How to Freeze Mango for Smoothies – 7 Crucial Tips!
Nothing feels like summer as much as the taste of a mango, either by itself or in a smoothie.
It would be great if you could enjoy a mango smoothie all year round. Well, you can by freezing mangos, either as fruit or as pulp.
The first step is of course to use the best mangos.
Not mushy, not too firm – in fact, just as ripe as you would normally eat them.
Green mangos are just fine.
One thing to bear in mind is that the mango comes from the same family as poison ivy.
Some people may find that their skin is irritated when handling mangos.
If you are like that, wear plastic gloves, and be careful not to touch your face, especially your eyes or lips.
Tips to Freeze Mangos for Smoothies
How you proceed now depends on why you are freezing your mango. A dry pack method is great for all uses, especially If it’s for smoothies or pies.
If you intend to use the frozen mango for fruit cocktails or anyway uncooked, then a syrup pack is best.
- Wash your mangos.
- Peel your mangos. Peeling by hand is tedious, and you can lose a good bit of your fruit as you peel. A trick is to put the mango into boiling water for about a minute, then transfer it to a bow of cold iced water. It is then much easier to peel, and you lose a lot less pulp.
- Cut up your mango. Remove any brown spots and mushy bits. Cut the fruit into quarter inch slices, and if going for a dry-pack, into cubes. Leave them as slices for a syrup pack. Slices are less likely to suffer freezer burn or to turn brown.
- Put the mango pieces on a baking tray. Make sure that the pieces don’t touch. If they do, they may well freeze together which makes them more difficult to pack and separate later for use.
- Put the baking tray in the freezer for a couple of hours or until the mango is firm to the touch.
- If you are making a dry pack, put your feet up and relax. If it’s a syrup pack, make the syrup as a mixture of two cups of sugar to three of water. You will probably need to adjust the quantities for different amounts of mango. Some people swear by ascorbic acid to prevent browning. If you have it, add half a teaspoon to a quart of syrup.
- When the fruit is frozen, if it’s a dry pack, simply transfer to freezer bags or containers and put them into the fridge. For a syrup pack, put the syrup in a bowl and make sure the mango slices are coated, then transfer them to freezer bags or containers and put them into the fridge.
Obviously, both cubes and slices can be used for smoothies, but dry pack is better for flavor. There you go, frozen mango for your smoothies all-year round.
