Can I freeze dates?

[rawererin]

To keep them fresh if I won't use them right away? Just curious, I'm thinking about grinding them into paste and freezing them that way, would like to know your thoughts on this.

[earth_sista]

hmmm...i never thought of that one. good idea. i'd say it's worth a try.

[parsnip]

They freeze just fine. I soaked them and then threw them in the vitamix with the soak water (I'd suggest soaking overnight, since I only soaked a few hours and they didn't soften all that much). I keep the puree in the freezer and it's easy to scoop out a tablespoon or two whenever I want it -- it doesn't freeze solid.

[Aleesha Sattva]

don't dates keep for a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time? why freeze them? why not keep them in their natural state?

[rawererin]

sweet!
parsnip how long do you keep your date puree?

[rawererin]

I'll have to let mine soak longer next time, I only soaked them for a few hours, but now I have some date paste.

[parsnip]

I've only made the one batch, and I've had it in the freezer for maybe a month, but it seems it should be good for quite a while. Three months? Six? I'll have finished it long before it has time to think about going bad, and even if it went off a little, I think any change would be minor.

The benefit of freezing the dates is that I use date puree for sweetening lots of things -- smoothies, dressings, etc. -- and throwing in a whole date is hard on my appliances, plus takes longer to blend. The puree is super-convenient, but I'm not sure how long it would keep in the fridge -- not as long as it does in the freezer, for sure.

I also freeze whole dates, but that's just because I want to make sure any little hijackers are dead before I eat them... I can deal with the idea of the occassional worm in my date, but I don't want to see it move. I freeze them for a few days and then move them to the fridge, where I'm sure they'd keep for a good long time, but I buy small amounts in bulk and go through them pretty fast.

[Aleesha Sattva]

i buy large qty of medjool dates from costco. they don't need to be refrigerated so i assumed they'd be fine for a long time.

am i wrong? should i be doing something to preserve them?

[parsnip]

If you don't notice any problems, don't worry about it. I don't think they actually need to be refrigerated; I'm just a little paranoid that way, and I also I like them cold so they're not as sticky.

[Aleesha Sattva]

oh okay... good to know