Thursday, Sep 30, 2010Freezing Food -The Right Way

Freezing food is far less expensive and more simple than canning. In fact, it’s one of the best ways of preserving vegetables and fruits to enjoy throughout the winter. It’s truly an easy process, so cast aside your skepticism, and let’s find out how it’s properly done.

You’ll need some supplies. You’ll need either freezer bags or freezer containers for the food. You will need a large pot for blanching vegetables and fruits, and tongs or a ladle or strainer to take it out of the hot water.

Be sure to label and date your containers. A piece of Scotch tape on the bag or container works well. I frequently think “Oh, it will be so obvious to me what this is and I don’t need a label.” I’m frequently wrong. The date will help you know how long the food is still good, since frozen foods don’t last as long as canned ones. They are, however, more nutritious.

Keep everything as clean as can be. You don’t want to freeze bacteria along with the food. Freezing food will not kill bacteria. It preserves it.

Always begin with high quality fruits or vegetables. Freezing does not improve on quality.

Try to get the vegetables from the garden or store into your freezer as quickly as possible. If you’re freezing food from your garden, harvest them early in the day. Wash all vegetables to remove dirt and grit.

You’ll be blanching vegetables in hot water and then immediately cooling them before placing them in airtight containers. Squeeze the bags to remove as much air as possible. Blanching is necessary to stop the action of the enzymes inside the vegetables.

There are lists of blanching times for vegetables on the internet. Be sure to print out a chart so you can time each vegetable as you immerse it.

Don’t blanch herbs or green peppers. Herbs need to be frozen on cookie sheets and then gathered together into a container. They can also be chopped or frozen in ice cube trays. Green peppers can be sliced and frozen as is without blanching.

For fruits, clean them and cut them up as if you were going to use them immediately. To help eliminate excessive sugar from your family’s diet, just freeze the fruit on trays without adding sugar, and then re-pack them into air tight containers after they the pieces are individually frozen.

You might find it useful to keep a list of the inventory of fruits and vegetables inside your freezer so you can check off an item when you remove it for dinner.

If you follow these tips for freezing food, you’ll be preserving vegetables and fruits at the height of their goodness and enjoying them all winter long.

Eat well!

“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.” ~ Erasmus

“There are three types of friends: those like food, without which you can’t live; those like medicine, which you need occasionally; and those like an illness, which you never want.” ~ Anonymous