Edges and ends of paper, foil, or plastic wraps should be folded over several times so the wrap lies directly on top of the food and all air has been pressed out of the package. Seal the ends with freezer tape to hold them securely in place.
Selecting and Preparing
Grow varieties of fruits and vegetables that freeze well. Your county Extension office can provide information on suitable varieties that grow well in your locality.
Produce selected for freezing should be of optimum eating quality. Freezing only preserves the quality of produce as it is at the time of freezing. It never improves quality.
Fruits to be frozen should be firm and ripe. Underripe fruit may have a bitter or off-flavor after freezing. Pick berries when ripe and freeze them as soon after picking as you can. Some fruits—apples, peaches, pears—may need to ripen further after harvesting. But take care they don’t get too ripe. Frozen fruit prepared from overripe fruit will lack flavor and have a mushy texture.
Choose young, tender vegetables for freezing. Since vegetables lose quality quickly after harvest, freeze them as soon as possible for maximum quality. The sugar in corn, peas, and lima beans is rapidly lost when held too long before freezing. If you must hold vegetables and ripe fruits for a short while, refrigeration will help retain the just-picked freshness better than leaving produce at room temperature.
Wash small quantities of fruit gently in cold water. Do not permit fruit to stand in water for any length of time since it will become water-soaked and lose flavor and food value. Drain fruit thoroughly.
Peel fruit and remove pits or seeds. Halve, slice, chop, crush, or puree fruit as indicated in the instructions for each specific fruit. Some fruit, especially berries, may be left whole, but remove stems or hulls. Work with small quantities of fruit at a time, particularly if it is fruit that darkens rapidly. Two to three quarts is an adequate amount to handle at one time.
Pack fruit by sirup pack, sugar pack, or unsweetened pack. Most fruit has better texture and flavor with a sweetened pack. Apples, avocados, berries, grapes, peaches, persimmons, and plums can all be frozen satisfactorily without sweetening, but the quality is not quite as good as freezing in sirup or sugar. An unsweetened pack will give as good a quality product for gooseberries, currants, cranberries, rhubarb, and figs as a sweetened pack.
Sirup pack. Make a sugar sirup by dissolving sugar in water. A 40% sirup (3 cups of sugar to 4 cups of water) is recommended for freezing most fruits. Sirups containing less sugar are sometimes used for mild-flavored fruits; those with more sugar for very sour fruits. The type of sirup to use is specified in the directions for freezing each fruit. Allow ½ to ⅔ cup of sirup for each pint of fruit. Cut fruit directly into the freezer container, leaving the recommended headspace. Add sirup to cover fruit.