Help!
We bought a house just over a year ago that has 3 sour cherry trees in the back yard. Last year I just let them drop to the ground and let the birds have at (shame on me), but this year I'm hoping to gather some.
Is anyone familiar with methods on freezing sour cherries. I don't have a vaccuum sealer, nor do I can. Do I need to pit them before freezing? Can I flash freeze on a cookie sheet then store in freezer bags?
Any and all help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Holly in WI
I freeze cherries. I wouldn't leave the pits in. I mix a little sugar with the pitted cherries and just freeze them in good sealing quart plastic containers. Then thaw and make a pie, using less sugar than called for.
Oh Holly, I envy you. I used to live in MI and really loved the sour cherries. I purchased a cherry pitter $15 at the hardware store. It was a hand crank thing where the seeds spit out one side and the mashed cherry out the other; then I made up 3 C. bags with cherries, flavoring, sugar, etc. for pies and some cherries were froze to make preserves in January or February. Happy memories!
