Fruit

Re: Fruit

Mac Feather — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:26:01 GMT

[quote user="Sal (the 1st) Holesworth VN CMH Chyp (M)PNLP"]Have you ever tried bottling your goosies?[/quote]

Tell me more Sal please, sounds interesting.

Re: Fruit

Shelly vn — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:15:03 GMT

I'll give a go then, i don't really care what it looks like, all of my cooking ends up looking a bit messy to be honest!! And my fiancee obviously doesn't care about looks otherwise he wouldn't be marrying me!!! I'll definatly remember to stew it first next year. All this gardening/fresh food/cooking stuff is very new to me!! But theres so many knowledgable people on here so i know where to come for advice!

Re: Fruit

Sal the 1st — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 08:41:36 GMT

you might be ok - have to admit i have done this before, but it will def need less cooking than normal and from what i remember mine went a bit brown when cooked - but looks aint everything

Re: Fruit

Shelly vn — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 08:31:11 GMT

Just been reading this with interest! I've only really got in to growing my own fruit and veg this year, and i'm a bit clueless to be honest! I froze some rhubarb earlier this year, but i didn't cook it first. I just washed it and put it in the freezer. Is it going to be any good when i finally get round to making some rhubarb crumbles?

Re: Fruit

rozzavn — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:40:29 GMT

I find roasting/baking rhubarb helps it keep its shape and flavour, cut into bite size pieces, cover with sugar and roast in the oven, then whwn its cold drain and put the whole tray in the freezer, when its frozen put the pieces of rhubarb into the freezer bags so they dont all mush together and you can take out as you need them.

Re: Fruit

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:52:22 GMT

[quote user="Sal (the 1st) Holesworth VN CMH Chyp (M)PNLP"]

something I have never thought of or tried I have to admit. But I do bottle fruit and that keeps really well if done properly and stored in the dark. I made a batch of rhubarb and ginger jam at the weekend and will prob be freezing some goosies before the season finishes ( they make a nice accompaniment for pork at christmas)

[/quote]

oooo that's one of my fav jams :) i'm thinking about candying some of my cherries this year and possibly making some nice lemoncello!

Re: Fruit

Sal the 1st — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:37:30 GMT

Re: Fruit

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:28:44 GMT

[quote user="Sal (the 1st) Holesworth VN CMH Chyp (M)PNLP"]

have never tried muscadines but goosies - some of them are really tart usually the green ones, while the golden or blushed ones are quite a bit sweeter and dont really need too much if any sugar

[/quote]

yum! might have to get some from the grocery or local farmers market. speaking of stewing. i candied some kumquats last year and they were brilliant! still have them in a jar in the fridge and they get sweeter the longer i have them! that might be another nice thing to do with the gooseberries?

Re: Fruit

Sal the 1st — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:22:15 GMT

have never tried muscadines but goosies - some of them are really tart usually the green ones, while the golden or blushed ones are quite a bit sweeter and dont really need too much if any sugar

Re: Fruit

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:12:22 GMT

you know i don't think i've ever had a gooseberry! are they similar to muscadines? we had those in our garden when i was a child. they're yummy!

Re: Fruit

Sal the 1st — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:08:54 GMT

I usually stew my rhubarb prior to freezing ( and as with anything else liquid I freeze in icecube trays if poss - because it freezes quicker and also once frozen you can just bag the cubes and when it comes to using them you just use as many or as few cubes as you need - makes it so much easier. I use this method for stock, soups, fruit juices etc etc.

goosies I usually roll in either caster sugar or icing sugar prior to feezing if I am freezing whole as they dont seem to 'burst' as much on defrosting this way and they are frozen on a tray.

Have you ever tried bottling your goosies?

Re: Fruit

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:08:29 GMT

over freezing wouldn't ever make anyone ill. it just compromises the flavor and texture of what you're freezing and then eating. Usually freezer burn happens and it breaks down the food and dries it out. To get the same flavor you put in the bag back out, I wouldn't freeze it for longer than 6mths. Organic compounds just don't last that long in freezing.

Re: Fruit

NuttyNu — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:54:57 GMT

you can freeze nearly any fruit! we are frequently freexing rhubarb but we always stew it first as we only ever use stewed rhubarb (in crumbles, pies or jellies or just with custard), We have kept ours for nearly a year before we have eaten it before now and have never been ill!!!

Gooseberries, again, we are freezing these on a yearly basis. We just put them in "portion" bags so that we just need to get a bag out for the size portion we want but normally it is a large amount because we use them in jellies,again, we keep this for a long period of time before we eat/use it and has never made us ill!!

I find it a lot easier to just use more bags but to put them in small portions in the freezer because we have not got enough space to freeze them on a tray.

hope you get to them before the birds!

Re: Fruit

Mac Feather — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:20:23 GMT

Thanks

Re: Fruit

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:18:21 GMT

gooseberries, yes. rhubarb i think you have to blanche first since it will dry out and break down. chop it up in to manageable pieces and drop into boiling water for a min and then drain and put straight into cold water, spread out to cool. pop in a freezer container and it should keep for longer. few months maybe? depending on what you want to use it for or how you can freeze it in sugar syrup, or freeze so it's in pieces but you need to spread it out on a pan, freeze on the pan and then transfer to bags so it's in separate pieces for measured use in future and you don't have to unfreeze it all.Same with the gooseberries. you want to freeze them on a flat pan first covered in clingfilm so they don't roll about. then take them out and put them in containers so they dont stick together.