Freezing fruits

[meli_beach]

So on the GC there was talk of freezing blue/blackberries, but I was wondering can the melons be frozen also? You know cut up a honeydew or watermelon then freeze it? Will it still be edible when it's unfrozen or just turn to mush? My DD#2 really likes honeydew but I know if I buy one then it will go bad before the whole thing gets eaten, so any advice on what to do with fruits would be great.

[marvholly]

Personally, I do not like the texture of melons after home freezing. Also, I do not like the discoloration and texture of pit fruits after freezing.

Do you have an Aldi? Their price on flash frozen fruit is pretty good (both berries and melon mix). Otherwise I would probably check Target and/or Walmart.

Berries have NOT gotten as cheap as I am used to so I will probably grab some frozen strawberries at Aldi.

[startsmart]

Fruits that are heavy with water usually don't taste great after freezing. You may want to try making Popsicles with fruit for a better consistency.

I do freeze bananas for smoothies, berries for pies and sometimes mashed bananas for bread as well.

[reeneejune]

I second Startsmart - melons just don't freeze well. The high water content and low fiber content doesn't work well for freezing. In addition to Popsicle, you could also do smoothie cubes with melon and other fruits (puree the fruit in advance and freeze in ice cube trays to use in smoothies and other drinks). Apples and the stone fruits (peaches, plums, etc) seem to do best when prepped for a use before freezing i.e. make up a big batch of pie filling and freeze it so you can just thaw and into a pie crust. HTH

[meli_beach]

Thanks guys for the tips. I didn't think melons would freeze well but I tought I"d check just to make sure.

[reeneejune]

meli - some markets will sell half melons, I know I've seen this with watermelons.

[meli_beach]

Reenee--I'll have to ck on the honeydews. We don't have Aldi's, Publix and Winn Dixie are closest. And I'm not driving all the way out to the base to ck at the Commissary and DH wouldn't know a honeydew from a "honey-don't"! LOL. He'd think I was just making him another list. ;D

[qofcc]

I froze a bunch of cantaloupe from the garden and the texture after defrosting was gross. Now I put them in the food processor while still frozen and serve as sorbet. Much better.

Watermelon will pretty much liquefy when it defrosts. You can put it in the blender and drink it as juice. It's really sweet like kool-aid. My DG loves it.

[meli_beach]

Q-I was afraid that everyone would say that the melons would be nasty after defrosting. I like your idea of either using them as a sorbet or as others have said pureeing them first and freezing in ice cube trays. Hmmm...I think I see an experiment coming on.

[startsmart]

meli- at least it'll save you some money by not freezing melons and finding out it's gross ;D

There should be some good melon popsicle recipes out there, maybe mixed with vanilla yogurt and some honey?

[MN-Investor]

Wash and freeze grapes, then eat frozen. They're a good summer treat.

[reeneejune]

cherries are also yummy as a frozen treat! My favorites are black cherries. ;D

[Malarky]

I assume that any fruit I freeze is going to be used in smoothies, with the exception of blueberries, which hold up well in pancakes and muffins.