I picked strawberries last week and froze a bunch of them. This morning I put some in a bowl in the fridge to thaw out, but now they're mushy! How do I thaw them w/o them becoming mush? Will they stay this way or will they be okay if I leave them overnight?

All fruit will get mushy when frozen. The ice crystals sort of just rip apart their structure. It won't get better, just mushier.

The only way to minimize the effects is to "flash freeze" the fruit with dry ice.

You could always smash them up and make a pancake syrup or jam out them though. Sorry!

Mary

As far as I know all frozen strawberries are mushy once you thaw them. I don't really think there is a way to have them not be mushy. On the plus side, they are still good for sauces, smoothies, etc. They taste good too, they just aren't that pretty.



I like to eat strawberries straight from the freezer, it's especially good on a hot summer day.

Is this the first time you've ever had frozen strawberries?



Strawberries is one of the fruits that lose their shape when they are frozen and subsequently thawed. (Though the faster the thawing process, the worse it is.)



If one has to use frozen strawberries for a dessert that involves it needing to look nice, it's best to use them only slightly thawed. By the time they thaw, their eaten!

Thanks guys...I didn't know this would happend as it's the first time I've frozen strawberries. I pick them at a local organic farm, but it's a 20 minute drive and I don't feel like doing that every week to get strawberries, so I thought I could freeze them.

I love just eating them when they're frozen. The texture is magic to my tongue.

frozen fruit is a lovely treat!

Aww, that's too bad about your strawberries. Maybe you could use them in a smoothie? Frozen fruit will always be somewhat mushy when thawed because freezing makes the water inside the cells expand and the cell walls burst. Then when the fruit thaws the cells collapse ---> mushiness.



Edited to say: try frozen bananas! Just remember to peel before freezing

Frozen fruit is great! I snack on it all the time. Try mangoes

Or better yet, strawberries WITH mangoes (My favorite smoothie combination! ).

Blueberries and raspberries survive freezing better than strawberries, although they do change in texture slightly because of the ice crystal effect everyone has mentioned. I still think it's worth freezing strawberries since there are so many things you can do with strawberry puree.

Try slicing them before freezing. They'll still be a little mushy, but they'll be great on cereal, or on top of waffles, or however you use them. It's also good to heat a small portion before pouring on waffles, it makes it into more of a sauce.

Try blending frozen strawberries with small amount of Juice, it is so sweet you'd swear it wasn't fruit.

I know this thread is a bit old, but, I was wondering the same thing and came across this. I also found these links that may help, if you still want to try freezing them. I have yet to try either attempt to tell you for sure, but it seems like these two people had success.

http://www.thriftyrebel.com/2013/05/...haw-whole.html

http://www.livestrong.com/article/42...-strawberries/

I have yet to read this link, below, but might be helpful, as well.

http://www.designmom.com/2013/05/liv...ezing-produce/