How to freeze bell peppers for the winter in the freezer at home fresh

How to freeze bell peppers for the winter? This question is asked by housewives seeking to preserve the beneficial properties of the product for a long time. Freezing Bulgarian pepper, as well as preparing it for preservation, has nuances that must be taken into account when preserving the product for a long time.

Is it possible to freeze bell peppers for the winter

Freezing food is perhaps the most useful form of preservation. Vegetables and fruits in the freezer not only do not spoil, but also retain the maximum amount of useful vitamins and minerals.

Besides, it is convenient - preparing a vegetable, container and freezer takes much less time compared to rolling peppers in glass jars and drying a vegetable.

Attention! Of course, frozen peppers can be purchased at the store or, if desired, in the cold season, find fresh vegetables in the supermarket. When buying frozen vegetables, there is a risk of purchasing a repeatedly frozen product. Also, don't know if the peppers were frozen fresh or were starting to go bad?

Buying a fresh fruit may not always meet expectations: instead of a fragrant, beautiful and fresh vegetable, you can buy a dried pepper at a high cost.

Selecting and preparing a vegetable before starting the process

In order for frozen vegetables to retain their taste and vitamins as much as possible, it is necessary to choose the right fruits for freezing. So, for the conservation of green, red and yellow sweet bell peppers, large fruits with a smooth skin that is not damaged by insects and rot are suitable.Vegetables will need to be washed under warm running water and allowed to dry. If you start freezing wet fruits, they can stick together, as a result, the product will lose its shape.

It is necessary to remove the seeds from the fruit and cut off the stem. It is recommended to clean the insides by hand, as a knife can damage the inner walls of the vegetable.

When choosing a bitter or hot chili pepper, also pay attention to the appearance of the fruit. Only superficially ideal vegetables are frozen. The fruits are washed under running cold water and dried thoroughly. Hot chili peppers are harvested whole.

After the fruits have dried, you can proceed directly to freezing. It can be done in several ways, but first you need to get the right dishes and prepare the refrigerator for freezing.

Attention! To “knock down” the sharpness of the chili pepper, keep the product in boiling water for 2-3 minutes before freezing.

Preparing the refrigerator

Before freezing fruits, it is necessary to defrost and thoroughly wash the containers in the freezer and refrigerator. After washing, it takes time to dry. A dry and clean refrigerator is ready to freeze vegetables. When performing it, you should also observe the commodity neighborhood: for example, it is recommended to allocate a separate container for frozen peppers, and not even leave packaged products next to meat and fish.

What dishes do you need

For freezing in the freezer, plastic boxes with tight-fitting lids, cellophane and zip bags, as well as bags specially designed for freezing peppers are suitable.

Attention! The product to be frozen must be hermetically sealed in a plastic container or bags (for reliability, the fruits are packed in 2-3 bags and tied tightly).Otherwise, other foods stored in the freezer will smell of bell pepper aroma.

The best ways to freeze peppers at home

Bell peppers can be frozen in several ways, depending on the subsequent use of the product and personal preferences.

Whole in the freezer

After thoroughly washing and drying the fruits, bell peppers are frozen whole. This will allow you to stuff them later. For fresh vegetables, you will need to cut off the stem and clean the fruit from seeds. Then they are laid out in one layer on a cutting board, wrapped in cling film and placed in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator for 3-6 hours.

Further, the fruits are folded one to one, separating the peppers with cellophane, or all vegetables are sent to a common container for further storage.

Halves

When harvesting bell pepper, you can freeze it in halves. The advantage of this method is that fruits harvested in this way will take up much less space in the freezer.

After washing, removing the seeds and the stalk, the fruits are cut in half lengthwise, then the vegetable halves are placed in small zip bags, or tightly tied in ordinary cellophane. When distributing the fruits, it is necessary to determine the exact number of pepper halves that will be used at a time. The fruits sorted in this way are put into the freezer.

Pieces

Bell pepper can be prepared in slices, rings, cubes or strips, for cooking different types of dishes:

1. For stews, soups and gravy cut vegetables into cubes.
2. For pizza and pies, vegetables are cut into strips or wheels.

To remove excess moisture (vegetable juice released when cutting fruits), dry the chopped product with paper napkins or towels before freezing. Next, the vegetables are placed in plastic bags, after releasing air from there, or in plastic, hermetically sealed containers.

