How do you thaw frozen strawberries?

iluvatar5150

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The ice crystals destroy the cellular structure of the fruit and the longer it takes something to freeze, the worse it gets. All plants do this (meat, too, to a lesser degree) but the ones that survive it best are the ones that start out more fibrous and crunchy like peas and beans.
 
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Aldebaran

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As long as they are not a real hard freeze, i eat any blueberry, blackberry, strawberry, pineapple frozen.

I just gave that a try. I took a strawberry out of the freezer and set it on a plate at room temperature and tried eating it after a half hour. It was no longer frozen solid, but wasn't a mushy mess either and seemed to retain a little more of its flavor from before it was frozen.
 
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faroukfarouk

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I don't think frozen berries are any good other than for juices, smoothies or cooking.

The flavour and texture of the natural fruit is just not there.
Here it doesn't matter for months on end if I - by mistake - leave fruit, milk, etc. - in the trunk of the car overnight. It's so cold that it acts as a refrigerator...

I'm sure you're right about the taste of frozen berries...
 
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faroukfarouk

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I just started buying strawberries and discovered that I like them very much and that they are very nutritious. The store had them on sale, so I bought a few packages and put 2 of them in the freezer because they don't keep in the fridge very long. Now I took 5 strawberries out of one of the frozen packages and put them in a separate package in the crisper drawer of the fridge to thaw overnight. I tried eating them today but they were terrible! Very mushy and tasteless!

I then went online and googled how to safely thaw frozen strawberries, but everything I found made it sound like there was nothing more to it than what I already did. But I doubt mushy and tasteless is what they're supposed to be after thawing. I can't imagine anyone wanting to eat them that way.

Any ideas? I just want to be able to freeze them so they'll last longer, and then thaw them later and have them taste as good as they would have been before being frozen. I'm assuming someone here in the gardening forum must know.

BTW, I've also tried freezing/thawing blueberries and had the same mushy result.
Some parts of Canada are susceptible to early frosts: watch out for fruit that may be spoilt if still unpicked...
 
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Heavenhome

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Here it doesn't matter for months on end if I - by mistake - leave fruit, milk, etc. - in the trunk of the car overnight. It's so cold that it acts as a refrigerator...

I'm sure you're right about the taste of frozen berries...
Wow! It would be maybe OK in winter but would surely curdle here at the moment (today is 34C)
 
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com7fy8

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Any ideas?
I suppose experiment. But it seems the longer you keep anything, in any way, the older it gets. And age can change the nutritional value of a food.

So, I suppose it can be good to buy what you will enjoy, right away, so you enjoy it :)

Possibly, as soon as you cut corners in order to save money, by laying up in store, it just won't be the same. And enjoy other things, too, so you have a variety. Actually, for nutrition, it might be good to have different things, since each food item might have even unknown things that are good for us . . . in God's creation which we humans have not exactly figured out.
 
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~Anastasia~

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I guess eating them individually after they've been frozen isn't going to be an option then. That's what I got them for, but I guess I'll have to just buy what I can use in a week, and no more.
Well they aren’t going to be the same as fresh no matter what you do. The only choices are to buy less, or enjoy them differently to some degree.

I wish we could keep soft fruits indefinitely. I had amazing tomato crops in Texas - enough for a year but coming in over a short time. They act like berries and I chopped them and froze them and would use them in burritos, sauce, salsa.

Some firmer produce fares better. We freeze small peppers whole and they are ALMOST like fresh when thawed. But they are more fibrous and not juicy.
 
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