How to freeze fresh apricots for the winter in the refrigerator and is it possible

Mistresses send many different berries to the freezer, in almost every cell there are strawberries, raspberries, black and red currants, blueberries. And what about the stone ones? How to freeze apricots to save more benefits for the winter?

It is necessary to harvest apricots, ripened fruits contain a lot of carotene, in addition, the pulp is rich:

• Vitamins of groups B, C, PP.
• Copper, manganese, potassium, iron, cob alt.

Ripe fruits are used not only in cooking, cosmetologists are aware of the beneficial effects of the pulp on the skin.

Can I freeze apricots

It has long been customary to harvest fruits and berries for the future, for this our ancestors made seamings for the winter. Now many people still make jam, but freezing is slowly replacing everything.

Apricots were harvested for the winter in the form of jam and compote. The fruits are dried with and without a stone, this is called dried apricots.

Freezing is preferable to all the above methods of preservation, almost all vitamins are preserved in frozen berries, and they disappear during heat treatment. Based on this, it is worth noting that it is possible and necessary to freeze apricots.

Preparing an apricot for the process

Before you start freezing, the fruits must be prepared. This process will not take much time, but it must be carried out.

To get more pure vitamins in winter, you need:

1. Pick up tight, intact ripe fruits.
2. Washing and sorting are required, spoiled fruits cannot be frozen.
3. With any type of freezing, the bones must be taken out. This should be done carefully if freezing is planned in halves.

It is advisable to take varieties of berries, the stone of which is well separated, this will help save time and nerves.

Advice! After washing the fruit, be sure to let the water drain. It is better to place the washed apricots in a colander or a large sieve. Drying with paper towels is also allowed.

Recipes for freezing apricots at home

After the preparatory work, they proceed directly to the freezing itself. There is no need to rush, you can do it in several ways, each of which is good in its own way.

Whole

This method is suitable in cases where there is no time at all to pull out the bones. It should be understood that in this form, frozen berries will take up a lot of space.

The process is carried out as follows:

• Food plastic tray lined with cling film.
• Washed and dried fruits should be properly laid out in one layer on the prepared tray.
• The container is sent to the chamber and left until completely solidified.
• Frozen fruits are put in a suitable container for further storage.

Cutting boards can be used in place of the tray, but they must be clean and dry. It is necessary to line them with a film for faster shifting after freezing fresh berries.

Slices

This type will allow the product to take up less space in the refrigerator. Correctly do this:

• The washed and dried berries are divided in half, the pit is pulled out.
• The halves of the berries are laid out in a single layer in the prepared tray and sent to the freezer.
• If the appearance does not matter, then the container, in our case, the tray, is completely filled with halves of berries. In this form, the berries are frozen and stored.

With sugar

This method, along with the berries in the container, will also produce a small amount of frozen apricot juice. Work is carried out in this order:

• The pits are taken out of the washed and dried fruits.
• Halves of fruits are placed in one layer in a food-grade plastic container.
• Spread a layer of sugar.
• Then repeat the layer, the top should be sugar.
• The containers are left at room temperature to release the juice.
• After that, containers with berries and natural filling are placed in the freezer.

Berries with juice will not change their place of residence, they will wait in containers for their turn to be consumed.

In syrup

Frozen in syrup started quite recently, the housewives were prompted by the fact that some varieties of berries lose their natural sweetness when frozen. The syrup is made from sugar and water, to add zest to frozen products, you can add orange or lemon zest, bergamot, mint sprig.

Preparatory work remains the same, just do not line the container with cling film.

Berries, disassembled into halves and already pitted, spread in one layer in a container.At the same time, syrup is prepared, products are taken at the rate of two glasses of water, a glass of sugar. In hot form, the stacked berries are poured to a third of the height of the container, allowed to cool. Covered with lids and sent to the camera.

Small containers are suitable for this method, so the products will freeze faster. Yes, and there will be less liquid.

Freezing apricot puree

You can freeze with this method overripe berries, soft, but without rot. It is not at all necessary to use fruits of an ideal shape, usually wrinkled fruits are taken for puree.

The first thing to do is make the puree itself:

• The pits are removed from the prepared berries and put in a spacious container.
• With the help of a blender, the halves are mashed into puree. You can use a meat grinder or grind in the bowl of a food processor.
• Sugar is added to the resulting mass.

The highlight will be orange zest or a little ground cinnamon. Everything is thoroughly mixed until a homogeneous mass is obtained. Puree is poured into prepared containers, not topped up to the brim by one third. Close the lids and send to the freezer. Put a little sugar, it is better to periodically taste the puree. Apricots can be sweet, and sugar may not provide the desired sweetness.

Further storage

Store frozen berries in the freezer until their turn comes. This should last no more than a year if the berries were placed in a chamber with stones. Puree and pulp in syrup can be stored for up to a year and a half.

When defrosting, do not immediately put the containers in the room, it is better to carry out the process in the refrigerator.

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