Is it possible to freeze apricots

Apricot is a sunny fruit of summer, endowed with a large amount of vitamins. You can save the harvest for the winter by drying or jam. However, in this form, the fruits will only be used for compote or baking. In addition, during processing, the fruit partially loses its beneficial properties. Freezing apricots in the freezer helps to preserve the original taste and all vitamins to the maximum.

Can apricots be frozen?

Each housewife has accumulated a lot of recipes for harvesting apricots for the winter, and all of them are associated with processing. It `s naturally. Previously, household refrigerators were produced with small freezers, where almost nothing fit. There was no thought of freezing fruit. Apricots were used to make jam, covered with slices, boiled with syrup, crushed mashed potatoes. Heat treatment does not completely destroy the vitamins, but the natural taste of the fresh fruit is lost.

With the advent of household chest freezers, fruit freezing has become popular among housewives. This method of winter harvesting began to replace traditional preservation. The frozen fruit completely retains its beneficial properties and taste. However, not all fruits can be frozen. As for apricots, there are some nuances here.

You can freeze fruits. It is only important to observe the technology of the process. Sometimes housewives complain that frozen apricots start to darken when stored in the refrigerator. This is due to fermentation. The darkened pulp loses its attractive edible appearance, taste, and vitamin C. After defrosting, the fruit loses its shape, the pulp turns into gruel. The reason lies in the slow freezing.

Useful properties of frozen apricots

If the hostess just wants to make winter harvesting, then apricots can be traditionally canned according to your favorite recipe. When it comes to the healing properties of the fruit, it is possible to preserve the nutrients in full only by freezing.

Doctors of traditional medicine use fresh apricot fruits for the prevention of vitamin deficiency, the treatment of anemia, and the cardiovascular system. The fruit is useful for people trying to lose weight, as 100 g of pulp contains only 45 kcal. Low calorie, antioxidant and vitamin complex accelerate fat burning. Apricot is also known as an excellent remedy for removing cholesterol. The fruit is useful for people who have problems with the digestive system. Fresh fruits in the amount of 100 g are taken daily instead of a laxative.

Freezing allows you to keep fresh fruits until the next season. A person suffering from one of the ailments gets the opportunity to use apricots for medicinal purposes all year round.

The essence of the simplest freezing of apricots

To find out if it is possible to freeze apricots in a home refrigerator, you need to study its technical characteristics. The freezer should produce a temperature of at least -18^оC. In such conditions, the fruits can be stored for 1 year.

The essence of the freezing itself is the following actions;

• The fruits are plucked from the tree so that the pulp is not crushed. Wash well, decompose in one layer to dry.
• Apricots are cut into slices so that after defrosting they retain their shape to the maximum. However, you can crumble the pulp into cubes, straws. The form depends on the preferences of the hostess.
• Prepared fruits are laid out in a single layer on a tray, loaded into the freezer.
• When the slices become “glassy”, they are put in plastic bags, tied tightly, and stored for storage.

Each package with a freeze is signed. Usually put a date to navigate the shelf life.

The choice of fruits for freezing and features of the process

So that the work is not in vain, only ripe apricots are used to obtain a quality product. A ripe fruit contains many vitamins, but it should not be overripe. The best apricot is considered to be bright orange in color with slightly elastic pulp and a well-separated stone.

You can’t pick fruits from the ground. They will have many dents. Apricot skin should be clean without scab, red dots and mechanical damage.

The features of freezing apricots have already been mentioned. Fruits are able to darken, spread gruel after defrosting. Shock freezing helps to avoid this trouble. The process is based on a sharp immersion of the prepared mass in the lowest possible temperature. In production, this is done at -50^оC. Modern household freezers give a maximum of -24^оC. This is also enough for high-quality preservation of the crop for 1-2 seasons.

Fruits are frozen not only in slices or cubes. Raw mashed potatoes are made from them, it can be with or without sugar. There were even new recipes involving the preparation of syrup.

Containers for storing slices are bags, food plastic trays. It is advisable to sort in such volumes that are necessary for a single use. The re-thawed product is not sent to the freezer.

For apricot puree, portion cups are used. Immediately after filling, the container is placed in the freezer. During storage, cups with puree are closed with lids or a plastic bag is pulled over.

Freezing Apricot Recipes

To freeze apricots for the winter, four common recipes are usually used.

mashed

Puree Ingredients:

• ripe fruits – 3 kg;
• sugar depends on the taste and sweetness of the fruit – usually from 1 to 2 kg;
• citric acid – 6 g.

Sugar is not a preservative. Its quantity only changes the taste, but does not affect the safety of the product. The puree preparation process consists of the following steps:

• The fruits are washed well with clean water, divided into halves, the bones are removed. The damaged pulp and skin are cut with a knife.
• For grinding, they choose household appliances available at home: a food processor, a blender, an electric meat grinder. In the latter version, mashed potatoes can turn out with grains of pulp.
• The resulting slurry is seasoned with sugar, citric acid is added. The puree stands for about 20 minutes to dissolve the sugar.
• The finished mixture is put on fire, brought to a boil and boiled for five minutes. It is important to stir the apricot puree often, otherwise it will burn.

After cooling, the finished product is packaged in cups or other containers, put in the freezer.

The hostess can turn on her imagination and pour the puree into beautiful molds. You will get ice patterned sweets or just cubes.

Whole Freeze

The concept of whole freezing means any form of fruit without a stone. In winter, apricots can be taken out to make compote, eat fresh, decorate cakes. Sometimes housewives try to freeze a whole fruit with a bone. There is nothing dangerous in this, there is simply no benefit from it. The bone will still have to be thrown away. It will not preserve the integrity of the fetus if the freezing technology is violated.

The process begins with harvesting mature hard fruits. Apricots are washed well, dried on a cloth, cut in half and the stone is removed. The halves are laid out in a single layer on a tray. You can spray with a solution of lemon juice and water. The tray is placed in the freezer, turned on at the lowest possible temperature. After freezing, the slices are packed in containers, sent for long-term storage.

in syrup

A new and unusual recipe was invented by the hostesses to freeze slices in syrup. In the future, the finished product is usually used for filling pies. The syrup is obtained naturally from sugar and fruit juice. The slices are not cooked.

Cooking begins traditionally with washing the fruits, drying them on a cloth, removing the seeds. The finished halves are laid out in layers in a saucepan, lightly sprinkled with sugar, left until the syrup appears. The finished mass is laid out in trays, sent for freezing.

Powdered puree with sugar

The recipe is similar to making mashed potatoes, only without heat treatment. The method allows you to save all useful substances to the maximum. Prepared fruits are divided into slices, the stone is removed. The pulp is ground into puree, add 1 tbsp. l. lemon juice. Sugar is added to taste. The finished mass is packed in cups, sent for freezing.

The video talks about freezing apricots:

Conclusion

Apricot slices or puree can be frozen along with other berries and fruits. It all depends on personal preference. It is better to defrost in the refrigerator at a temperature of +2^оC. Slow process will keep the shape of the slices.