Freezing Blueberries

[JoePa]

I have been freezing blueberries for many years - I always wash them before I freeze them - I freeze them in quart plastic Ziploc bags - they do stick together when frozen because of the moisture but when I go to use them I just bang on the bag to break them up - I find it so much more convenient to have them already washed since I often don't use the entire bag at one time - I often read that you shouldn't wash them before freezing - I kinda wonder why - I don't notice any deterioration on the berries -

[my3boys]

They say that if you wash them first the skin will be tough. The place where I pick my berries recommends you don't wash them first.

That being said, many people wash them first and don't notice any difference. Since frozen berries usually get used in baked things - pies, cobblers, bread, coffee cake, etc. the baking may make any toughness unnoticeable.

I did not wash mine this year. I'll just rinse them in very cold water and dry them in the salad spinner (gently). That usually works for me.

I did wash most of the 20 lbs of raspberries I picked this year, mostly because we like to eat them frozen. Makes for a nice healthy snack. The ones I didn't wash I will of course only use for baking, after a cold rinse and spin like the blueberries.

[7thswan]

I put everything on cookie sheets, freeze, then pack.

[shellmar]

I wash the blueberries, drain, use paper towels to dry them (I know it is a bit wasteful to use the paper towels, but I try to conserve them at other times) then I put them on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer for a day and then package. The blueberries usually don't stick together this way.

I have never noticed that the skin is tougher on the blueberries.

[jwal10]

We like berries ready to eat so we dunk them in water, strain off what floats, put them in a colander and then freeze on cookie sheets. Most of our berries are dehydrated though....James

[o&itw]

Originally Posted by jwal10

We like berries ready to eat so we dunk them in water, strain off what floats, put them in a colander and then freeze on cookie sheets. Most of our berries are dehydrated though....James

I second that "strain off what floats" Don't know about blueberries, but with blackberries there are all kinds of (very small) spiders and other stuff hidden in them. We always put them in cold water and let them sit for a few minutes, then drain and freeze in Zip-lock bags. If one freezes them first on a cookie sheet, one can then dump them in the bag and they won't stick together. We always do that with a few bags for snacks, cereal, pancakes, etc.

I wouldn't think of eating mullberries without letting them soak first. You don't want to know my experiences with eating them right off the tree when I was a kid

[nappy]

We had that very same question yesterday. To wash or not, before or after frozen. I may be too trusting but I've never washed blueberries before or after. If anything is in the berries while refrigerating overnight, it will crawl out, and the grass/weed/stems remnants can be picked out before it's frozen. Somehow I can't imagine "washing" frozen blueberries before using them.

[SJSFarm]

I also wash before freezing. I drained them then put them on freezer paper on cookie sheets. When they were frozen I put them in the ziplocks.

[mollymae]

I don't wash or rinse before freezing....unless the blueberries are from the bottom of the bush where cut grass and dirt can get on them. I do rinse well before canning them in syrup. As far as freezing goes....we like to reach into a bag and pull out what we want and rinse off. For salads or whatever. I can most of ours in a light syrup for cobblers or pies. What goes in the freezer is mostly never washed. But....ours are in our front yard and no chemicals are ever used.

[jassytoo]

I don't wash blueberries before freezing. I just rinse them off when I'm ready to use them. I do wash berries like raspberries, strawberries and blackberries before freezing.

[big rockpile]

I don't wash mine.

big rockpile

[Maura]

I rinse them, then lay them on a paper towel to dry. Then, they go onto a cookie sheet. I freeze them on the cookie sheet, then dump into a zip lock bag. This keeps them loose so I can take out as much as I want. The paper towel is left to dry and reused with more blueberries.

[MichaelZ]

To process wild berries we roll them down a large board that is covered with a bath towel. The dirt and junk will stick to the towel, leaving you with clean berries. Sometimes you have to repeat. Much faster than cleaning in water. In my mind they are ready to eat since there are no sprays. Toss the cleaned dry berries in freezer bags and then into the freezer.

[tab]

The last batch I picked I put in the sink and covered with cold water. A LOT of them floated. They all looked good though. Does this mean I froze some protein in with the berries? Normally I put them in the colander and rinse so have no idea which ones would have floated. I pick my own and at an organic farm u-pick. I guess if I froze bugs they should at least be healthy