Content
- Preserving currants by freezing
- What you need to freeze
- Prepare currants for freezing
- Wash and stalk
- Allow to freeze one at a time
- Freeze in bag or freezer
- Consume thawed redcurrants quickly
- Tips & Tricks
Preserving currants by freezing
With good care, the currant shrubs carry many berries - too many to consume fresh. Just freeze the fruits. Then you can enjoy delicious redcurrants in winter.
What you need to freeze
Prepare currants for freezing
Whether white, black or redcurrants - they are all frozen in the same way.
Use only fresh, ripe berries. Sort out all fruits that are already a bit wrinkled or mushy. Also leaves, insects and other foreign parts must be removed carefully.
Wash and stalk
The currants are rinsed in the sieve under running water. The water jet should be as soft as possible, because the berries can not tolerate pressure.
Then place the panicles on a piece of kitchen paper and let it dry on it.
Only after washing the berries are released from the stems. If you remove the panicles beforehand, the currants lose too much juice during washing.
Allow to freeze one at a time
Set the freezer to the lowest level for a few hours before freezing. If your device has a chilling program, use it for this.
Put the dry currants one by one on a platter or plate and let them freeze for a few hours in the freezer.
This prevents the berries from freezing to one another and later only thawing as a block. Single-frozen redcurrants can be better removed if you only want to use some of the fruits.
Freeze in bag or freezer
After freezing, fill the fruit into freezer bags or jars. Close the bags well, so that the berries do not later lie loosely in the freezer.
They can now be stored in the freezer for up to one year, as long as the cooling has not been interrupted.
If you thaw the berries, this must be done carefully. Do not take more currants out of the freezer than you can use right away. Put the frozen fruits in the fridge.
Consume thawed redcurrants quickly
Thawed redcurrants are no longer suitable for raw consumption or as cake decoration. They are then too soft and lose their juice.
Cook compote from the berries or juice them to make jelly or juice.
Once thawed redcurrants should be consumed as soon as possible. They should not be kept for longer than a few hours.
Tips & Tricks
Currants grow on so-called panicles. With a fork, the berries can be easily detached from the stems. Grasp the stem at the top and continue along the panicle with the forks. However, it can not be completely prevented that thereby small stalk approaches to the berries remain. If that bothers you, the lugs must be removed by hand.