Sour cherries are a real treat on their own or in muesli. To extend gourmet time beyond the summer, you can freeze the fruit. You can find out everything about the appropriate procedure in our article!

If sour cherries are initially frozen separately, they do not stick together

Are all tart cherries suitable for freezing?

No. If possible, choose dark specimens that are ripe but not overripe. It is ideal to prepare and freeze the sour cherries immediately after harvesting.

tips

You should sort out fruit with bruises or other flaws immediately. Such tart cherries would most likely become mushy after freezing and thawing.

Freezing sour cherries - step-by-step instructions

  1. Wash and clean the sour cherries thoroughly, for example in a bucket filled with fresh, clear water.
  2. Pour the cherries into a colander and drain well. You can also help with kitchen paper. Then dab the fruit very carefully so as not to damage it. It is important that the cherries are completely dry before freezing.
  3. Remove the tart cherries from their stems.
  4. If necessary, you can still pit the cherries - but this step is not mandatory. Several experts even recommend freezing the fruit with the stone to reduce the loss of juice. It is also possible to pit the cherries later (if they are slightly thawed).
  5. Spread the sour cherries on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. The fruits should not touch. If you don't have a baking tray that fits in the freezer, you can also use very flat plates.
  6. Slide the baking sheet or plates with the tart cherries into your freezer. This step is called shock freezing or shock freezing. As a result, the cherries do not freeze together, so they can be portioned individually and are still nice and crunchy and fresh after thawing.
  7. Allow the cherries to freeze on the highest setting for one to two hours.
  8. Take the tart cherries out of the freezer and portion them into freezer bags or tins. It is important not to overfill the containers - the fruit should be able to unfold. You also need to pull the air out of freezer bags, whether with a vacuum sealer or with your mouth.
  9. Seal the bags or cans airtight.
  10. Place the containers of tart cherries in the freezer.

Note: The sour cherries can be frozen for up to ten months.

More detailed explanation of shock freezing

When they freeze, the water contained in the sour cherries forms crystals. If you freeze the fruit slowly, these crystals will become larger and spread unfavorably, which destroys the cell walls of the tender cherries and consequently affects the consistency and destroys the valuable vitamins. This can be prevented by shock freezing. It ensures that only very small crystals develop, which are evenly distributed outside and inside the cells. In this way, the sour cherries retain their crunchiness and most of their vitamins.

Thaw sour cherries properly - this is how it works

Place the frozen cherries on a cloth and let them slowly air thaw.

The garden journal freshness ABC

How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?

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