DIY: Frozen Fruit (Syrup Pack)

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Jessica Marie Little

Thursday, August 05, 2010

A constant request for care packages from my parents is home-jarred tomatoes. I have to nag my parents to send me more jars—my mother worships the tomatoes and in a frantic voice says:

“Missy, I JUST sent you some, now the rest are mine, we are down to the end before the new batch- no more for you!”

Well this summer I hope to turn the table on my parents, and preserve some of my own food.

Watch for my series of DIY articles mulling over my trials and successes of preserving. I am relying on plenty of feedback and tips from each of you to craft me into a master! (Mind you, I have never preserved anything. My gardening skills are limited and consist of a few pots of tomatoes and herbs that I sometimes remember to water before work).

This week I froze cherries in a sugar pack using the instructions from the University of Georgia, which were extremely helpful. I am starting to come around to my motto about spending a significant amount more this summer on fruit: “An investment in fruit now, will save you oodles in the winter” It’s a work in progress—to say the least.

How To Freeze

Freezing is probably the easiest and quickest way to preserve fruit. There are 4 types of freezing methods:

Syrup Pack
Sugar Pack
Dry Pack
Unsweetened Pack

The type of pack depends on how you want to use the fruit in the future. This week I tested out the Syrup Pack, which is most fruits and is ideal for dessert use (uncooked). These are instructions for a 50% syrup. Refer to this guide for syrup numbers for different fruits.

Here are the steps:

Wash Fruit and remove caps
Dissolve 4 c sugar in 4 c lukewarm water until solution is clear
Chill
Place fruit in container
Use just enough syrup to cover the fruit (1/2 to 2/3 c of syrup per pint)
Crumble a piece of parchment paper and press into container to keep fruit under syrup
Leave AT LEAST ½ inch of head space at top of container
Seal and Freeze!

Feedback

Wowza, that’s a lot of sugar! I had a hard time getting the sugar to dissolve in lukewarm water, and I ended up putting it over the burner and heating it up until it all dissolved.

Has anyone experimented with honey or agave syrup solutions? I would be interested in learning about solutions that are not so sugar-packed.

All in all though, this was super easy. I am looking forward to a decadent fall cheesecake with a warmed strawberry topping. Mm Mmm!

Have you tried the Syrup Pack? Or frozen fruit in general?

Find Out More:

image courtesy of Mr T in DC / CC BY-SA 2.0

Posted by Rachel Assuncao on 08/05/2010 at 08:08 AM

We don’t do added sugars in our house, so I’m always looking for sugar free ways to preserve food. I wash and prepare fruit, and then lay it on a freezer paper lined baking sheet and freeze, uncovered, until solid. Then I transfer the fruit into good quality freezer bags and toss in the deep freeze. No added sugars required!

Because you take the time to freeze them individually, they don’t all clump together in the bag.

We’ve been using frozen strawberries for over a month now, and I’m still amazed at how incredible the flavor is - way better than store bought frozen berries.

Posted by Carlie M. on 08/05/2010 at 04:54 AM

The canned tomatoes are revered in my childhood home too. LOL. This year I’m going home to put up some tomatoes with my mom to serve my own family. I have no tips, but beginning my own journey into preparation. Have fun!

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