FROZEN FRUITS ITSED IN ICE CREAiM 9 



lower temperature too long or a sugar sludge will form at the bottom of tlu; 

 containers. Fruit held below 0° F. for as long as two weeks had a sugar sludge 

 at the bottom of the cans which did not disappear until the fruit had been held 

 six months at the higher temperature of 10° to 15° F. This trouble was not no- 

 ticed if the fruit was moved into the second room after two or three days and did 

 not appear under any conditions with the 3:1 pack. Undissolved sugar was 

 always present in the 1:1 and l}^'^ packs and was often present in small amounts 

 in the 2:1 packs after defrosting. This excess of sugar does not aid in any way 

 in preserving the fruit. Where the ratio of fruit to sugar exceeded 2H:1, no 

 undissolved sugar was found in any fruit. 



Effect of Freezing the Berries with Sugar Syrups ... -— ""^ 



Because of the difficulties of thoroughly mixing the fruit with sugar in the 

 frozen packs, sugar syrups were used in an effort to obviate this difficulty, save 

 time, and possibly prevent crushing the fruit. 



Several experimental packs were made in which cane sugar syrup was sub- 

 stituted for drj' sugar. Thirty 1-gallon cans were used in the tests in 1930 with 

 both mixed varieties and Howard 17. Since no differences were evident in the 

 several different packs, all are considered together in Table 3. The berries were 

 simply covered with the syrup of desired concentration, no definite weight being 

 used. 



There was a definite decrease in the surface discoloration of the sj'rup packs 

 as compared with the dry sugar packs. The syrup exerted a protective action 

 again.st oxidation. The optimum syrup concentrations for freezing strawberries 

 were 40 and 50 per cent. Eighty per cent invert syrup, and 65 per cent sugar 

 syrup were too concentrated, causing the berries to shrivel and float on the 

 surface. The color was good, however, in the 60 and 65 per cent syrup packs. 

 The appearance and flavor of the 40 and 50 per cent syrup frozen strawberries 

 were considerably better than those of either higher or lower sugar concentrations. 



There are definite advantages in a syrup pack. Amorig these are: less air 

 discoloration, less damage to the fruit, greater convenience, and firmer textured 

 fruit. There is no loss of undissolved sugar, and spoilage is less likely to result. 

 Also if the syrup is chilled before using, it acts as an effective precooling agent. 

 Where facilities for making and storing syrups are available, the use of syrup in 

 place of dry sugar is entirely feasible. The principal objection to the use of syrup 

 is that additional water (and weight) is thereby added to the product. The 

 preparation of small batches of syrup is also inconvenient. Experience has shown 

 that the amount of syrup to Ik* added may be judged satisfactorily by simply 

 covering the fruit. 



Effect of Delay Betiveen Packing and Freezing the Berries 



In commercial practice it is often difficult to avoid delays incident to freezing 

 the fruit. In order to determine the effect of varying storage periods before 

 freezing, 40 one-gallon cans of Howard 17, 2:1 strawberries were packed in 

 1930. The berries were fully matured and of good quality. They were either 

 frozen immediately after mixing with sugar or else allowed to stand for definite K 

 time intervals before freezing at — 5° F. Two storage temperatures were used, 

 45° and 80° F., corresponding respectively to common cold storage and normal 

 July temperatures. The fruit was examined both before freezing and after de- 

 frosting a year later. Representative samples were used in strawberrry ice creams. 

 The data are tabulated in Table 4. 



V 



