Is it possible and how to freeze grapes for the winter in the freezer. Is it possible to freeze grapes for the winter in the freezer? Freezing grapes in the freezer

You may be surprised that I offer grapes for freezing. But why not? We successfully freeze apples, cherries, strawberries and other berries and fruits. The turn has come to pay attention to the grapes.

For freezing, in my opinion, absolutely any variety of grapes is suitable. I usually freeze several varieties at once, so that later I have a choice when cooking.

Today we will take white and blue grapes. And freeze it different ways.

To freeze white grapes with individual berries, first thoroughly wash the entire bunch. Then the bunch needs to be dried. Use paper towels for this or gently shake the bunch and leave to dry on the table. Just do not forget to periodically turn the grapes, because a lot of liquid accumulates between the berries.

Already dried grapes must be divided into berries. Just during the "sharing" you will sort the berries, that is, remove the wrinkled, spoiled, cracked ones. We need only whole, intact berries.

Put the berries selected for freezing on a bowl or a disposable plate. Berries must be poured out in one layer so that there is some free space between them. This technique will provide us with berries that will freeze separately, no berries will stick together, which means that such a freeze will be very convenient to use. We send the grapes to the freezer.

In parallel, we will prepare the grapes for another freezing method - a whole bunch. The principle is exactly the same. First, wash the bunch, dry it. In this case, it is very convenient to hang wet bunches so that excess water is drained from them. Put the prepared bunches whole on the substrate and put in the freezer.

Literally after a couple of hours, the grapes can be taken out of the refrigerator to carefully pack the finished freeze. I pour the frozen berries into a separate container (you can safely use the usual plastic bag). And I put the frozen bunches in a larger container (again, you can just use a food bag). Now we send the freeze to stay in the freezer.

I would not have been too lazy beforehand and signed the containers. I usually write with a marker on the container or put a paper slip in a freezer bag. Be sure to write WHAT I froze and WHEN (freezing date). Believe me, when you have a full freezer of supplies, such stickers will help you quickly find the product you are looking for.

What do I use frozen grapes for? The one that I freeze with individual berries for baking. It turns out very tasty and fragrant. For example, in this recipe, it is quite possible to take frozen grapes. True, you must take into account that freezing still contains some liquid. So, it is worth adding a little less liquid ingredients to the dough than usual.

But I like to use whole bunches of grapes for compotes. My son's favorite is apple-grape. I just add the whole bunch to boiling apples and get a very fragrant, tasty and healthy drink.

Kira Stoletova

Many housewives make preparations for the winter. There are many ways to prepare grapes for the winter in the freezer. It is important not to lose when freezing beneficial features and vitamins.

Process Benefits

Freezing has a number of advantages and disadvantages. Contrary to popular belief, deep freezing does not lose all the beneficial properties of the product.

Why is it beneficial to freeze vegetables and fruits for the winter:

Properly executed technology retains 90% of useful vitamins.
Processed vegetables and fruits are easy to prepare.

However, this process must be certain rules. Only fresh products are suitable for him. Depending on the shape of the product, they are stored in bags or as a whole. Suitable for freezer storage ready meals. efficient in an additional way for the process is vacuum.

Preparing berries

Freezing grapes for the winter is more difficult than other fruits, because the bunch needs to be sorted out, which takes time.

Preparing grapes for the winter:

Select whole, not damaged, without mold and rot.
Wash them well and dry them on a paper towel. For reliability, leave to air dry or dry with cold air of a hair dryer.
Place dried berries on a tray on baking paper.
Place the tray in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.

Then, for convenience, they are poured into a bag and stored. Follow the rules for defrosting fruits: frozen grapes are first placed on the shelves of the refrigerator for 10-18 hours. Then thawed berries are poured with water. room temperature. Grapes cannot be re-placed in the chamber. Do not recommend freezing watermelons and cucumbers (due to the abundant amount of liquid in the products).

Harvesting methods

Ways to freeze grapes for the winter:

with bones and without stones;
individual fruits and clusters.

Freezing grapes for the winter is possible with individual berries, a whole bunch and in the form of mashed potatoes. different forms blanks are suitable for making compote, eating raw, for decorating desserts.

Harvesting in bunches

The fruit is washed and dried. The clusters are left to drain for several hours. Then they are placed in bags and left in the freezer. Release excess air before tying.

Puree preparation

For this method, you need to purchase seedless varieties.

Twist the fruits in mashed potatoes (in a meat grinder or in a blender).
Add sugar to taste.
Put the substance in food containers.

