. Then they are quickly put in the freezer and left in it for 2-3 hours.

After the pre-freeze is completed, the blueberry fruits are transferred to a clean bag. Before placing it in the freezer, you will need to release the air and tie tightly. Then the berries are left to be stored in the chamber until the right moment.

With sugar

For this type of freezing, you will need to prepare 2 components - whole blueberries and granulated sugar (2: 1).Washed and dried berries are laid out in containers, sprinkled evenly with sugar. Next, the containers are closed with tight lids and placed in the freezer.

Helpful advice - candied blueberries are convenient to use for culinary purposes. With the berry frozen in the described way, delicious dumplings and fruit drinks are obtained.

Frozen mashed potatoes with sugar

Puree with sugar is used by many housewives in the process of preparing sweet pastries, various desserts. Its preparation for the winter will require a little more time and effort. Often, berries are used for such freezing, which are a little crumpled and have lost their original shape, but have not lost their taste properties and useful composition.

Blueberry mass can be sweet or sweet and sour. In the first case, the ratio of fruits to sugar will be 1:1, in the second - 2:1. Berries sprinkled with sugar are ground with a blender.Then the prepared containers are filled, sealed tightly and placed in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator.

Sugar free puree

This puree is not only tasty, but also safe for people whose diet should be sugar-free. The first stage of freezing is the grinding of clean berries with a blender. After that, the resulting puree is laid out in prepared containers (medium-sized containers, disposable cups), securely closed with lids or cling film, and sent to freeze in the refrigerator.

Blueberry puree, frozen without added sugar, will be a good addition to the feeding of young babies. If you plan to use berries for this purpose, during processing with a blender, you must carefully chop the skins of the fruits.

Freezing blueberry juice

Thanks to this method of freezing, it is possible to preserve he althy blueberry juice for a long time and enjoy a fragrant drink on cold winter days. Homemade juice always wins in comparison with store-bought counterparts. Another important point - a drink made by one's own hands, completely natural, without synthetic additives and dyes.

Berries are processed in any way possible (preferably using a blender). Next, clean containers are filled with juice, placed in the freezer compartment. For the complete preservation of the berry drink, each vessel must be tightly closed (as in the recipe described above, you can use cling film or lids).

Be careful! When dispensing blueberry juice, it is important not to fill the cups completely - the freezing liquid tends to expand and spill over the edges of the vessel.

Storage

There are several important rules for handling blueberries to help preserve the natural taste and aroma of these delicious berries:

1. For the longest possible storage of fruits, you should resort to the method of shock (quick and deep) freezing.
2. In order to preserve all the important qualities of frozen blueberries, it is recommended to store them separately from fish, meat products.
3. In order not to forget when harvesting was carried out, it is recommended to sign packages or containers with blueberry berries, juice or puree stored in them (indicating the date of freezing).

By following the suggested recommendations, you can safely store blueberries for at least one year. Sometimes this period can be extended for another 1-2 months.

How to properly defrost blueberries

Unlike freezing, which is carried out in an accelerated mode, with the optimal power of the freezer, defrosting should be slow, natural. Do not use microwave ovens or other devices for this purpose.

The berries taken from the refrigerator are laid out on plates, and then left in the refrigerator on one of the lower shelves. When the blueberries thaw a little, they take them out and leave them to "reach" at room temperature.

If it is planned to cook pastries or compotes with blueberry fruits, pre-freezing is most often not carried out. Thawed berries must be used in full - they are not subject to re-freezing.

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