Freezing vegetables overview

1 servings

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FREEZING VEGETABLES

Freezing foods is one of the fastest and simplest methods of food preservation. It's easy to prepare food for the freezer and easy to prepare food for the table from the freezer. Best of all, foods preserved by freezing taste more like fresh than their canned or dried counterparts, and they retain more color and nutritive value.

Almost all vegetables take well to freezing. In fact, some vegetables shouldn't be preserved and stored by any other method. The list of better frozen vegetables includes broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, mushrooms, parsnips, edible pod peas, pumpkins, rutabagas and winter squash. The only vegetables that don't freeze well are lettuce and other fresh greens for salads, and watery vegetables like radishes and cucumbers.

Other than those, almost anything can be frozen. When you aren't sure whether you'll like a certain vegetable frozen, try a sample batch of just a few packages, bags, or containers. Freeze for a couple of weeks, then taste it. If you hate it, not much has been lost.

Although the techniques are simple and easy, freezing is a more expensive form of storage than canning. The freezer itself is an investment, and it takes electricity to run it. But if you manage your freezer wisely, it can still help you save on food costs.

Frozen vegetables can be stored a lot longer than many other foods, but shouldn't be kept stored for more than 12 months. By keeping your frozen foods in a constant state of turnover, the freezer space is being given maximum use. To get the most value from your freezer, use up the foods you've stored and replace them with others in season.

The higher the rate of turnover, the lower the cost per pound of food.

Keep a list near the freezer to indicate what you've used, what's left, and what new foods you may be adding from time to time. By keeping careful track of what you have and how long it's been in the freezer, you'll be sure to use up all your frozen foods within the recommended storage period.

Freezing is a simple method of food preservation and requires only a few steps. Having selected good quality vegetables, then prepared and packaged them for freezing, you can sit back and let cold temperatures do the rest of the work.

Starting with the highest quality vegetables and other foods is the single most important factor in guaranteeing the quality of your frozen foods, but you must follow the directions for all freezing procedures exactly. Select the most perfect foods, and always exercise the strictest sanitary conditions and precautions when handling them. you can never be too careful about properly packaging and sealing foods for freezer storage.

If you follow freezing directions to the letter and keep food in a well managed freezer, your frozen vegetables will be as delicious when you serve them as when you preserved them.

Source: Vegetable Gardening Encyclopedia Typos by Dorothy Flatman 1995 Submitted By DOROTHY FLATMAN On 09-28-95

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