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fresh strawberries....ideas?


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My family was a bit too zealous and picked way more strawberries than we can use. We stayed up till 1am last night making a bunch of jam, and still have lots of sliced ones and even crushed ones in the refrigerator. Is there any other way to prepare/freeze these for later? I do not have a dehydrator.

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We wash them, cut the cap off, throw them in sandwich bags in groups of 10, put them in freezer bags, then take them out one sandwich bag at a time to use in smoothies. Today's smoothies had pineapple juice, bananas, strawberries, and spinach. Yum!

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I would just rinse them, let them dry, then freeze them in a freezer bag...You can use them in smoothies, I do it all the time...

 

BTW, where did you go to pick?...I live in Jersey too :001_smile:

 

We went to Russo's Orchard Farm in Central Jersey. There are some beautiful berries out there. Here is the link..https://www.facebook.com/RussosOrchardLaneFarm

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I rinse them, cap them, and stand them up on a cookie sheet and freeze them that way. Then, when they're frozen, I put them in gallon freezer bags. They freeze individually that way and you can use just as much as you want.

Edited by KrissiK
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I mushed ones I would freeze in icecube trays and save for smoothies, or topping on pancakes etc. The slices ones I would serve in a bowl with a sprinkle of sugar for dessert, or make strawberry shortcake, serve topping angel foods cake, make a strawberry trifle, toss into oatmeal etc. We love strawberries as summertime desserts here. The slices you could also spread out on a cookie sheet with parchment paper and freeze and then seal in a ziploc for later use. Spreading them out keeps them all separate to use in desserts etc.

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We are from the east coast and went to Russo's a few years ago to pick blueberries -- it was amazing. DH still waxes nostalgic when he thinks about those berries.

 

For strawberries, this year I have been following Cook's Illustrated's recommendation for keeping berries mold-free in the fridge, and it really works! Wash gently in a solution of 1:3 vinegar to water, rinse in a colander, dry gently (they recommend using a paper-towel-lined salad spinner, but I find that that is still too rough) and once berries are thoroughly dry, store in paper-towel-lined container in the fridge.

 

A bit labor-intensive, but the berries really do stay fresh for much longer. We have gone strawberry picking twice this year and our CSA has been giving us lots of berries, and I'm so glad I found this trick.

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I am jealous of all of you that can go berry picking already. Berry season out here doesn't start for at least another month, due to extended winter, then drought like conditions. Finally getting a good amount of rain so hopefully by the end of June we can start hitting the berry farms.

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Dh brought a bunch of strawberry and blueberries home in the middle of last week.

 

I froze some (washed, cookie sheet w/parchment, froze, containers).

I made some strawberry puree (cooked a bit, blender).

I removed much of the juice from the puree, cooked it down, and made strawberry syrup (you can add a little sugar but you don't have to).

 

From some of the puree, syrup, and some chopped berries I made ice cream using the Jeni's Splendid ice cream base.

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I puree some and freeze in ice cube trays (then transfer to a zip bag) to use for smoothies and strawberry lemonade. I like my smoothies without ice, so I use the frozen strawberry puree instead. For lemonade*, I add 3 cubes to a gallon and it gives it a nice strawberry flavor and pinkish color.

 

*2 cups sugar, 2 cups lemon juice, 3 cubes strawberry puree, water to make 1 gallon.

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