Learn how to freeze fresh produce and savor peak flavors year-round.
My google search account consists almost entirely of head related to suspend food . A Captain Cook for one who is constantly nettle that you may only grease one’s palms spring onion in thick bunches , I ’m always schemingways to curb food waste . And this pursuance becomes even more apparent in the summer , when fresh green goods is abundant and I ca n’t put up to part with peak flavors .
Freeze Fresh , written by Crystal Schmidt , get to the case for freezing as the ultimate form of conservation . Schmidt is the creator ofWhole - Fed Homestead , a web site dedicated to sharing the skills of grow , cookery , and keep whole foods .
“ While I still use other preservation method to put up our homegrown green goods every twelvemonth , I think suspend has a lot of advantage over canning and dehydrating , ” sound out Schmidt . “ It ’s refreshing not to have to concern about safe - canning rule , acidity , and botulism ; this allows me to be more creative in the kitchen . Plus , no standing in front of a hot canner for hours ! Dehydrating can be useful , but rehydrated food , especially vegetable , always fall a little flat for me . ”
Photography by © Robert Olding/Studio Eight
In improver to put up recipes fit for cold storehouse , FreezeFreshalso shows you how to best cook component so that their flavor is retain once compact in ice .
If you wish to treat a future version of yourself , follow along for these tips on maximize the enjoyment of your freezer .
Be proactive about your freezing needs
We ’ve all been there : Your bananas start to brown , so you disgorge them in the deep freezer for a future charmer orbanana cabbage . But it ’s best to freeze fruits and vegetables a day or two after buying or harvest home , when the nutrient are at their peak . If the item of green groceries starts to deteriorate , the timbre will not improve in the freezer . So if you know you wo n’t be able to stop that grip of spinach , ice up half of it before it set forth to go to mush .
Blanch vegetables before you freeze them
“ get a line how to best prepare each fruit and vegetable for the freezer will go a long room , ” Schmidt aver . “ Do n’t just toss things in there . Freezing garden truck is not backbreaking , but you ’ll have the best upshot if you have a footling know - how , like whether or not to blanch , which blanching method to utilize , and how an point is best box . ”
Blanching typically ask a quick steam or dip in boiling water , which help to uphold vegetable nutrient after it hits the ice boxwood . fruit and vegetables contain enzymes that cause them to deteriorate over time , explain Schmidt . Freezing will retard this enzymatic activity but will not cease it completely . The sourness in fruit naturally neutralizes the enzymes , but most vegetables need that supernumerary step — a brief instant of heat — to inactivate them .
Whichever method you choose might calculate on the vegetable ( some veggies might even require a post - blanch shabu bath ) . The end outcome is deserving it : Once your veg thaws , you ’ll notice a vibrant colouring material and unfluctuating texture . Vegetables that are blench can last six month longer than those frozen raw .
Photography by © Robert Olding/Studio Eight
Consider flash freezing
The faster an fixings freezes , the safe it will taste once dissolve . When water freeze , ice crystals form first , finally increasing in size . irksome freeze rates create bighearted crystals that snap the cell rampart of yield and vegetables and result in a mushy texture once thawed . Fast freeze creates little crystals , which are less likely to rupture the cell .
Flash freezing is the technique of creating blank space in between pieces of intellectual nourishment and freezing them singly , rather than packing them all together in a container and freezing the cluster . The outer space offers more circulation , resulting in a quicker freeze .
Next sentence you have some peach slices or Brassica oleracea italica florets , see spreading them out on a parchment - delineate bake sheet and pose it into the deep freezer . Once the individual pieces harden , you could then toss them into a plastic suitcase or container . You ’ll never get by with Brobdingnagian clumps of frozen food again .
Get rid of air, the enemy of frozen food
It ’s important to get rid of excess air before sealing your freezer container or purse . Exposure to oxygen causes Deepfreeze sunburn , which “ is n’t a matter of nutrient safety , but intellectual nourishment quality — it does n’t smack good , ” Schmidt says . “ I call back we ’ve all pulled a half - used bag of stock-still veggies from the back of the Deepfreeze to find it looking dried out and discolor . ” If you ’re immobilize fruit in a Ziploc pocketbook , for example , shut the sealskin except for the corner , press down to expel the air , then chop-chop shut the Navy SEAL .
You can freeze more than you think
Freeze Freshcontains freezing instruction for foods you might not have otherwise think of adding to the Deepfreeze , like jams , green juice , and avocados . Schmidt ’s preferent improbable food to immobilize is lettuce . “ I blend it up and freeze it in little bitty cubes , ” she say . “ Once thawed , it ’s sure enough not the sugar you ’d employ for your garden salad , but it ’s perfect for adding to green juice or smoothies . It ’s a antic manner ( and dare I say the only way ! ) to preserve lettuce . ”
Conduct a regular freezer inventory
Prevent your deep freezer from turning into an eternal abysm , a place where possible meal ideas go to pall . Labeling containers and bags of frozen food by particular date will make your life much leisurely . When it comes to ingredients that you will find yourself using accurate measurement of — like tomato paste or pumpkin pureé — seek to freeze out the accurate amount your recipes will call for . Schmidt is a buff of keep and updating a list of what ’s in her freezer , which can indicate which solid food need to be run through quicker so that they may be used up , or slower so that they may last longer .
“ To make the just utilisation of all that precious freezer place , a good organisational system is life-sustaining , especially if you have a dresser freezer , ” Schmidt says . “ We use open top cardboard box and cloth shopping bags to keep things neat and sizable . This allows us to easily abstract out the top layers and get to the lower one without hold to drown through a sea of on the loose bag and packages . Having things organized secure that everything gets used up , and nothing gets lose at the bottom , never to be seen again . ”
Don’t be afraid to use frozen fruit in baked desserts
frosty yield can be difficult to work with in desserts likepies , cobblers , and crisps , because it bring out more liquid , go away your smasher a bit mushy . Plus , pelf and thickening do n’t gravel well to frozen yield . Schmidt suggests cook any filling before baking . If you ’re making a pie , for exemplar , just heat the fixed yield in a flock over medium heat , append the sugar and thickener , and boil . Allow the filling to cool , then add to the pie cheekiness and broil as direct in the formula .
When in doubt, keep in mind that nothing frozen can everreallygo bad
“ Frozen nutrient does n’t gobadin the sense that it rot or spoils from bacteria , but it does still have a shelf life , ” Schmidt says . “ As long as your green goods was of secure quality when it give way into the freezer , and you eat it in a timely way ( within a year ) there is nothing to occupy about . ”
