All too often, I've been the person who buys two bags of cranberries a week before I need them only to find that 50% of them are an awful, slimy mess once it’s time to cook. Alternatively, I’ve also been the person who waits until the last minute to find the cranberry shelf has been completely decimated. The choices have always been: Shop too early and the berries turn to mush, or too late and the shelves have nary a cranberry in sight. Both of these options leaves you berry-poor.
However, if you store your fresh cranberries right, you can have perfect, unspoiled berries ready for when you need them. Stock up on a few bags right now, and freeze them. Here’s how to do it properly so they stay nice and fresh.
How to store fresh cranberries in the freezer
Regardless of where you stand on the great cranberry sauce debate, whole fresh cranberries are a cold-weather gem. Use them in cookies, cakes, pies, or chill your beverages with them.
1. Sort out the bad cranberries
After you’ve purchased your bounty of (hopefully) top notch, firm, unmarred cranberries, you need to check them over. Resist the urge to just chuck the entire bag in the freezer. It’s important to check them now because once they’re frozen you won’t easily be able to tell if they’ve gone rotten or not.
I set up a sorting station with a pan to sort through, a small bowl for the busted berries, and a big bowl for the keepers. Spill some cranberries out of the bag and into the pan. Pick up a handful and take out the bad berries. they go in the small bowl to get composted. Put the good ones into the big bowl. Repeat with all of your cranberries.
How do you know if cranberries are bad?
Gently squeeze them and roll them around to check out all of the sides. Any cranberries that are crushed, extremely wrinkled, brown, or feel like water balloons are on their way out, if not completely rotten already. A good cranberry is hard with a tight, shiny skin. Some flat spots are to be expected because cranberries have internal seed chambers, so they're not always perfectly round. They can range in color from light pink and splotchy-white to dark red, nearly black. Ones that have mushy brown areas are no good.
2. Freeze them in a single layer
After you’ve sorted out the berries, lay them out on a clean sheet tray or cake pan in a single layer. Put the whole tray in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes. This step allows the berries to freeze loose from each other and preserve their plump round shape.
3. Consolidate the cranberries
Once they’re frozen, pour the berries into a container or freezer bag. Seal it up tight and store these tart orbs in the freezer until you need them. They’ll keep well in the freezer for eight months to a year.
When you’re ready to use them, measure the frozen berries directly into your recipe. There’s no need to thaw them; they can be used immediately from a frozen state. Pour them into a pot to cook into the best cranberry sauce, or drop a few into your champagne to keep it chilled and festive.
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