Is it possible to freeze gooseberries for the winter: the most useful preparations

Freezing gooseberries for the winter is easy. You will spend about an hour, but you will get a tasty, aromatic and healthy preparation. These berries contain vitamins A, B, C, as well as iron, phosphorus and other nutrients that are so lacking in winter.

How to prepare gooseberries for freezing?

Let's start with choosing berries. Light greenish fruits will give a sour taste, while dark ones - from amber yellow to wine red - will be very sweet, with a kiwi or grape flavor. Think about what exactly you are going to cook from berries in winter, and choose the gooseberry variety accordingly.

Before getting started, prepare:

• colander or sieve;
• towels for drying berries;
• comfortable small scissors – for children or manicure;
• a sheet for freezing (included with many models of freezers) or any suitable baking tray;
• small plastic containers of square or rectangular shape or plastic bags.

Choose small containers - such that they tightly fill the freezer space.

We start by sorting out the gooseberries collected early in the morning, while discarding the bursting, overripe and spoiled ones. Then use scissors to cut off the ends and tails of the berries.

Using a sieve or colander, thoroughly rinse the prepared fruits with clean cold water and let them dry on towels - they should absorb excess moisture.

Freezing process

Place the gooseberries on a special sheet for freezing in one layer.It will be even better if the fruits do not touch each other - the berries will turn out one in one, even and beautiful. After this, we send the workpiece to the freezer, turning on the “fast freezing” mode (usually -23 degrees Celsius). The larger the berries, the longer the freezing: for small varieties – about 60 minutes, for large ones – up to 1.5–2 hours.

We take out the frozen berries and quickly fill the containers with them. If we pack it in plastic bags, then we put 500-600 g in each, but more is possible if the family likes to enjoy gooseberry desserts.

It is important to stack the fruits so that you get exactly one portion out of the freezer. Gooseberries are a delicate berry; they do not tolerate repeated freezing.

We put the preparations in the freezer - now they are ready to eat.

But this is the simplest option. If you want to pamper your family with delicacies, try cooking frozen gooseberries in sugar or syrup.

Gooseberries in sugar

Preparing for freezing is similar to the previous method: wash the berries, dry them, and peel them. And then sprinkle sugar at the rate of 300 g of sugar per 1 kg of gooseberries. After this, carefully mix, place in small containers with tight-fitting lids and place in the freezer.

For sour gooseberry varieties, you can increase the amount of sugar; for sweet varieties, on the contrary, reduce it. This method is suitable for preparing baked goods, compotes, candied fruits, and also guarantees maximum preservation of all useful substances.

Gooseberries in syrup

Place washed, dried, sorted berries in containers so as to fill 2/3 of their volume. Then we start preparing the syrup:

1. Pour a liter of water into the pan.
2. Add 0.5 kg of sugar and bring to a boil.
3. Don't forget to mix.
4. If the sugar has melted, the syrup is ready. Let it cool to room temperature and pour in the decomposed berries.

Be sure to make sure that the berries are completely covered with syrup - at least 1.5 cm should remain to the edges of the containers. This is due to the fact that any liquid expands when frozen. If you pour in too much syrup, the ice in the center will bulge and you won't be able to close the lid of the container.

This method is suitable for gooseberries that have thin skin and juicy pulp. If you defrost it correctly, you can eat the dessert without further processing, it will be so delicious.

Gooseberry jam with orange

This is a dessert with incredible taste and aroma. You will be surprised how harmoniously gooseberries and oranges combine in jam. And, of course, no heat treatment - all vitamins and beneficial microelements will remain in the fruits.

To prepare you will need:

• 1 kg gooseberries;
• 1.25 kg sugar;
• 1 medium sized orange.

Prepare the berries as for simple freezing, wash and cut the orange.

If you leave the zest, the taste and aroma of citrus in the jam will intensify, but a spicy bitterness will appear. Not everyone likes her.

Then put the berries and orange in a blender, add sugar and grind everything until smooth. If you don't have a blender, you can use a meat grinder. Install a mesh with small holes on it - this way you will get the desired degree of grinding.

First cool the resulting mass in the refrigerator (this will take about an hour and a half). Then place the workpiece in sealed containers. Do not add jam to the edge of the container by about 1.5 cm: the frozen mass will increase slightly in volume.

All is ready. Now the jam can be frozen.

Shelf life of products and defrosting rules

Frozen food can be stored for a long time, but not forever. It all depends on the temperature:

• Frozen berries can be stored for up to 2 months at a temperature of -5–6 ^OWITH;
• up to 6 months – at -10–15^OWITH;
• over six months – at -15–20^OWITH.

Before eating, the berries, of course, need to be thawed. The ideal option is to place the container on the top shelf of the refrigerator. This way the preparation will melt, preserving maximum benefits and taste. Gooseberries defrost much faster at room temperature. But in this case, it loses more juice and looks sloppy.

The fastest option is defrosting in the microwave (“Defrost” mode). Alas, in this case there will be no vitamins left in the berries.