Freezing Apricots - How To Prepare For The Freezer

Apricots - frozen almost as tasty as freshly picked

Sort the apricot fruits

Well-ripened apricot fruits have soft flesh and are therefore particularly sensitive to pressure. One or the other fruit can be damaged quickly. Only perfect fruits are suitable for a long shelf life. Before freezing, sort out any apricots that have the following characteristics:

Bruises
Holes
Mold growth
and other damage

Core the apricots

First, a cleansing water bath is the order of the day. Then the clean fruits are cut in half along the natural depression with a sharp knife. The core usually falls out by itself. It rarely has to be carefully removed from the pulp with a knife. If possible, the apricot halves should not be damaged.

Flash freeze the apricot halves

The prepared apricot halves should be cooled down very quickly. Many freezers have an extra pre-freezer compartment for this process. Spread the apricot halves in it without them touching. If your freezer does not have this useful function, then distribute the apricot halves on a suitable tray and place this in the freezer.

After the apricots are frozen after a few hours, they can leave the pre-freezer compartment again. Packed in suitable containers, they are stored normally with other frozen food.

Freeze blanched apricots

Blanching is useful if the apricots are to be boiled down after defrosting. There are just three steps to freezing:

Put the apricot halves in boiling water for a minute.
Add some sugar and citric acid to keep the nice color.
Pack the cooled and drained apricots in suitable freezer containers, which are placed in the freezer immediately after the label.

The method with the sugar syrup

Apricots that are eaten raw after thawing can also be frozen in sugar syrup. To do this, a brew of 300 grams of sugar and one liter of water is boiled. The apricots are placed in the syrup, which is still hot. They are filled into freezer cans along with the syrup, but only after the mixture has cooled down completely.

Instead of soaking the apricots in sugar syrup, you can alternatively sprinkle them with plenty of sugar when pre-freezing.

Tips

If you don't have time to make a sugar syrup yourself, you can buy one in the supermarket.

Storage and shelf life

The optimal storage temperature for apricots is minus 18 degrees Celsius. Under this condition, the delicious stone fruits are still edible nine months after freezing.

Allow time to thaw

Apricot halves that are taken out of the freezer to be eaten raw should only be thawed slowly and carefully. First, put them in the refrigerator for a few hours. Then they should stand briefly at room temperature, because they do not develop their full aroma when they are cool.

Use in the frozen state

The long thawing procedure does not have to be necessary if the frozen apricot halves are used as a cake topping or are otherwise overcooked. In these cases, the fruits can be processed immediately from the freezer.