How to Freeze Fresh Picked Berries

Is there anything better on a summer evening than the smell and taste of hot blackberry cobbler? What about fresh hot cobbler on a cold winter day? You can make that cold weather cobbler by freezing fresh berries during the summer.

Picking Berries

Whether you're picking your blackberries from a field, a farmer's market, or your neighborhood supermarket, look for fruit that is uniformly black and firm. Stains on your hands or containers mean that some of the berries are damaged.

Preparing Berries

When you're ready to freeze the berries, rinse them gently in a bowl of water. Remove any damaged or soft fruit. Pinch off the circle of small leaves at the top of each berry, and spread the berries out on a towel until you have rinsed them all.

Freezing Berries

There are two ways to process blackberries for freezing. (Note: make sure you label the containers with contents and date.)

Freeze them together. If you know that you'll be using an entire container of frozen berries at once - in cobbler, for example - you can simply fill a freezer bag or carton with berries and place them in the freezer. If you'd like to add sugar to the berries before you freeze them, use 1 Tbsp to 1 cup of sugar for each quart of berries. Stir gently and pour the berries into a freezer bag or carton.

Freeze them individually. With this method, you'll be able to remove as many or as few frozen berries as you need. Spread the dry berries in a thin layer on the bottom of a pan. Place the pan in the freezer until the berries are frozen. Place the frozen berries into freezer bags or cartons.

Enjoy your blackberriesand stop by again soon for our cobbler recipe!