Assorted stews

Sweet peppers are frozen as part of assorted vegetables. The most popular are the following types of assorted frozen vegetables:

1. Paprikash. The assortment includes finely chopped peppers mixed with chopped zucchini, tomatoes and beans in pods.
2. Rustic blend. The assortment is a finely diced potato, peppers, beans in pods, carrots, onions, corn. Broccoli is also added to this mixture. The vegetable is pre-blanched before adding to the assortment.
3. Lecho: cubes of blanched peppers, onions, tomatoes, zucchini.
4. Borscht dressing: the mixture includes finely chopped peppers, tomatoes, beets. Onions and carrots are also added here.
5. Hawaiian mix: semi-cooked rice, pepper pieces, corn and peas.

Freeze baked sweet peppers

Freeze and baked vegetables in the oven. The pods are washed, but the stalk and seeds are not removed. The products are placed on a greased baking sheet and sent to the oven for forty minutes. The reddened vegetables are taken out, put in a saucepan and left for 15 minutes. Next, holding the fruit by the tail, remove the skin and carefully remove the insides.

The cleaned product is cut into small pieces, sorted into containers and poured with the juice formed during baking. Such a product can later be used for making salads.

Attention! Baked bell peppers can also be frozen whole.

Freezing Stuffed Peppers

Bulgarian peppers are also frozen stuffed. To do this, the finished semi-finished product is placed at a short distance from each other on a cutting board, wrapped in cellophane or cling film.Next, they are placed in the refrigerator for an hour, and after cooling, they are frozen in the freezer (if possible, the temperature should be set as low as possible). After freezing (it takes from 4 to 7 hours), the product is put into bags (the air is removed from them beforehand) or containers and placed in the freezer.

Attention! It is not recommended to freeze stuffed peppers for more than 8 hours. Otherwise, the moisture contained in the peppers will evaporate, and there will be an exchange of smells between the ingredients of the stuffed dish and other products stored in the freezer compartment.

With dill and parsley

In order for the pepper to get a rich aroma, it is frozen with dill and parsley. For this, 150-200 grams of greens and half a teaspoon of s alt are taken for 2-3 kilograms of pepper. Peppers and dill are thoroughly washed and soaked in cold water for 10-15 minutes.Then the water is changed and the greens are left for another 10-15 minutes. Dill and parsley are shaken and dried. At the same time, it is important to ensure that the greens do not begin to fade. After it is carefully crushed.

Attention! Freshly picked parsley and dill are suitable for freezing bell peppers. It is such greens that have the brightest and richest aroma, and also contain a large amount of useful vitamins and minerals.

Bulgarian peppers are freed from seeds, cut off the stalks and cut in the necessary way (rings, cubes or strips). Then, greens and peppers are laid out separately on different trays and frozen in the freezer for a day. Cover the ingredients with cling film beforehand.

At the end of the preparation, frozen peppers and herbs are mixed, packaged in pre-prepared containers or bags and sent for final freezing.

Temperature for freezing peppers and shelf life

In order for frozen peppers to retain the maximum amount of vitamins and useful trace elements, the freezing temperature should not exceed -18 - - 20 degrees Celsius. If the temperature becomes higher, the product will be stored for a shorter amount of time.

Depending on the type of frozen product, the shelf life also differs:

1. Fresh frozen peppers keep up to 12 months.
2. Baked or blanched vegetables can keep up to 6 months.
3. Stuffed peppers keep up to 7 months.

Attention! Before freezing, containers and bags with vegetables are labeled. Indicate the approximate shelf life and freezing date.

Is it possible to re-freeze the product

Re-freezing the product will not spoil the bell peppers, but it will worsen the taste of the product, as well as negatively affect the amount of useful vitamins and minerals. In addition, such a product will lose its attractive appearance. To avoid this, re-freezing bell peppers is undesirable.

How to defrost frozen peppers

Proper defrosting of bell peppers is as follows:

1. Vegetables, frozen as a whole, are left in the refrigerator for 10-20 minutes, then defrosted in a microwave oven for 5 minutes with the appropriate mode selected. An alternative way to defrost peppers is to leave them at room temperature for 15-20 minutes after refrigeration.
2. Sliced chopped vegetables are placed in the microwave for 5 minutes, on the defrost mode, and added to soups or stews.

Freezing bell peppers is a great way to preserve the beneficial properties of the product for a long time with minimal time and effort.

In order for the vegetable to retain its original appearance and taste, it is necessary to follow certain recommendations for choosing, freezing and storing peppers.

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