Ripe juicy apricot is a real storehouse of vitamins. Bright orange fruit is a source of provitamin A, an antioxidant that actively fights cancer cells, as well as iron, which helps increase hemoglobin, and potassium, which is necessary for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. Compotes for winter canned from it , make jam and jams. But to preserve all the nutritional value of fresh fruit, it is better to freeze apricots.
Can apricots be frozen?
Freezing as a way of storing fruits and vegetables is rapidly replacing conservation that is familiar to everyone. The main advantage of frozen foods is that they retain all the beneficial vitamins and minerals. However, not all vegetables and fruits retain their palatability under the influence of low temperature conditions. Is it possible and how to freeze apricots correctly for the winter?
The freezing process for these fruits has its own characteristics. Apricots can be frozen, but often the housewives are afraid of sending them to the freezer. What are the difficulties? Apricots, like plums and peaches, darken under the influence of enzymes and lose vitamin C. When thawing, they lose not only color, but also shape, have an unattractive appearance.
In order for apricots to retain their amazing amber color, when they are frozen, you need to take into account all the nuances. Let's talk about this a bit later.
Nutritional Information of Frozen Apricots
For those who doubt whether it is worth freezing vegetables and fruits or it is better to prefer preservation, it should be noted that in the first case vitamins are preserved in full, as well as in fresh apricots. What can not be said about canned fruit.
Frozen apricot is an excellent tool for the prevention and treatment of vitamin deficiency, heart dysfunction, anemia. Thanks to this fruit, toxins and excess cholesterol are removed from the body gently and delicately, and low calorie content (only 45 kcal per 100 grams) makes it an excellent tool to reduce excess weight.
People who have disorders in the work of the cardiovascular and digestive systems suffer from constipation, apricots need to be eaten 100 grams daily. And until the fresh fruit season has come, frozen ones will become a real find in winter cold.
How to freeze apricots for the winter? Reveal Secrets
Before you start freezing food, you should become familiar with the capabilities of your refrigerator. The shelf life of vegetables and fruits depends on how low the temperature regime is supported by the freezer. It is marked with a certain number of snowflakes on the refrigerator door. For example, at a temperature of 18 degrees below zero, the shelf life is 12 months. This mode is indicated by three snowflakes. The higher the temperature in the chamber, the less time it is possible to keep frozen food in it.
How to freeze apricots? First you need to wash and dry them well so that during freezing the fruits do not stick together. In addition, they should be cut in advance as they are planned to be used: cubes, slices or give a different shape. Clean and dry apricots are laid out on a tray in one layer, frozen. Then they are transferred to packages or containers.
What freeze apricots: in a container or bag?
It should be noted immediately that ordinary plastic bags for long-term storage of frozen foods are not suitable. In this case, how to freeze apricots for the winter? For this, there are special bags and plastic containers with dividers for storing different fruits and berries. The freezer bags are so strong that even soup can be poured into them.
An important point in storing products is that they must be signed. This will allow you to choose one of two similar packages or containers whose
storage period ends earlier.
How can apricots be frozen? What is shock freezing?
Fruits can be harvested in the freezer in different ways. First of all, they are frozen with or without sugar, grated or whole. In the first case, seedless apricots are stacked in tight rows in a container and sprinkled with sugar. Ground fruit is prepared in a similar way. Only apricot mass is mixed with sugar in advance.
Fruits that are frozen in their pure form without the addition of a preservative should ideally undergo rapid processing at low temperatures. In industry, such freezing is called shock and is carried out at a temperature of 50 degrees below zero. At the same time, the structure of the fruit and its beneficial qualities are maintained at the highest level. Home refrigerators do not have this feature. The maximum freezing temperature at home is 24 degrees below zero.
Do I need to defrost apricots?
If the freezing of products should be fast, then the reverse process, on the contrary, is slow. Defrost apricots should be in the refrigerator, moving the container or bag from the chamber there a day before the planned use. You can use a microwave for this purpose. However, then there is a great risk of overheating and even boiling fruit.
Sugar-free apricots must not be thawed. They must be used immediately.
Frozen Apricots for Compote
Fruit for compote is the easiest to harvest. But how to freeze apricots so that they retain their nutritional value even when hot?
First of all, after washing the fruit, you should not rush to act, but you need to wait a bit. Apricots need to dry well so as not to stick together. For compote, fruits are not peeled and peeled. Apricots are frozen directly with seeds, and immediately before being sent to boiling water they are pulled out of the freezer.
Halving
Most often, apricots are frozen in half. After all, placing bones in a container, then adding them to the compote, there is no point. How to freeze apricots in halves?
