Freezing fresh vegetables
I've got quite a lot of fresh broccoli & carrots. Been in the fridge since the last w/end.Won't be eating them for now. Can I blanch & freeze?
I can't stand those frozen pkts of vegs in the supermkts.
As these are not, I hope they don't turn out like the commercial frozen veggies if I could freeze them.
Have frozen fresh mushrooms & tofu in the past - taste awful & a spongy texture when cooked. Ditto potatoes.
1
I've frozen capsicums before. Cut them up first (but don't cook) and then freeze in a container. If they look covered in ice when you go to use, make sure that you paper towel the ice off first. Don't defrost, just add to frying pan frozen.Good for stirfrys, soups, casseroles etc.
But if they're already looking a bit dodgey in terms of eating them, that's not going to get any better just by freezing them. Perhaps make a soup and freeze that?
3
I live alone, and because I don't want to eat carrots every day when I buy a bunch of carrots with tops, or one of those bags of peeled baby carrots, I steam them, package individual servings in Ziploc brand bags, then freeze them. When I steam them I more or less undercook them, so that if freezing and thawing alters the texture somewhat they will still be crisp. I do the same with broccoli, using only the florets, and beets as well.5
You can also make pickled cabbage and sauerkraut as well. Both ever so easy - and extremely yum ! !If you want to freeze carrots and cabbage, just a 2-3 minute quick boil for both, leave to cool then freeze.
Both will keep fine for months.
Best way for me to freeze potatoes, is to blanch in oil for a few minutes, freeze - and use as chips or roast.
6
Been freezing the bulk of our harvest for +35 yrs. We put enough away each year to carry us into late Spring/early summer, at leastbrocc and carrots: cut carrots in slices or cubes, whatever you usually prefer when you cook them. Divide brocc into flowerettes as preferred.
Steam veg. over boiling H20 for 2 min. stirring at the 1 min. mark. Dump into ice water and keep chilling H20 until veg pieces are chilled through. Drain & spin in salad spinner and/or towel to dry them well. Freeze in individual bags ( freezer quality) or spread on cookie sheet, freeze and bag.
Most frozen veg are too wet or over-cooked before freezing. And you MUST chill the blanched vegs. quickly or they go mushy and weird.
I never freeze potatoes (one of the most difficult for home-freezing) and rarely do cabbage. Do make relish and saurkraut with it.
10
battybilly - is that like how the potatoes are done in the deep freeze at the supermkts?Weaver # 6 - you must live in a very cold part of Canada. The Europeans, Russians, Koreans, Japanese, Chinese pickle their vegs before winter for their supplies.
12
Why do we bother with root cellars in Canada, to store sacks of spuds, when we have so much canola oil. ROTGLMAO13
Bit off topic I suppose....I've been to Canada many times and have never heard the expression 'Root cellars'. Enlighten me please.
14
Root cellars are cellars or small rooms under the house, under the barn or dug in the side of a small hill, in which root vegetables-- potatoes, carrots, beetroot, are stored for the winter. They stay cool and slightly damp but never freeze during the winter. (I WANT one.) Apples, cabbage etc. are similarly stored but apples can cause the other veg to sprout and are usually stored in a separate area.bb, if I'd known you meant fries/chip I'd have understood. But it's freezing spuds for use in stews, soups and other similar dishes that is the real challenge.
