{"id":2018,"date":"2022-02-10T12:06:42","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T20:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/pacific\/?page_id=2018"},"modified":"2024-07-29T11:37:09","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T18:37:09","slug":"preserving-blueberries","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/pacific\/preserving-blueberries\/","title":{"rendered":"Freezing Blueberries"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Blueberries are easy to freeze and maintain great quality for year-round use in favorites such as muffins, pancakes, and smoothies. They are nutrient dense and add freshness and flavor to meals.<\/p>\n

Blueberries can be prepared for freezing using two methods<\/a>:\u00a0i)\u00a0Dry pack and ii) crushed or pur\u0341eed. If you can\u2019t freeze right after picking, refrigerate at 40 degrees F or below until ready to prepare and freeze. Work with small batches to prevent loss of nutrients and quality.<\/p>\n

i)\u00a0Dry pack<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>is the easiest method.\u00a0Most advice says do not wash the blueberries; the skins will toughen if frozen wet. (If you do want to rinse them off with clean water, be sure to completely dry again before packaging and freezing.) Remove leaves, stems, and any bruised or immature berries.\u00a0Package<\/a>\u00a0berries into moisture vapor resistant packaging, either rigid plastic or flexible bags.\u00a0 Leave\u00a0headspace<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tray freezing<\/a>\u00a0before dry packaging allows blueberries to remain loose; and easier to remove in smaller amounts.\u00a0 Spread a single layer of berries on shallow trays and freeze.\u00a0 Once frozen, remove and promptly package.\u00a0 Return to the freezer immediately.\u00a0 When ready to use, remove from packaging and wash blueberries thoroughly by gently rubbing under cold running water.<\/p>\n

ii)\u00a0Crushed or pure\u0341ed\u00a0<\/strong>is another method for freezing blueberries.\u00a0 To prepare for freezing, remove leaves, stems, and any bruised or immature berries.\u00a0 Wash blueberries thoroughly by gently rubbing under cold running water. Drain in a colander and blot dry with paper towels.<\/p>\n

Crush, press through a fine sieve, or process in a food processor or blender. Mix with 1 to 1-1\/8 cups sugar with each quart (2 pounds) of crushed berries or pure\u0341e.\u00a0 Stir until sugar is dissolved.\u00a0 Package in freezer containers, leaving\u00a0headspace<\/a>.\u00a0 Label, seal, and\u00a0freeze promptly.\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Keep an accurate inventory of the freezer.\u00a0 Use first in, first out method to use blueberries at peak quality.<\/p>\n

If you plan on using your frozen berries at a later time to make jam or jelly, freeze them unsweetened or follow the proportions of sugar to berries in the jam recipe you will eventually use.<\/p>\n

Taking time to freeze fresh blueberries with care will provide delicious, high quality, and nutritious fruit for use year-round.<\/p>\n

Information from the National Center for Home Food Preservation, Time to Get Blueberries in Your Freezer, May 2020<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blueberries are easy to freeze and maintain great quality for year-round use in favorites such as muffins, pancakes, and smoothies. They are nutrient dense and add freshness and flavor to meals. Blueberries can be prepared&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8970,"featured_media":2636,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"wsuwp_university_location":[],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2018"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8970"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2018"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2640,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2018\/revisions\/2640"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2018"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=2018"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.wsu.edu\/pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=2018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}