Careful preparation
So that the frozen berries taste good after thawing, they should be carefully prepared after the harvest:
- wash the picked gooseberries in lukewarm or cold water
- cut the fruit stems and withered flower remains with scissors
- alternatively, clip off with your fingernails
- puncture the berry with a small needle so they don’t burst
Admittedly, the time-consuming cleaning of gooseberries is indispensable. Neither the stems nor the flower remains dissolve during baking or boiling, so these fruit components impair the enjoyment considerably and should always be removed for quality reasons.
Pre-freezing pays off
A big drawback of frozen berries is that they stick together in the freezer to form a solid block and it becomes impossible to remove them in portions. Expert housewives have come up with the perfect way to freeze gooseberries without them clumping together. The fresh berries are spread on a plate or tray in such a way that they do not touch each other. After freezing, they are then placed into freezer bags or containers and stored in the freezer in a space-saving manner.
Freeze for Delicious Snacks
The healthy gooseberries turn into a tempting snack in the freezer, which even fruit-resistant children like to eat. Use fully ripe berries because they are not as sour. Immediately after the harvest:
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- Roll the cleaned and washed gooseberries in sugar
- place individually into the compartments of an ice cube container
- fill each compartment with water
- after the ice cube trays are frozen, they can be stacked without any problems
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The frozen fruits can be removed individually and eaten after thawing or defrosting.
Storable in the refrigerator only for a few days
After freezing, gooseberries have a shelf life of up to 12 months. This form of preservation ensures a seamless supply for the family until the next harvest. This is unfortunately not the case in the refrigerator, where the delicious berries remain fresh for a maximum of 1-2 weeks. The more mature they are when stored in the fruit compartment, the shorter their shelf-life.
In this case, the freshly harvested gooseberries should only be cleaned and washed shortly before consumption or preparation. During the removal of the fruit stalk and the rest of the flower, the skin is inevitably damaged, which impairs the shelf life in the refrigerator.
Tips & Tricks
Gooseberries are too soft to be eaten individually after they have been boiled. Combine them with bananas in a blender to mix up a delicious smoothie with which you can even convince your children to enjoy the small vitamin bombs.
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