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Freezing blueberries, other berries, veggies, or even things like chicken nuggets is really easy and it does NOT have to come out in a big clump.
How many times have you frozen something and it just comes out in one gigantic freezer-burned clump? I mean, you can defrost the whole dang thing and salvage it most times, but what if you want just a few pieces of celery or a handful of blueberries to put into your muffins? The whole clump method requires you to break off a piece and that's just not efficient. Instead, try individually quick freezing things to make them MUCH more accessible, easy to use, and easy to defrost.
It's really quite simple to do – you lay the items you want to freeze out on a flat surface, freeze for a few hours until mostly frozen, and then remove from the flat surface and store in another container, like a plastic bag or glass container. The items then do NOT stick together and you can easily scoop out a handful or even just 1 or 2 things at a time. (Flat surfaces to use: cookie sheets, baking dishes, plates, etc). This method is called Individually Quick Freeze (IQF) and it's awesome. 🙂
Here's my quickie video on how to use the IQF method to freeze blueberries:
Can't watch the video? Watch How to Freeze Blueberries.
I named this post/video “How to Freeze Blueberries” just because I happened to be doing just that the day I shot this video, but really, it applies to anything you want to get out of the freezer un-clumped. Other things I use this IQF method for frequently:
- Diced Onions
- Sliced Celery
- Diced Carrots
- Sliced Bananas
- Any berry
- Muffins
- Pancakes & Waffles
- Cookies
- Chopped Butternut Squash
- Chicken & Fish Nuggets
- Biscuits
- Shredded Meat
This method is great for making a large or double batch of something and then freezing for later so that it saves you a ton of time later. The fish nugget picture above was from a session where I baked fish and chicken nuggets and then froze them so I could just take them out and put in my kids' lunches (I just let them thaw in their lunch container overnight and they don't mind them cold – but you could reheat and put in a thermos).
I also love to use this for diced celery, carrots, and onions because so many of the dinner dishes I make start with this combo (often called mirepoix). Having to do this every time though takes valuable time in the evening, so instead I just spend 30 minutes every few weeks and dice them all up, IQF them, and then store in pyrex containers in the freezer. Then when I cook I just grab a handful of each and BAM, 5-10 minutes is saved in my dinner prep.
Here you can see in my freezer that I have the mirepoix all stored in containers, a container of shredded chicken to be used in dishes, and then plastic bags of the biscuits and chicken and fish nuggets.
It really is a great way to freeze things and it only takes a few minutes of your time to do. Have you tried this before?