Containers with mashed potatoes are stored for up to a year. It is used with cottage cheese or porridge.

Freezing in syrup

It is not difficult to freeze grapes for the winter in this way, but it is costly because a lot of sugar is used for it.

Recipe:

Berries are placed (not to the top) in food containers.
Prepare syrup (60 g per glass of water). It is cooled and poured into containers.
Be sure to leave space up to the lid, when frozen, the liquid is deformed.

Freezing in sugar

The berries are placed in a container and sprinkled with sugar to taste. This preparation is suitable as a snack or for making compote or jelly.

A simple and unpretentious way to preserve grapes for almost the entire winter is to freeze them. any famous varieties? Of course, but European varieties are ideally stored for the longest period of time, distinguished by berries with a dark deep color. Their flesh is dense, crispy, sweet (sugar content is at least 15 percent).

How to freeze ripe grapes

It must be remembered that the freezing of this delicious berries abruptly stops the process of possible ripening after cutting the bunch from the vine. So you need to determine for storage in the freezer grapes that have an optimal degree of maturity.

How to prepare grapes for freezing

Berry to berry

Is it possible to freeze grapes not in whole bunches that take up too much space in the freezer to the detriment of other blanks? Of course, there are other freezing recipes.

Method 1

wash grapes thoroughly
dry,
pick berries,
put the grapes in a pre-prepared food bag and wrap it tightly,
completely release the air from the bag,
put bags of grapes in the freezer.

Large portions should not be laid, it is better to use several small ones.

Method 2

Can be excellent freeze grapes in 20-40% sugar syrup. This primarily applies to light varieties - so that the berries do not darken and their taste does not deteriorate.

However, as for the dark varieties, they can be frozen without sugar, scattered in small cardboard boxes.

There is such a prejudice that vegetables, fruits and berries with great content moisture should not be frozen - they say, they lose their properties, become watery and tasteless after defrosting. And if, for example, with , bell pepper and everything is more or less clear, then freezing grapes is not such a popular preparation for the winter. And supporters proper nutrition people often ask whether it is possible to freeze grapes for the winter in the freezer of an ordinary refrigerator and how to do it correctly at home. In fact, it is possible, although there are secrets here.

Grapes in winter - a great variety for a pp diet

Any, and especially homemade, grapes harvested "in season" contain much more useful components than the one sold in supermarkets all year round. When grapes are frozen for the winter in the freezer, micro and macro elements (potassium, magnesium, selenium, iron, phosphorus, etc.), as well as vitamins (A, E, K, B6, folates) are stored in berries for the whole winter. This is especially true of vitamin C, which is easily destroyed by heat treatment, therefore, it remains extremely small in jams and compotes - but when frozen, the amount of this vitamin remains the same high.

In addition to the practical benefits of freezing, there is also an aesthetic one - frozen grapes retain their shape and “marketable” appearance, they can be used to decorate dishes, prepare compotes and desserts. Most of its varieties are sweet, as they contain a significant amount of fructose and glucose, and therefore they can easily and simply replace sugar in the diet.

The calorie content of frozen berries is not very different from the calorie content of fresh ones and depends on the variety. So, sweet Isabella grapes contain about 80 kcal per 100 g, white grapes - 43, black - 70, green - 69 kcal.

Cluster freezing method

This option is especially suitable for those with small children. After all, there is nothing easier than quickly cooking delicious useful compote from fresh frozen berries. Also, such grapes are perfect as a filling for various homemade pastries and a component of desserts.

So, for harvesting, we select ripe bunches of blue grapes. Remove spoiled or unripe grapes from the branches. We will freeze the grapes directly in clusters, this will keep the shape of the grapes and will not turn them into one continuous mass after defrosting.

Next, the selected bunches are thoroughly washed in running water and lay it out on a paper towel to dry. This moment is very important, the grapes should not be excess moisture, which will later turn into frozen ice.

After that, we put the washed and dried bunches of grapes on a suitable tray so that they do not touch each other, and send it to the freezer for 24 hours.

After a day, we remove the frozen bunches from the freezer and transfer them to a special plastic bag designed for storing frozen food products. Put it back in the freezer again. Note, the bag in which the grapes will be stored must be tightly tied so that the grapes are not saturated with foreign odors from the refrigerator. And if you also have the No Frost system, then the berries can dry out.

You can prepare compote from such grapes without defrosting it first, just put the grapes in boiling water.

