This one’s all about rhubarb! Everybody loves rhubarb, but the problem is it all seems to be ready at once. Follow the directions below to learn how to freeze rhubarb and make make rhubarb jam.

Here’s a good tip for looking for the best rhubarb and picking it:

Make sure you look for firm crisp stalks, 12”-24” long. Grasp stalks near the base, twist slightly and pull. Cut off and discard leaves.

Now what? Learn how to save your rhubarb for another time by freezing it or making it into rhubarb jam.

Rhubarb Freezing Techniques

Wash and dry your rhubarb.

Learning how to freeze rhubarb is an easy and quick way to preserve your rhubarb harvest.

Wash your rhubarb stalks and pat dry. Cut same-size stalks into even pieces (1/2”-1”) and discard root ends. Blanching is not necessary.

The Rada Regular Paring Knife is a good tool for the task of cutting rhubarb. It’s smooth and easy to hold, cutting nice trim pieces every time.

Now here are four different freezing methods. The method you choose will depend on how you plan to use your rhubarb.

1.  Dry Pack

Place sliced rhubarb into freezer containers.

Place sliced rhubarb into freezer containers or bags. Seal, label and freeze.

2.  Tray Pack

Pat on Tray and store in freezer.

Spread the rhubarb pieces in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and freeze for two hours. Transfer to freezing containers; seal, label, and store in freezer. This will keep the frozen rhubarb from freezing together.

3.  Sugar Pack

Mix four cups of rhubarb with 1 cup of sugar. Stir until combined and juicy. Place in freezer containers; seal, label, and stick in freezer.

4.  Syrup Pack

In a saucepan, combine 2 cups sugar with 4 cups water. Boil and stir until dissolved. Cool completely. Fill freezer containers with sliced rhubarb and add syrup until covered, leaving headspace. Press crumpled wax paper on top. Seal, label and freeze.

There you have it! 4 simple ways to prepare frozen rhubarb! Now you can enjoy your favorite rhubarb recipes all year long!

Homemade Rhubarb Jam Recipe

Rhubarb Jam Recipe

Ingredients you will need for Rhubarb Jam:

  •  7 1/2 C. sliced fresh rhubarb (about 2.5 lbs.)
  • 2 C. sugar
  • 2 T. grated orange zest
  • 1/3 C. orange juice concentrate or fresh orange juice
  • 2-3 drops red food coloring

Cut your rhubarb up.

Slice up your rhubarb using a Rada Paring Knife.

Zest your orange with the Rada vegetable peeler.

Zest your orange using the Rada Vegetable Peeler.

Combine all ingredients

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, combine all ingredients with 1/2 cup water.

Bring your mixture to a boil and stir.

Bring the rhubarb jam mixture to a boil, stirring frequently.

Rhubarb Jam after 45 minutes of cooking.

Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally until thick.

You can store rhubarb jam for up to a year in the freezer in a freezer-tight container.

Homemade Rhubarb Jam

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time1 hour

Ingredients

  • 7 1/2 C. about 2.5 lbs. sliced fresh rhubarb
  • 2 C. sugar
  • 2 T. grated orange zest
  • 1/3 C. orange juice concentrate or fresh orange juice
  • 2-3 drops red food coloring

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients
  • In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, combine all ingredients with 1/2 cup water.
  • Bring the rhubarb jam mixture to a boil, stirring frequently.
  • Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally until thick.
  • You can store rhubarb jam for up to a year in the freezer in a freezer-tight container.

Add Rada Cutlery to Your Kitchen!

Shop Rada Cutlery
Shop knives, utensils, and quick mixes.

Find Fundraising Success!

Rada Fundraising
Learn more about earning 40% fundraising profit for your group. 

Get in the Rada Business!

Rada Reseller Program
Learn more about selling Rada products!

Fresh Rhubarb, Enjoyed All Year

Follow along with these videos for great tips on how to freeze and store your rhubarb and rhubarb jam.

Freezing Rhubarb Video:

Rhubarb Jam Video:

Hold a Farmer’s Market Fundraiser

Rada Knives are good fundraising products.

A neat fundraising idea would be to hold a farmer’s market fundraiser. Encourage local gardeners and farmers to donate some produce for your cause or go out and pick your own! Rhubarb and asparagus are especially easy to find in ditches.

A great companion to this produce fundraiser is Rada Cutlery. Sell Rada knives alongside your produce, or any of our other great fundraising products like cookbooks, quick mixes, and stoneware. Made in the USA products like Rada Cutlery are sure to grab your customers’ attentions and are sure to gain you a serious profit for your group or cause. Especially since Rada gives back 40% of your profit!

