HE-134
FREEZING VEGETABLES AT HOME
Freezing is one of the simplest and least time-consuming ways to preserve many vegetables. And frozen vegetables are convenient to use. Frozen vegetables are ready to serve on short notice because most of the pre-table preparation is done before freezing.
Many vegetables can be frozen satisfactorily. However, the quality of the frozen product varies with the kind and quality of vegetable, stage of maturity, type of pre-freezing treatment, and packaging. Slow freezing can result in a poor quality product and possible spoilage. Freeze no more food in a home freezer than will freeze within 24 hours. Usually this will be about two or three pounds of food to each cubic foot of freezer capacity.
If you have doubts about how well a vegetable will freeze, test-freeze three or four packages, using the directions given in this bulletin. Sample the food after freezing.
This test shows only the effect of freezing --not the effect of storage.
Selecting the Right Freezing Container
Much of the success of home freezing depends on choosing the right freezer container or wrap. If vegetables are not properly packaged when they are put in the freezer, they will lose moisture, color, and nutritional value and develop an off-flavor. At freezer temperatures; ice crystals evaporate and produce freezer-burn, a dry, grainy, discolored area, which makes food unattractive and unappetizing. The use of proper freezing containers and packaging methods controls or prevents freezer burn.
All containers used for freezing should be easy to seal and leak-proof. Packaging materials must be durable and must not
become brittle enough at low temperatures to crack.
To retain highest quality in frozen food, packaging materials should prevent evaporation. Glass, metal, and rigid plastic containers that are made especially for freezing are excellent packaging materials because they effectively control evaporation. Bags, wrapping materials, and waxed cartons made for freezing are also sufficiently moisture-vapor-resistant. But ordinary waxed papers and paper cartons from purchased dairy products are not durable or moisture-vapor-resistant enough to be suitable for freezer packaging.
Preparing Vegetables for Freezing
Fresh, tender vegetables right from the garden are best for freezing. The fresher the vegetable, the better the frozen product !
Washing is the first step in preparing vegetables for freezing. Wash vegetables thoroughly in several changes of cold water. Lift them completely out of the water with each change of water so grit can settle to the bottom of the pan and be discarded following each washing.
Peel, trim, and prepare the vegetables according to the directions for each specific vegetable given in this bulletin. Unless vegetables are to be cut into uniformly-sized pieces, they should be sorted according to size.
Heating Before Packing
An important step in preparing most vegetables for freezing is heating or "blanching". Heating vegetables inactivates enzymes and thus stops the enzyme activity responsible