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Apricot is a sunny summer fruit, endowed with a large amount of vitamins. You can preserve the harvested crop for the winter by drying or making 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 preserve their original taste and all vitamins to the maximum.
Can apricots be frozen?
Every housewife has accumulated a lot of recipes for preparing apricots for the winter, and they all involve processing. It `s naturally. Previously, household refrigerators were produced with small freezers, where practically nothing could fit. I didn't even think about freezing fruit. They made jam from apricots, covered them in slices, boiled them with syrup, and pressed them into puree. 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. 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 the fruits. It is only important to follow the process technology. Sometimes housewives complain that frozen apricots begin to darken when stored in the refrigerator. This happens due to fermentation. The darkened pulp loses its attractive edible appearance, taste, and vitamin C. After defrosting, the fruit loses its shape and the pulp turns into mush. The reason lies in slow freezing.
Beneficial properties of frozen apricots
If the housewife just wants to make winter preparations, then apricots can be traditionally preserved according to your favorite recipe. When it comes to the healing properties of fruit, the only way to preserve the nutrients in full is by freezing.
Traditional medicine doctors use fresh apricot fruits to prevent vitamin deficiency, treat anemia, and the cardiovascular system. The fruit is useful for people trying to lose weight, since 100 g of pulp contains only 45 kcal. Low calorie content, antioxidant and vitamin complex accelerate fat burning. Apricot is also known as an excellent cholesterol remover. 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 preserve fresh fruits until next season. A person suffering from one of the ailments has the opportunity to use apricots for medicinal purposes all year round.
The essence of the simplest freezing of apricots
To find out whether it is possible to freeze apricots in a home refrigerator, you need to study its technical characteristics. The freezer must produce a temperature of at least -18OC. In such conditions, fruits can be stored for 1 year.
The essence of freezing itself lies in the following actions;
- The fruits are picked from the tree so that the pulp is not crushed. Wash well, spread out in one layer to dry.
- Apricots cut into slices to retain their shape as much as possible after defrosting. However, you can chop the pulp into cubes and strips. The shape depends on the preferences of the hostess.
- The prepared fruits are laid out in one layer on a tray and loaded into the freezer.
- When the slices become “glass,” they are placed in plastic bags, tied tightly, and stored.
Each frozen bag is signed. Usually they put a date to guide the storage period.
Selection of fruits for freezing and features of the process
To ensure that the work is not in vain, only ripe apricots are used to obtain a high-quality product. A ripe fruit contains many vitamins, but it should not be overripe. The best is considered to be apricot that is bright orange in color with slightly elastic flesh and a well-separable pit.
Fruits cannot be collected from the ground. They will have a lot of dents. The apricot skin must be clean without scab, red spots or mechanical damage.
The peculiarities of freezing apricots have already been mentioned. Fruits can darken and become mushy after defrosting. Shock freezing helps to avoid this problem.The process is based on a sharp immersion of the prepared mass into the lowest possible temperature. In production this is done at –50OC. Modern household freezers produce a maximum of -24OC. This is also enough for high-quality preservation of the crop for 1–2 seasons.
Fruits are frozen not only in slices or cubes. They are used to make raw puree, with or without added sugar. There are even new recipes that involve making syrup.
Containers for storing slices are bags and plastic food trays. It is advisable to sort in such volumes as are necessary for one-time use. The re-thawed product is not sent to the freezer.
For apricot puree, use portioned cups. Immediately after filling, the container is placed in the freezer. During storage, cups of puree are covered with lids or covered with a plastic bag.
Recipes for freezing apricots
To freeze apricots for the winter, four common recipes are usually used.
Puree
Ingredients for making puree:
- 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 process of making puree consists of the following steps:
- The fruits are washed well with clean water, divided into halves, and the seeds are removed. Damaged pulp and skin are trimmed with a knife.
- For grinding, choose household appliances available at home: food processor, blender, electric meat grinder.In the latter version, the puree may end up with grains of pulp.
- The resulting slurry is seasoned with sugar and citric acid is added. Let the puree stand for about 20 minutes so that the sugar dissolves.
- Place the finished mixture on the fire, bring to a boil and cook 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 and placed in the freezer.
The housewife can use her imagination and pour the puree into beautiful molds. You will get patterned ice candies or just cubes.
Whole frozen
The concept of whole frozen means any form of fruit without a seed. In winter, apricots can be taken out to make compote, eaten fresh, and decorated with cakes. Sometimes housewives try to freeze the whole fruit along with the seed. There is nothing dangerous in this, there is simply no benefit from it. You still have to throw the bone away later. It will not preserve the integrity of the fruit if the freezing technology is violated.
The process begins with the harvesting of mature, hard fruits. Apricots are washed well, dried on a cloth, cut in half and the pit removed. The halves are laid out in one 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 into containers for long-term storage.
In syrup
Housewives came up with a new and unusual recipe for freezing slices in syrup.Subsequently, the finished product is usually used for filling pies. The syrup is obtained naturally from sugar and fruit juice. The slices are not boiled.
Preparation begins traditionally with washing the fruits, drying them on a cloth, and removing the seeds. The finished halves are laid out in layers in a saucepan, lightly sprinkled with sugar, and left until syrup appears. The finished mass is laid out on trays and sent for freezing.
Pureed puree with sugar
The recipe is similar to making puree, only without heat treatment. The method allows you to preserve all useful substances to the maximum. The prepared fruits are divided into slices and the pit is removed. Grind the pulp into puree, add 1 tbsp. l. lemon juice. Sugar is added to taste. The finished mass is packaged in cups and sent for freezing.
The video talks about freezing apricots:
Conclusion
Apricots in 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 +2OC. The slow process will maintain the shape of the slices.