Request your FREE Rada Catalog today and harvest the benefits!

Order your free catalog today and try Rada for yourself, or download it by clicking the image below!

Freezing Rhubarb Video Transcript:

Hi, Kristi in the Rada kitchen, and today I’d like to show you our Fresh to Freezer cookbook, it’s Methods and Recipes. It’s everything to freeze fruits and vegetables from apples to zucchini. When you have a harvest out of your garden, whether you get it at the store or at your farmer’s market, this will answer questions like, “How do I freeze small portions?” and “Do I have to blanch the items?” and different techniques to freezing them.

Today I went out to my garden and I harvested some rhubarb. And you want to harvest it when the stems are about 12-24 inches long. You’ll want it unbruised, nice, clean stalks. What I did was take my Rada Serrated Paring Knife and I cut the leaf off, and about an inch off the end. I washed it in the sink, and you want to make sure it’s really dry, especially if you’re going to dry pack it. So I drained it on a paper towel.

So the dry pack method is you just slice up the rhubarb. This first method is called “dry pack.” Now this you’d want to use within a few months, you couldn’t store it as long. What I like to do is measure it, a cup or two, most recipes take two, up to eight cups of rhubarb, but I like to put it in little freezer bags. You don’t have to blanch it, you don’t have to add sugar, you simply seal it in a bag and put it in the freezer.

The other method is called the “tray method.” This is to freeze it really quick. So you would just simply spread the rhubarb out on a cookie sheet or a tray, it should at least have an edge. You’ll just evenly spread that out, and then put it in the freezer for about two hours, and when it’s frozen, then you’ll transfer it to a bag, a container, to freeze it in.

The other method is to “sugar pack” it. So you take the rhubarb, you’d add about a half a cup of sugar to about four cups, and then that’ll bring the juices out of the rhubarb. That rhubarb you could store longer in the freezer, probably up to six to nine months, the sugar helps protect it. Then the other option is the sauce. Or “syrup pack” it’s called. So you take a sauce pan, two cups of sugar, four cups of water, and about four cups of rhubarb, and you’ll cook it until the sugar is completely dissolved, and then you can pour it into your freezer containers, probably not a bag. I’d probably recommend a container or jars.

So that’s just a quick overview of how to freeze rhubarb. There are all kinds of methods for freezing, and also some delicious recipes in this cookbook. It’s called “Fresh to Freezer Methods and Recipes”.

End of Video Transcript

Rhubarb Jam Recipe Video Transcript:

Hi, Kristi at the Rada kitchen. Today I’m going to make rhubarb jam. I got this recipe out of our “Freezer Jams and Refrigerator Pickles”. This is an easy way to preserve all of your garden produce, from fruits and vegetables, to cucumbers, zucchini, cauliflower, and today I’m going to do rhubarb.

No hot water bath. It’s just a simple, easy way to preserve my rhubarb that I just got out of the garden. The first thing I did was pick my rhubarb. You want it about 12 to 24 inches long and you’ll remove the leafy part and maybe about an inch off the bottom.  Then you’ll want to wash the stems. You want nice, clean, unbruised stems.

With my Rada serrated paring knife, you can easily slice up the rhubarb. This is my favorite knife to cut rhubarb with. It has little, tiny serrations so that it cuts through the strings that are in rhubarb. It’s also good for asparagus.

To make this easy, simple rhubarb jam, you’ll need 7 1/2 cups of chopped fresh rhubarb, that’s about 2 1/2 pounds. You can use frozen rhubarb too. You’ll need 2 cups of sugar, 2 teaspoons of graded orange zest, 1/3 cup orange juice – fresh or from concentrate, and 2-3 drops of red food coloring.

For the 2 teaspoons of orange zest I’m going to use the Rada vegetable peeler. You don’t want to go down to the white part, you just want the very top of the peeling. Then you’ll take a paring knife and just cut them into little slices.

In a large sauce pan, I have my rhubarb, my orange zest, and now I’ll add 2 cups of sugar and the 1/3 cup of orange juice. We’re going to stir this over medium-high heat on the stove until it comes to a boil and then we’ll cook it for about 45 minutes. After your jam is cooking for 45 minutes, you can add 2-3 drops of food coloring.

Stir that in, and remove it from heat. Now I’m going to ladle my jam into warm jars and you want to leave about 1/2 inch head space. Then you want to tightly seal it. I’m using the Rada non-scratch soup ladle to fill these.  You want to let these stand for about 24 hours until they are set.

You can keep them in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks or you can freeze them for a year. That’s one of the recipes in our “Freezer Jams and Refrigerator Pickles” cookbook.

End of Rhubarb Jam Recipe Video Transcript