Frozen Strawberries

This is a still-frozen dessert, not a bag of berries for the deep freeze. The "freezer" is the metal can of a hand-crank ice-cream freezer, and because nothing is churned the berries set solid in their own syrup.

• What "freezer" meansAt the time this was written the word ordinarily meant the pail-and-can apparatus packed with ice and rock salt, not a cabinet. Any covered metal container buried in an ice-and-salt bath does the same job; a loaf pan sealed with foil in a modern freezer is the simpler substitute.
• Ice and salt proportionsOld instructions vary, but something on the order of three parts crushed ice to one part rock salt by volume is a common packing. More salt cools the bath faster, which tends toward a harder set.
• The hour with sugar is the hingeMaceration draws juice out of the berries and lowers the freezing point of the surrounding syrup, which is largely what keeps this from setting as a solid block. Skimp on the sugar or on the hour and the result is closer to plain frozen fruit.
• How much sugar"Generous quantity" is unhelpfully vague. For fully ripe berries, about half a cup of sugar to a pound of fruit gives a syrup that stays sliceable; more for underripe fruit.
• Five hoursIn an ice-and-salt bath that is about right for a full can. In a home freezer at 0F, count on four to six hours for a shallow pan and overnight for anything deeper.
• ServingLet it stand fifteen minutes at room temperature before serving so the berries soften enough to eat cleanly. The recipe gives no quantities; a quart of berries would serve roughly four to six, spooned into glasses with a little of the syrup, or with plain cream.
• Berry choiceSmall, deeply ripe berries freeze best whole; very large berries often have a pale or hollow core that can turn icy. Halve anything bigger than a walnut.