Fruits are thoroughly washed and dried. Then they are peeled and folded into a tray for quick freezing. After some time, they can be transferred to a special package, creating a vacuum in it. In terms of taste, such apricots are in no way inferior to fresh ones.
Apricots frozen with sugar
These fruits after defrosting become soft, ugly and watery in texture and taste. To prevent this, they are recommended to be harvested with sugar or in syrup. Thanks to these two methods, it is possible to maintain the shape of the fruit, its aroma and bright orange color. How to freeze apricots for the winter with sugar?
To do this, ripe solid fruits need to be broken into slices and remove the seeds. Then sprinkle them with lemon juice diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 1. Prepare plastic molds. How to freeze apricots in containers? Fruits must be stacked in rows in prepared containers, alternately pouring them with sugar. After that, send the containers to the freezer.
Apricots with sugar can be harvested not only in halves, but also in grated form. The resulting mashed potatoes are good to use for making milkshakes, yogurts and other desserts. How to freeze apricots for the winter with sugar in this way? To do this, ripe soft fruits are ground through a sieve, add lemon juice to maintain color, mix with sugar and transferred to a container for subsequent freezing. Store as much as provided by the temperature regime of your refrigerator. The apricots defrosted in the container should be used immediately, not allowing repeated freezing. Now you know how to freeze apricots with sugar.
In syrup
Beautiful and tasty apricots, not inferior in nutritional value to fresh fruits, are obtained by pouring them with cold sugar syrup before freezing. To prepare it, you will need 400 grams of sugar, 0.5 liters of water and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. This is another proven recipe for how to freeze apricots deliciously.
Fruits must be washed, dried, broken in half and removed. Then the peeled apricots are folded into a container and filled with an already cooled syrup made from sugar, water and lemon juice. After that, the container can be sent to the freezer. The maximum shelf life of such apricots is 12 months.
Frozen Apricot Puree for Baby
Useful fruit puree can be made from frozen apricots. Such a product is prepared without sugar, and its delicate texture allows you to use it as a first feeding. How to freeze apricots for the winter for a child correctly? The recipe is absolutely simple:
- Wash and peel apricots (about a kilogram) from the top peel and seeds.
- Fold the fruits in a colander, fix it on top over a boiling pot and cover. This must be done so that the fruits become as soft as possible, and the finished mashed potatoes acquire a uniform structure.
- After 5 minutes, remove the pan from the heat, let cool, then beat the steamed apricots with a blender until a tender mass is obtained. For a more fluid consistency, add a couple tablespoons of water from the pan to the fruit where all the fruits have been steamed.
- Pour a tablespoon of mashed potatoes over the ice tins.
- Send to the freezer for at least a day.
- After the specified time, remove the ice container from the freezer, pour hot water from below, then the cubes will well move away from its walls.
- Transfer the finished apricot ice to special freeze bags and use as needed.
For a child older than three years, puree is prepared with the addition of sugar at the rate of 200 grams of sand per 1 kilogram of apricots.
Frozen Apricot Recipes
Depending on how apricots were frozen, they are used for making various desserts and as a juicy filling for baking. Fruits with stones are suitable only for compotes, grated with sugar - for ice cream, natural yogurt and curd desserts. It is better to bake a delicious pie from fruits prepared with sugar, as well as filled with sweet syrup.
To make an apricot pie, you need to take 3 eggs and beat them with a mixer with a glass of sugar until a lush light mass is obtained. Then add 30 grams of melted non-hot butter and 3 tablespoons of sour cream. Continue whisking for another 5 minutes. After that, 1½ cups flour, add a teaspoon of baking powder and vanilla sugar to the egg mixture and mix with a spatula.
Prepare a baking dish: cover the bottom with baking paper or grease with butter, and sprinkle flour on top. Next, pour the dough into a mold, put halves of apricots on top. To make this cake you will need fruits that are not sprinkled with sugar. Thawing apricots is not necessary at all. Bake at 180 degrees for 50 minutes. Willingness to check with a toothpick.
What is the best way to freeze apricots: reviews
Before you start freezing vegetables and fruits, it is worth considering how they will be used. Any method of cooling has its advantages and disadvantages. Each person decides for himself how best to freeze apricots.
Often at different forums and culinary sites, housewives share recipes and reviews on how to harvest vegetables and fruits and options for devices to facilitate this process. For example, it is better to freeze apricot puree for the winter for a child in portions in ice tins or disposable cups. Do not over pack the bags or fill containers to the top. It is not recommended to re-freeze unused fruits at one time.
Properly harvested apricots, subject to storage periods, will become a real treat in the cold season. In winter, frozen fruits will have a general strengthening effect on the body, and in early spring they will eliminate vitamin deficiency.