Freezing Raspberries
How to Freeze Raspberries Whole

Whole Raspberries freeze very well, and having a supply in the freezer is a great idea for storing these delicious fruits all year long. When you have an urge to make a raspberry smoothie, or make a raspberry pie, raspberrry muffins, a special raspberry dessert, or whatever...you only need to go as far as your freezer where you have a convenient supply of summer's goodness!

It is also possible to preserve raspberries by canning raspberries or dehydrating raspberries.

How long can you store Raspberries in the freezer?

Frozen fruit can be stored in the freezer for as long as 12 - 18 months.

If Freezing Raspberries, how "ripe" should the Raspberries be?

Since freezing cannot improve the quality of food, it is important to select for freezing only that fruit which is at peak maturity. It should be firm-ripe, not un-ripe, nor mushy.

Step 1

Gently wash the raspberries in water (but do not leave to soak), or rinse the raspberries gently with water.

Step 2

Place the washed raspberries in a colander to drain. (see illustration below)

Arrange the washed and drained raspberries on a wax paper-lined tray. This step will ensure that the raspberries will keep their shape and prevent the berries from clumping together. If you do not have enough freezer space for this step, or if you do not care that the individual fruit will freeze together (especially if you are going to use the raspberries for cooking, you can simply skip this step and store the raspberries into the container or packaging at this step. (see illustration below)

When the individual raspberries on the tray are frozen (about 1/2 hour), package them into sealed containers or food sealer type bags (such as "Ziploc"). The freezer bag you use should be heavy (thick) enough to prevent the raspberries from freezer burn. You can use a vacuum sealer if you have one, as the raspberries which are pre-frozen will not be crushed by this method.

Step 5 (Optional)

Raspberries can be frozen with or without sugar. I always freeze my raspberries without sugar. Freezing fruit using sugar ("dry sugar pack") is done by sprinkling the fruit with sugar and assisting it to dissolve by brief, gentle, (to avoid crushing) stirring. Package the fruit-sugar mixture as soon as the sugar is dissolved and freeze as soon as possible. You may want to do this process right in the container you are using to freeze them in.

(Note - Fruits that do not have a high enough acid content, such as raspberries, freeze equally well with or without sugar. However, in some fruits, without a high enough acid content, it is important to add sugar, because the sugar acts as an important preservative for most fruits.)

The amount of sugar required for freezing raspberries with sugar is for 1 quart (1 1/3 lbs. or 625 g)of raspberries, add 3/4 cups (180 ml)of sugar.

Put into containers, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.

Step 6

Label the bags or containers of raspberries with a name and a date. That way you can easily identify them later and know exactly how long you have stored them in the freezer. You can also indicate the location where you have harvested the raspberries from, so as to compare the raspberry quality, etc. after thawing and using the raspberries. (see illustration below)

I do not recommend that you micro-wave the frozen berries unless you are planning on using them for cooking. Micro-waving the raspberries to defrost them will most likely result in berries of poor texture and colour.

**pick only ripe and plump raspberries that are bright in colour and look dry.

**harvest raspberries at their peak maturity, not when they are unripe, over-ripe, or mushy.

**harvest the berries early in the morning, especially if the weather is hot, to get peak flavour.

**when freezing raspberries, process them as soon as possible after harvesting them, or keep them cool in the fridge until then.

GO to Raspberry SMOOTHIE Recipes

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