Can you freeze blackberries? As summer ends and fall begins blackberries are ready for harvesting. Thankfully, you can harvest bountiful amounts and freeze them to preserve the fresh berry flavor and plump juicy texture they retain so we can enjoy them throughout the year when ever we desire too.
Frozen blackberries defrost easily and are outstanding for making jams, jellies, pies, muffins, breads, cookies, frosting, cakes or whatever it is, you heart desires to do with them.
Best of all frozen blackberries that were harvested in late summer and defrosted in the middle of winter helps give us a taste of sunshine when the winter blues are plaguing us.
How to Freeze Blackberries?
There are a few ways you can freeze blackberries to help retain their freshness. Let’s take a look at the step by step guide on how can you freeze blackberries:
Freezing Fresh Blackberries
The best thing about blackberries is you can harvest them straight from the vine, remove the stems and leaves from the berries, toss the berries into freezer bags and place them into the freezer to store until you are ready to use them up.
Freezing this way will ensure the berries retain their juicy plump texture and flavor and keep them preserved for up to two years this way.However, after about two years of the blackberries being
However, after about two years of the blackberries being frozen, they can lose some of their flavor and freshness. Frozen blackberries always taste best when they are eaten within the first year.
Freezing Rinsed Blackberries
If you harvest blackberries and feel better with rinsing the berries before freezing them, it is best to quickly rinse them with cool water and place them directly onto sheets of paper towel after to help rid some of the extra water. If you do not, the berries will all clump together and be hard to use up.
Once you have dried off the extra water from berries, it is best to lay them out onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and toss them into the freezer to freeze. When the berries freeze, which takes about an hour, you can place the frozen berries into freezer bags and containers and freeze them for up to a year this way.
Again, after about a year, the berries will lose some of their juicy berry flavor and texture and can darken in color.
Freezing Sweetened Blackberries
To give blackberries a sweet flavor before freezing them so they will be sweeter in flavor when they defrost, simply harvest your blackberries, remove any stems and leaves, toss them into freezer containers and sprinkle some sugar over the top of them.
Next, place lids on the containers and gently give it a shake to combine the sugar and berries together well. After, freeze the berries and use them up within a year so they still have their sweet juicy flavor. However, freezing sweetened blackberries will cause them to be juicer and mushier in texture during the defrosting process.
How to Defrost Frozen Blackberries?
To defrost blackberries in raw form and rinsed form, simply take them from the freezer and place them into a berry bowl that has a paper towel lying underneath to catch any juices.
Berries take about 20 to 30-minutes to defrost. Once defrost you can eat them as is, toss them into yogurt or cereal or bake or cook with them the way you desire.
If you are defrosting blackberries in sweetened form, simply remove the container from them from the freezer and allow them to defrost in the container for 30-minutes on the container top. Then, you can eat the sweeten berries as is or any other way you choose.
Summary
It’s always a great idea to store a bountiful harvest of blackberries in the freezer for future desserts and jams! Now that you know how can you freeze blackberries, there’s no need to worry about what to do with these berries that have a notoriously short shelf life.