# Freezing grapefruit peel?



## ecugal (Jun 23, 2009)

I have an old family Grapefruit Peel Candy recipe that I like to make around Christmastime. Usually I buy and peel grapefruit for the project in December, but was wondering if I could just save peel throughout the year on the grapefruit I eat every day and put it in the freezer, then pull it out this winter?

I believe it would be ok from a safety standpoint, primarily wondering about quality. 

The candy recipe requires boiling the peel 6 times, then boil in sugar, then toss into granualated sugar.

Would the peel break down in the freezer so much that it wouldn't withstand the boiling? If it's rubbery it's ok - it has the consistency of a gummy worm (or orange slice) once it's candy, anyway.


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## gardentotable (May 27, 2010)

I freeze citrus peel all the time, I don't think doing so for candied peels would hurt them at all. The reason for boiling them is to soften them, so if the freezer also softens them a bit, all the better.


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## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

We freeze orange peel to make candied peel and it works great, you really can't tell the difference between the fresh and the frozen peel. We don't boil it as many times as your recipe calls for (and my grapefruit recipe only calls for changing the water 2-3 times during the first boil rather than multiple boilings) so I can't say for sure that freezing would work for your recipe, but I think it should.


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## ecugal (Jun 23, 2009)

Thanks for the replies! My recipe says 3 times for orange, 6 times for grapefruit. Maybe it's more bitter? I don't know. I have a gallon sized bag saved up so far. Maybe sometime soon I'll have time to give it a go before the holiday.


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## PixieLou (May 1, 2010)

Seriously - if the frozen grapefruit peel doesn't work out, you can still buy fresh and go back to your original method. I'd definitely try a small batch first with the frozen peel.


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