How to freeze grapes with berries

In this way, you can properly freeze almost any variety, both in the freezer of a conventional refrigerator, and in freezer:

choose a good bunch and wash it thoroughly under cold water. Then it needs to be dried, for this, leave the bunch on a plate or put it in a colander, but do not forget to turn it over from time to time to remove the water that has accumulated between the berries;
Divide the dried grapes into individual berries. Remember that only undamaged grapes can be frozen, and all others - dented, spoiled, cracked - must be immediately removed;
arrange the selected berries on a plate or tray so that there is a little free space between them. If you freeze the grapes "in one heap", then the berries will stick together, and it will be impossible to separate them without damaging them;
then carefully place the dishes with grapes in the freezer for several hours.

After a while, it will be possible to remove the finished product from the refrigerator and scatter the berries into containers or bags. Determine the size of the dishes depending on how you plan to use the frozen grapes:

if most often you add berries to porridge or cottage cheese, then it is better to take small containers so that you do not defrost the entire volume each time;
lovers of compote from frozen grapes will need larger containers, because such a drink requires more berries.

It is best to have grapes frozen in different ways (in bunches and individual berries) in the refrigerator, then you will always have the right ingredients for any meal with this healthy berry.

What can be prepared from frozen grapes

There are many dishes that can be prepared from frozen grapes. And in some cases, you don’t need to cook anything - for example, you can replace ice cubes in drinks with frozen berries or eat them instead of regular ice cream.

It is believed (and this is confirmed by numerous reviews on the Internet) that after defrosting the grapes remain as tasty and fragrant as before. Therefore, it can be safely added to sauces, a side dish for poultry dishes, salads, cereals, cottage cheese, and even baked goods. For example, the usual one with the addition of grapes from the freezer will become much more interesting and appetizing.

You can also cook compote from frozen grapes - for this, just add a whole bunch to a boiling one, and you will get a very tasty drink.

Another popular question is whether grapes with seeds are frozen for the winter or is it better to choose varieties without them? Nutritionists say that the bones contain no less, or even more, vitamins and useful substances so the unequivocal answer is yes!

If you decide to freeze grapes for the winter at home, be sure to sign the finished containers with berries. This will help you immediately find what you need in the freezer, and at the same time you will know exactly when and what kind of variety you prepared.

Considering the topic of preparations for the winter, one cannot ignore the freezing of fruits and berries, in particular grapes. After all, it is this method of storage that allows you to preserve the original taste and nutritional value product. From the article you will learn how to do it correctly, because the final result depends on the freezing technique.

Pros and cons of freezing grapes

The advantages of this technique include:
safety nutrients up to 90%;
does not change appearance and taste of the product;
the availability of berries at any time of the year;
grapes are suitable for consumption both fresh and thermally processed.

Did you know? The composition of grapes includes about 150 biologically active substances and more than 10 vitamins, they refer the berry to the champions in terms of nickel content.

The disadvantages are:
absorption of extraneous odors with the wrong choice of packaging;
loss of elasticity and palatability in case of violation of the defrosting technique.

How to freeze grapes?

Let's move on to a method that allows you to maximize the originality of the fruit, regarding taste and nutritional properties.

When choosing a variety for freezing, you should pay attention to its ripening period, since late-ripening varieties have a thicker skin and dense texture, which allows you to preserve the structure of the berries as much as possible.

Varieties that tolerate freezing well include: Moldova, Neptune, Kutuzovsky. Clusters must be washed and allowed to dry. Then separate the berries, selecting only whole and intact ones. Dry again by spreading on a paper towel.

Important!Moisture should be completely removed from the surface of the berries to prevent them from sticking together.

Tara

It is recommended to give preference to plastic boxes that are tightly closed, preventing the penetration of foreign odors and air, which significantly prolongs the shelf life and also affects the quality of the frozen product.

Freeze

After spending preparatory work and having selected a dry container for storage, place the berries in it. Cover tightly and send to the freezer.

Video: preparing and freezing grapes

How much can be stored?

The shelf life of frozen fruits is up to 9 months, after which they freeze and lose their original properties.

The state and taste of the fruit directly depends on the defrosting stage. The process should be carried out in stages: move from the freezer for 10–18 hours to the refrigerator. Pour thawed berries with water at room temperature, and the product is ready for use within an hour.

What can be done with frozen grapes?

The prepared product is used both fresh: decorating desserts and adding to drinks instead of ice, and preparing a variety of dishes: compotes, pies, jams.

No matter the season, indulge in your favorite treats and vitamins with this simple grape storage method. Freezing is considered to be the most gentle way in relation to the valuable substances of fruits, which maximally preserves all the vitamins and minerals of fruits.