Preserve Berries with Dry Ice Home Super Freeze "Canning"

super freeze fruit with dry iceDo you want to preserve berries, green beans and peas from your own garden, without heat? Try dry ice freezing. It is faster, easier, and safer than hot canning, or ordinary freezing.

Dry ice freezing is fast, because dry ice is at MINUS 109 degrees Fahrenheit temperature, much colder than the ordinary freezer at zero degrees Fahrenheit.

When you fast freeze with dry ice, you prevent large ice crystalline structures from forming in the food you freeze. These large crystals cause the "mushy" texture of some home-frozen items, due to partial thawing and re-freezing, or very slow freezing.

 

 

Equipment:

  1. Ice chest; a deeper chest helps to hold the cold.
  2. Aluminum foil, heavy-weight type.
  3. Aluminum pans, size is up to you. A size that holds one portion in a single layer will fast freeze faster. These will be your "Freezing Pans".
  4. Wax or parchment paper to line the aluminum pans to keep the food from sticking to the pan. The paper may be "stuck" to the pan bottom by applying a very thin layer of cooking oil, but keep the top of the paper oil-free.
  5. Gloves and tongs
  6. Canning funnel

Procedure:

CAUTION: Dry ice is very cold and will give you instant serious frostbite with any skin contact. Wear gloves when handling the dry ice or anything metal like foil or metal pans that contact the dry ice. Place a layer of dry ice, about 3 inches thick, in the bottom of the ice chest, covered with a sheet of heavy foil. This is to help prevent the pans used to hold the food portions from sticking to the dry ice. Arrange items to be frozen, one layer deep in the freezing pans. Place in the ice chest, close the lid, but do not seal the lid. The dry ice will sublimate (change directly from solid to gas without becoming liquid). The resulting gas pressure could become dangerously high in a sealed container. Allow the food to sit in the chest for 20 to 30 minutes. Thinner, smaller items, like blueberries, will take freeze faster than strawberries. Once frozen, remove from the freezer chest, put into storage bags, remove air much as possible, and seal. Excessive trapped air space is one of the causes of freezer burn. Ideally, complete or nearly complete evacuation of all air will produce better and longer-lasting results. Transfer frozen items to your freezer, or to another ice chest with dry ice.

Precautions and Hints:

  1. Wear gloves, dry ice is MINUS 109 deg. F, The pans used for freezing will be nearly that cold; do not touch with bare skin.
  2. Do not seal or clamp lids of coolers containing dry ice. As dry ice goes from a solid to a gas, the pressure builds up. One ounce of dry ice produces 1 cubic foot of carbon dioxide gas at room temperature. Work in a well ventilated space; carbon dioxide is heavier than air.
  3. Food to be frozen should be pre-prepped and dry on the outside; this will help prevent sticking to the freezing pans.
  4. Because of the extreme low temperature and the lack of oxygen, many surface molds, yeasts and bacteria cannot grow, making the food safer. Handling should be minimized and frozen items kept frozen, at or below 0 degrees F.

Where Can You Buy Dry Ice For Super Freeze Canning?

Continental Carbonic has 29 dry ice locations throughout the United States to serve you. Walk up to any of them or call them and purchase dry ice. Continental Carbonic will sell you the dry ice products you need at the quantity you need with the appropriate containers, gloves, and machines you need to use the dry ice.

Call Continental Carbonic toll-free at 800-DRY-ICE2 to buy dry ice. Visit our News Archive to find out about more ways to use dry ice.