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Consumers Ask: Freezing Fruit

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By MARY KEITH

Tribune correspondent

Published: January 11, 2009

Is it OK to freeze pomegranates? I don't have time to make all the juice right now.

Yes, they can be frozen. You might even get a little more juice out of them after freezing. The ice crystals that form can puncture internal cells and release more juice than usual.

How much salt is added to salted butter? Why is it added? Is it enough make a difference in cooking or eating?

The amount added these days is 1 to 2 teaspoons per pound. That's about 113 mg of added sodium per tablespoon, compared to 4 mg in unsalted butter, which could be significant in a restricted sodium diet. It used to be added as a preservative, but at double or more that amount. Pure butter fat doesn't let mold or bacteria grow, but the little bit of water in butter can, so adding salt stopped their growth and preserved the butter. Now we refrigerate the butter and add salt for flavor. In most recipes it doesn't make a difference which you use. But for very delicate flavors, many chefs prefer to use unsalted and then control precisely the amount of salt they add.

I have a lot of leftover candied fruit intended for fruitcakes I never got to make. Can I use that instead of raisins in oatmeal cookies?

Yes, although the cookies will probably taste a little sweeter. You can substitute dried fruit (blueberries, cherries, etc.) directly for raisins. But because the pieces of fruitcake fruit have been candied with added sugar, they are sweeter than raisins. I wouldn't try to reduce the sugar in the dough. The cookies will bake fine; they'll just taste sweeter and will probably stay moister than usual.

Does freezing butter affect its baking qualities at all? And what's the difference between European and American butter? I had some regular butter in the freezer and some European butter in the refrigerator. I'm not sure which one I used, but the pie crusts this year were the best I've ever made. How do I do it again?

I can guess which one you used for the pastry. Freezing does not affect butter's quality, and is the best way to store it. The most important difference between American and European butters is that there is less water and more fat in the European butter. Since fat makes pastry flaky and water can make it tough, you probably used the European butter for the pie crust. Lard has even less water, which is why it is the preferred fat for traditional pie crusts.

We got a smoked turkey from the church. It had been frozen but was thawed when we got it. How long can we keep it in the refrigerator?

One week at most is the recommended storage time. You can refreeze the sliced meat if it has been kept refrigerated the whole time. But if it's been in the refrigerator for three days already, it will only have four more days to go when you thaw it the next time. Or you could cook it, heat it to at least 165 degrees, then freeze it as cooked leftovers. When you thaw it, you will have one more week in which to use it.

I let a dish of homemade peanut brittle sit out overnight. It got sticky and now all the pieces are stuck together. Is there any way I can recook it to dry it out?

I wouldn't recommend trying to recook it. It's more likely to burn or to get grainy and crumbly. If you can break the pieces apart, try rolling them in superfine sugar until they're dry again. They might not stay glossy, but they should be dry.

You can make superfine sugar by putting white sugar in a blender or food processor.

Don't use powdered sugar. The corn starch in it will make a mess.

Mary A. Keith, a nutrition and health agent at Hillsborough County Extension, can be reached at (813) 744-5519 or mkeith@ufl.edu.

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