The taste of summer foods in winter?
It’s possible!
If you love strawberries, currants, and other seasonal fruits and consider fava beans to be the very essence of a carefree vacation time, you can reach for these tastes whenever you want!
Look no further – freezing can help.
Freezing seasonal fruits and vegetables has long been considered one of the best ways of keeping their looks, color, and taste. Low temperatures decrease the activity of enzymes responsible for spoiling fruits and vegetables, and germs can’t replicate in temperatures lower than 0 degrees Celsius.
Those who object to the process usually say that foods that are frozen lose their nutritional value. The truth is, the loss occurs also when products are stored in a “regular” way. Freezing doesn’t contribute to it (except for vitamin C, 40% of which makes off from frozen products). Frozen fruits and veggies help bring variety to your diet, which – in autumn and winter – tends to be less rich than it is in spring and summer.
Before we move to freezing, though, let’s talk about proper preparation.
Preparing your food for freezing
Most importantly, you need to select the best fruits and veggies carefully.
Discard ones that seem to be bad, rotten, or bruised.
Fresh produce is best for freezing – although low temperature tends to prolong food’s durability, it doesn’t improve its quality. As a next step, peel your produce, wash it well and dry even more carefully – you can use paper towels, which are perfect for absorbing water. It’s important – if you freeze fruits while wet, a thin layer of ice will soon form on their surface, deforming them. They will also take more time to freeze completely and the process will be uneven. You can also be sure they’ll clump up. If you intend to freeze cruciferous or alliaceous vegetables, I’d recommend blanching them first.
Blanching means simply placing your vegetables in boiling water for about 60 seconds, and moving them to cold water with ice right after.
A quicker version is to pour some boiling water over them.
Blanching lets you preserve the taste, aroma, and color of veggies; it also makes it easier to work with them after thawing. The process allows you to get rid of almost 70% of nitrites as well.
There are exceptions, though – you shouldn’t blanch zucchinis, champignons, and onions – they are delicate enough to lose their texture.
Sudden changes of temperature are easily handled by cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, kale, fava beans, Brussel sprouts, and cabbages (white, red, savoy), aubergine, corn, or peas.
You can but don’t have to blanch carrots, leeks, beetroots, or pumpkins.
Which fruits and vegetables can’t be frozen
Although it’s possible to freeze almost everything, some products may not handle the process too well: ones that contain a lot of water.
It’s not particularly pleasant to eat a shapeless, unsightly pulp. Keep that in mind and don’t freeze the following fruits:
- watermelons,
- kiwis,
- papayas,
- oranges,
- grapefruits,
- citrus fruits in general,
- apples,
- pears.
As to vegetables, these are not best for freezing:
- cucumbers,
- radishes,
- lettuce (iceberg lettuce, arugula, corn salad),
- onions,
- garlic,
- leeks,
- potatoes.
Tomatoes, peppers (with cores removed), or zucchinis can be frozen, but because of their looks and texture, it’s best to serve them warm: used in bakes, soups, and sauces.
Beetroots are good to freeze only when boiled; the same applies to sweet potatoes and pumpkins.
How to store frozen foods
Depending on the space you can allocate to store your frozen products, you can use ziplock bags or containers. If you endorse the zero-waste lifestyle, you can use ice cream boxes or other containers you have on hand, but it’s bags (especially ziplock ones) that let you see what your food looks like and allow for the optimal placement in your freezer.
An interesting solution is to use ice cube trays. They are perfect for freezing mousses and fruit pastes which will be ideal for smoothies.
While planning the freezing, it’s important to remember that fruits and veggies require some space. Even if frozen, ones that are squeezed will lose their shape and may not look that appetizing when thawed.
Before you put your products in a freezer, you can cool them in a refrigerator for a couple of hours. The popular belief that lower temperatures make food last longer is completely baseless – it’s important to make sure the temperature isn’t lower than -18 degrees Celsius, and that it’s kept at a constant level.
If you happen to experience an equipment failure or power outage and the content of your freezer is thawed, you can’t freeze it back.
Let’s do it! Freezing vegetables
Now that we’re past the preparation stage, we can finally get to freezing:
- Root vegetables (carrot, parsley root, beetroot, celery, etc.) are frozen cut into cubes, blocks, or slices. You can also grate them. It’s a good idea to group your products to have ready sets when you want to prep vegetable broth or your fave veggies combinations to fry. It will spare you some time and you won’t need to reach for multiple bags.
- Leguminous vegetables (fava beans, green beans, peas, etc.) are frozen in whole. Cut the ends off of your beans; if you have bigger pods, cut them in half. Peas can be frozen as puree as well.
- Leafy brassicas (cauliflower, broccoli, pumpkin, Brussel sprouts, etc.) should be divided into florets before freezing (cauliflower, broccoli), or frozen in whole after removing outer leaves (Brussel sprouts).
- Leafy vegetables (kale, spinach, sorrel) are frozen as leaves or a pulp (mixed with a bit of water). When it comes to pumpkins, it’s also best to freeze them as a pulp – if you bake it before freezing, it’s going to be perfect for soups or muffins!
And now, to frozen fruits!
Learn how to freeze popular fruits:
- Berries (raspberries, strawberries, berries, blueberries, etc.) should be frozen without stems. It’s best to freeze them on boards first and place them in bags or containers afterward – that way they won’t form chunks and will retain their delicate form. Fruits that take up a lot of space (like strawberries) can be also frozen as purees. If you decide to freeze raspberries, don’t wash them – they tend to absorb water and will become mushy after thawing. It’s best to freeze them as mousse and get rid of the seeds by pressing them through a sieve.
- Fruits with seeds (apricots, plums, cherries, currants, peaches, etc.) should be frozen in smaller pieces. It’s important to peel them beforehand and remove seeds. If sprinkled with lemon juice, they will retain not only their taste but also their color. Just as is the case with smaller fruits, also here it’s worth freezing them on boards first and then moving to final containers or bags.
- Bananas are best frozen cut into pieces or slices. Once thawed, they are perfect for smoothies or homemade ice creams.
- If you’re freezing figs, you need to remember that after thawing, they are only good for jams.
Thawing fruits and vegetables
If properly prepped, you can store your veggies and fruits for up to 12 months.
After that time (and in the best scenario – before that time), it’s great to use them for homemade dinners, desserts, and cakes. Before we can enjoy the taste of strawberries in the middle of December, we have to make sure we know how to thaw them well – the process is equally important as initial preparations for freezing.
The slower the thawing, the tastier the fruits.
So instead of leaving them at room temperature, consider placing them on the lowest shelf of your refrigerator. If you need them to thaw fast, you can put them in water (even slightly warm), but the process will impact the fruits’ shape and firmness.
Veggies, on the other hand, can be used right away, without thawing – you can put them directly in a pot or a pan. It’s similar with fruits that were frozen as purees – these, too, can be used in smoothies or shakes immediately after being taken out of the freezer.The least recommended way to thaw your products is using a microwave. It deprives your fruits of vitamins and minerals, taking away the healthy aspect of eating them.