Can You Freeze Cherries So They Last Longer?

Summer gives us beach weather, blockbuster movies, and cherries by the bushel. Cherry season begins as early as May and runs as late as August. For a fruit as delicious as cherries, this is far too short a season. We endure eight months without cherries or pay higher prices for imported ones, if they're even available. But there is a better way! You can freeze cherries, and they will taste as good later. Just know the texture will change when you thaw them again.

We once wrote about the best ways to store cherries, and freezing was one of them. Make sure your cherries are clean before you freeze them. Give them a soak in water for 10 to 20 minutes and then a good rinse. Dry them thoroughly because you want as little moisture as possible during the freezing process. You don't have to pit the cherries, but it makes them easier to use later. The quickest way is to use a cherry pitter. Since most of us don't have one, a rigid straw or chopstick pushed through the top of the cherry where the stem was can pop the pit out the bottom. You can also cut the cherries in half with a paring knife and remove the pit.

To freeze, place the dried and pitted cherries on a baking sheet lined with parchment. You want them flat and separated so they don't freeze together. Place them in the freezer for at least two hours but no more than twelve. Once they are frozen solid, you can transfer them to freezer bags or storage containers for long-term freezing. If you use a bag, remove as much air as possible. Using a straw to suck it out helps.

In the process of freezing, the cold is going to damage the cell structure of the fruit. The faster your cherries freeze, the less damage they'll sustain and the juicier they will be when they thaw. Unfortunately, as noted in the International Journal of Food Science, slow freezing leads to the formation of large ice crystals. These large crystals tear up the cells of the fruit, which alters the texture when they thaw and makes them softer and messier. Commercial fruit undergoes individual quick freezing to cause the least amount of damage, so the thawed fruit stays as close to fresh as it can.

Luckily, that cell damage is only a textural issue. The fruit is still safe and tasty. If you plan to use your cherries in baking or cooking, you can toss them in frozen and they will thaw very fast. Frozen cherries can also help thicken a black forest smoothie if you're going that route. Frozen cherries are the best for pies, too.

If you want the cherries just for eating, place them in a covered bowl in the fridge and let them thaw slowly. It could take an hour or two to get them fully thawed, and there will be juice in the bowl. If they were well dried, that would be all cherry juice and probably pretty tasty, too.