Ok, everyone. I need your advice on something. I pulled some blackberries (or dewberries, I'm not sure which they were) out of the freezer this past weekend. When I tried them, they tasted off. the were delicious when freshly picked, I froze them right after picking them, thawed them in the fridge, and washed them after they had thawed. I really have no desire to eat them as they are. They just don't taste all that great. Do I send them to the compost bin or do you think they are still ok to make jam with? Thoughts?
7 comments:
Take a small amount of them and make compote. Put them in a pot with a tiny amount of water(just cover the bottom of the pot) , cook until soft and add sugar and then a bit of cornstarch to thicken(you're looking for pie filling consistency-add more water if needed). Sample this. If it is good, then it should be okay to make the jam. If not, throw them into compost. The freezer probably imparted flavors to the berries, which is not so yummy...but I would try to use them before tossing them, but making jam is too complicated to do (and expensive)if the berries are going to hold a bad flavor.
What a good idea. I never would have thought of making a compote first!
ttammylynn - they got tossed :( Even after adding sugar, they tasted weird and I didn't want to take the chance. Bummer. Thanks for the suggestion though!
I use frozen berries for baking, like muffins or scones. I don't thaw them first, just put them right in the batter. And try berry pancakes, too.
Hope that helps :)
Thanks, everyone. I'm going to keep trying before I give up. Cross your fingers!
here in oregon, we have tons and tons of blackberries to freeze every year. i find that i often get an off flavor (kind of juniper-y) unless i freeze them with a cup or so of sugar per gallon. my advice is not to compost them, because they may still germinate all over your garden (and if they're himalayan, they will be thorny and take over everything!)
angela - I was trying to avoid any added sugar, but that maybe what we have to do. I'll give it a try. Thanks!
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