Why Are My Berries Mushy?

[TieKitty]

Last week I bought several pints of blueberries and strawberries that were on sale. I froze them without washing first. I took some out this afternoon to add to some yogurt. I let them defrost and they were mushy. They might be OK in a smoothie but I can't see using them without being blended in some manner.

Did I do something wrong?

[Robyn1007]

Don't all berries get mushy after freezing?

[TieKitty]

Maybe they do but I had no clue. They were sort of like overripe grapes....squishy.

Any recipes for mushy berries?

[Hammster]

It's too bad you didn't see Alton Brown's Good Eats last night. His show was about this exact thing. The reason frozen berries get mushy when they thaw out is because it takes too long for them to freeze in a normal freezer and the cell walls rupture before they freeze.
He said to freeze them in dry ice first as they freeze way fast. He did 2 qts of strawberries that he had only rinsed, didn't remove the stem or leaves, and had them in the fridge for a couple hours to get them close to freezer temps, then put them into an ice chest with some broken up dry ice. Took like 30 minutes and they were frozen solid. He then put them into ziptop bags and put them in the freezer. He showed some thawed out and they looked just like they did when fresh.

PS: Be sure to wear very heavy gloves when working with dry ice!