Can fresh cranberries be frozen?

[Jewel]

And if they can be....why the heck aren't they??

I have a recipe that calls for fresh cranberries the we desperately want to try. They're of course nowhere in the grocery stores right now. One produce guy looked at me like I had two heads and said "Excuse me, but we only have fresh cranberries for the holiday season". Oh. Sorry, forgive my stupidity.

So I tootled over to the frozen fruit section, and there are no frozen cranberries either. The only cranberries available in every major supermarket in my area are canned in cranberry sauce, which I do NOT want, and dried like in Craisins.

Cranberries are one of the most trendy and popular fruits out there, so I guess I'm having a hard time figuring out why I could only get them one month out of the year.

Obviously I'm not making this recipe until fall, but when I do find the fresh, is there anything stopping me from buying up a half dozen bags and storing them in my freezer? Or do they not freeze well?

[blazedog]

I have no idea why they are not frozen but they freeze remarkably well -- You just toss the bag in the freezer since the expectation is that they are going to be cooked anyway -- who eats raw cranberries so texture isn't important.

I am trying to eat down my freezer and ironically just came across the bag of cranberries I had tossed in the freezer last holiday season -- trade you and raise you for something else?

[wallycat]

I wait till they are on sale during "the holidays" and stock my freezer.

Snopac makes frozen cranberries ...usually in the health food stores--maybe Whole Foods or Trader Joes would have them.

HI JEWEL...*waving*

[GingerPow]

Cranberries freeze very well! Don't wash them, you don't even have to take them out of the original bag. Just place the bag in a freezer ziploc bag, and I have had them last for up to a year. I always seem to have too much left over from the holidays, so I have done this for years with good results.

Googled and found this:
http://www.library.wisc.edu/guides/a...nberry/faq.htm
5. What is the best way to freeze cranberries?

If you buy cranberries in a plastic bag, the bag can go directly into the freezer. Bulk cranberries can be frozen in a freezer bag or freezer container. Cranberries will last up to nine months in the freezer. Frozen cranberries can be used in recipes without thawing; since frozen berries will be soft when thawed, it is easier to chop or grind them while frozen.

[Jewel]

Hi Wallycat!! (waving back!)

Blaze, if I could take a road trip to Cali I would. And I KNEW there had to be no reason why they aren't frozen!! There's a Whole Foods and a TJ's about a mile from each other up here, I'll check both this weekend and see if I can find the Snopac brand.

This recipe came out of the Soup Mix Cookbook of all places. It's a Turkey Meat Loaf with Spicy Cranberry Sauce. Ground turkey, onion, celery, Golden Onion soup mix, herbed stuffing in place of bread crumbs...and then a spicy cranberry sauce spread on top made with cranberries, sugar, onion, apple juice and Herb & Garlic Soup mix. Just sounded way too interesting to pass up, and now I have to wait until fall! :mad:

If anyone has any of the frozen cranberries and wants this recipe, I'll type it up and let you try it first!

[sharris315]

It's too late for this season - but for future reference:

One of my favorite recipes is a cranberry salsa, and I learned quickly that If I wanted it more often than Nov and Dec, then I'd have to freeze the berries. Now I buy many extra bags and toss them in the freezer unopened.

The salsa is not cooked, but the consistency is not much different with frozen berries. I chop the mostly frozen berries in a cuisinart (by the time I've washed them, they are slightly thawed, but they still make a lot of noise!!) and then procede as usual. The color "bleeds" a little more w/ frozen than fresh but otherwise, it's just about the same.

Shar

[Clover]

One of my local supermarkets does have them frozen, but I'm not sure if they always do. I don't know if they buy them frozen or if they just freeze some of the fresh ones in the fall. I also wonder why they aren't sold frozen year-round everywhere.

[Ann1965]

I've never seen them frozen around here in the regular supermarkets. But, the new Whole Foods has them. Maybe there's one near you?

[bobmark226]

who eats raw cranberries so texture isn't important.

I do. In CL's Cranberry Mango salsa, among others. I also do a cranberry relish that uses them raw.

Bob

[Jewel]

I've never seen them frozen around here in the regular supermarkets. But, the new Whole Foods has them. Maybe there's one near you?

Yup! There's a Whole Foods about 15 minutes north of me! I'll have to shoot over there this afternoon after Puppy Class! I'm going to make this meatloaf recipe yet! Thanks all!

[runningkitcat]

My favorite way to use cranberries (I too just toss them into the freezer in the bag in which they came) is in bread machine recipes. They're wonderful in bread -- tart, juice, soft. Yum!

Wendy

[Meganator]

I do. In CL's Cranberry Mango salsa, among others. I also do a cranberry relish that uses them raw.

Bob

And sugared cranberries are made with raw berries, as I recall.

[Jewel]

Thanks for the help everyone! I found frozen cranberries at Whole Foods yesterday! Picked up two bags, and at least I now know where to find 'em when I need them!