Preserving Strawberries Four Ways – Freezing, Drying, Fruit Leather and Kombucha

The boys and I went strawberry picking twice this season, and came home with two trays of berries each time.  To put away some of these beautiful berries to enjoy for the rest of the year, we made two batches of low sugar jam (strawberry and strawberry-banana).  I also froze and dried some berries, and used some to flavor kombucha.

How to Freeze Strawberries

I prefer to have my berries individually frozen for use in smoothies, flavoring kombucha or pouring out only what I need for a particular recipe.  I start by gently rinsing the berries under running water in a colander. (I invested in an over the sink colander several years ago and I use it all the time for fruit and vegetables.)  I don’t recommend washing your berries in a basin of water, as they will act like little sponges and soak up additional water, making them mushy and tasteless.  I place the washed berries on a couple of layers of old t-shirts next to the sink to drip dry.  Each berry is then hulled and any damaged spots are removed with a paring knife before they are placed on a sheet pan covered with reusable parchment paper.  If you know you will only be using your berries for smoothies or another application where they will be well blended, it’s fine to leave the tops on as strawberry leaves are rich in vitamins and minerals plus ellagic acid, a highly touted cancer preventive.

Here’s the tray of berries ready to go into the freezer. I typically load them into the freezer on trays one day and vacuum seal them the next.

When vacuum sealing, make sure that you keep the opening of your bag completely clear of moisture to get a good seal.   Don’t try vacuum sealing unfrozen berries.  As the sealer pulls air out of the bag, the berries will compress and juice will be squeezed out of your berries and into the vacuum sealer.  You’ll make a rally big mess and your bags won’t seal.  (Yes, I did try this when I first got my vacuum sealer.)  Write the contents and date with a Sharpie marker somewhere on the bag, just in case they disappear into the bowels of the freezer and are uncovered much later.

Properly vacuum sealed, these berries will last well over a year with no appreciable ice crystal formation and very little visible deterioration.  If you don;t have a vacuum sealer, you may want to crush the berries before packaging, as the juice will help protect the berries and prevent ice crystal formation, or package in a light sugar syrup, which will also help prevent ice crystal formation.

How to Dry Strawberries

For individually sliced and dried berries, clean berries as for freezing, then slice vertically to a uniform thickness (roughly 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick).  Uniformly sized pieces will dry more evenly.  Load pieces on a dehydrator tray (clean-a-screen inserts will help to keep the dry fruit from falling through the trays) so that they are evenly spaced and not touching.  Dry at 135F/58C for around eight hours or overnight, until fruit is brittle and crisp and will break instead of bending.

Strawberries are 91% water, so they will shrink up a lot!

How to Make Strawberry Fruit Leather

Strawberries are low in pectin, so a strawberry only leather will tend to be brittle instead of supple/more leathery.  If you want a more pliable finished product, you can mix your strawberry puree half and half with applesauce.  For a strawberry only leather, puree fruits, tops and all, in a good quality blender such as a Vitamix.  Oil your fruit leather sheet with coconut oil to prevent sticking.  Pour strawberry puree on the sheet to a thickness of around 1/8 to 1/4 inch.  Thinner puree will result in a crisper end product, like a chip, thicker will give you a product more like fruit leather.

I loaded my trays while they were still damp from washing, so when morning came I needed to peel the leather off the trays and flip it over to finish drying.

How to Make Strawberry Flavored Kombucha

Strawberry flavored kombucha couldn’t be simpler.  Just add whole strawberries or strawberry puree to your finished kombucha when you bottle it after the initial brewing period.  I add approximately 1/2 cup of fruit per quart, sometimes a bit more.  Strawberries are quite tart, even though they are high in sugar, so you may wish to use a younger brew (7-10 days) instead of an older brew, otherwise the finished product may be overly acidic.  If you are using a bail top bottle, please be aware that the high sugar content of the berries will make your kombucha very active and potentially cause high CO2 build up – beware exploding bottles!

Here’s a gorgeous glass of strawberry kombucha my friend, Tami, made recently.  Doesn’t that look cool and refreshing for a hot summer day?

I’ve kept kombucha for several months in the refrigerator.  The yeast and bacteria in the drink act as a natural preservative for the fruit.  It just gets stronger and more fizzy over time.

Well, that’s about it for this year’s strawberry season.  Raspberries, blueberries and cherries will be coming in next.  Don’t forget to check out the gluten free strawberry shortcake and strawberry rhubarb crumble recipes.  I’m sure you could adapt both of these recipes for other summer fruits.

Next up, I’ll be talking about our 1.75 ton bulk grain order (nothing like a little stocking up) and writing reviews of Deep Nutrition and Food Rules (I bet you’ll like Dr. Cate as much as I do).  We’re giving away not one, but three copies of Deep Nutrition (love, love, love this book), so keep your eyes open.

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This post has been added to Preparedness Challenge #18 at Homestead Revival.