Circle S Farms

Quantities to Buy

Berries are sold by weight or volume. The farm you visit may sell berries by the pound or by the box. Container sizes vary from farm to farm; you may buy berries by the pint, quart, 2 quart or larger containers. A pint box of medium-sized berries will generally hold 2 cups of berries. Two cups of berries, crushed, yield about1 cup of puree.

Preparing Strawberries

When you get your exquisitely fragrant, absolutely perfect, basket of berries home, spread the berries at once on a tray so they can have air. They are faint from overcrowding. Discard spoiled berries, and store the tray in the refrigerator. Rinse berries when you are ready to use them. Don't rinse unless you must. Most berries are clean. some strawberries have so many seeds that some need to be rinsed away. Rinse berries under cold running water very briefly. Don't soak. Remove the stem and leaves after rinsing, not before. Drain in a roomy colander and spread them on paper towels to air-dry out of the sun. If you have rinsed the berries and don't, after all, use them, make them into sauce - they will be less than perfect tomorrow. Don't keep berries overnight, if possible (Refrigerate if you must). Buy them and use them fresh.

Berries taste better at room temperature - warm enough to be fragrant. (Much of our sense of tast is actually a sense of smell.) So refrigerate berries only if the room is hot and the berries won't be used for many hours.

Always taste one berry from a lot before you start to cook with the others. Sweetness varies. If they seem especially tart to you, add the maximum amount of sugar called for. You can save berries, particularly tasteless strawberries, by adding lemon, orange, or pineapple juice and fruit pieces or by adding liqueurs - Grand Marnier, Cointreau, for Strawberry Sauce. (Be aware that these liqueurs have an alcohol content.) Sugar is the big berry saver. As a rule, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of sugar to a pint of berries, depending on their tartness.

Picking Strawberries

The strawberry probably tastes best when eaten freshly picked off the vine as you kneel in the middle of a strawberry patch on a bright sunny morning. Second best - any other way you eat it!

Strawberries are not only delicious but they are good for you. They supply vitamins A and C, fiber and calcium at only 55 calories.

When picking strawberries, try and pick early in the morning when when the fruit is still cool. Gently twist the berry off the stem - don't pull. Whether picking or buying, look for bright red, well-shaped fruit without hard green areas. Also, very large berries tend to be less flavorful than the small or medium ones (not always).

Strawberries are best used within 1 to 2 days of picking. Cover and store them unwashed in the refrigerator. Do not crowd or press.

Freezing Berries

(Reprinted from STRAWBERRY SAMPLER: A COLLECTION OF FRESH RECIPES by Jan Siegrist, New England Press, Shelburne, VT 05482, edited by webmaster)

For long-term storage, freezing is recommended. Fruits retain more nutritional value and flavor by freezing than by any other method of preservation. Strawberries can be frozen and safely kept for up to 1 year. Use quart or pint freezer conainers or place quantity of berries in heavy plastic freezer bags..

Strawberries can be frozen several ways: dry-pack, sweetened or unsweetened; floated in a sweet syrup; or tray - frozen whole. The initial preperation of the berries is the same for all methods. Choose firm, ripe berries. Wash in ice (or cold) water before hulling. (Fruits washed without the stem lose vitamins lose vitamins than those destemmed after washing.) Drain well on several layers of paper towels, being careful not to cruch or bruise the berries.

DRY - PACK SWEETENED. Slice washed, hulled berries into a bowl. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup sugar for each quart of berries. (This amount can vary depending on personal taste.) Mix gently until the sugar dissolves and juice forms. Fill freezer containers, shaking to pack closely. Leave 1/2 inch head space for pints, 3/4 inch for larger containers. Seal and freeze, 2/3 quart fresh berries equals 1 pint frozen.

DRY - PACK UNSWEETENED. Wash, drain and hull the berries. Prepare a sugar syrup. to make 5 -1/2 cups (enough for 10 - 12 pint containers or about 8 quarts fresh berries) mix 3 cups sugar with 4 cups water and boil until the sugar dissolves. Refrigerate until cold. Slice the berries into freezer containers and cover with the cold syrup. Allow 1 - 1/2 cups fruit and 1/3 to 1/2 cup syrup per pint container. Leave 1/2 inch head space. Seal and freeze.

TRAY FREEZING. Place the washed, hulled berries in a single layer on trays. Freeze until solid. Pack tightly in freezer containers or freezerbags. Seal and freeze.

USING HONEY. Honey can be substituted for sugar when freezing strawberries. Use a mild- flavored honey such as clover, locust or alfalfa. To substitute, reduce the amount of sugar called for by half. For example, if the recipe calls for 1/2 cup sugar for each pint, use 1/4 cup honey. You can also make a syrup by blending 1 cup honey with 3 cups hot water. Chill and proceed as for sugar syrups (1/2 cup syrup for pint containers, 1 cup for quarts).

Thawing Berries

Frozen strawberries are suitable for use in many recipes. Berries tend to lose their texture and soften when thawed, the appearance of the dessert may change somewhat, depending on the recipe. When substituting for fresh berries, use the same measure of frozen berries. If your berries were packed with sugar, reduce the amount of sugar called for in the recipe. A rule of thumb: for every pint of frozen, sweetened berries, reduce the amount of sugar called for by 1/2 cup. For berries frozen in a sugar syrup, reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe accordingly.

"Berry Best" Strawberry Tips

·        Strawberries stored with stems stay firm longer than those without stems.

·        Refrigerate fresh strawberries in shallow containers as soon as you pick them, and wash berries in cold water only when you are ready to use them. Do not allow berries to soak.

·        Freeze whole strawberries on a cookie sheet until firm; transfer heavy plastic bags or 5 qt. plastic ice cream buckets. Serve lightly thawed.

·        Many people like frozen berries served icy, barely thawed for a great taste and texture.

·        Freeze you berries prepared the way you want to use them. Sliced, sugared, chopped or in small, easy-to-use packages.

Nutritional Information

These nutrients can be found in a 3/4 cup (100g) serving of strawberries:

Calories (37), Fiber (6g), Protein (.7g), Fat (.5g), Carbohydrates (8.4g), Vitamin A (60 units), Vitamin C (59mg), Calcium (21mg), Phosphorous (1mg), Iron (1mg), Sodium (1mg), Potassium (164mg).

Strawberry Equivalents