Freezing vegetables for the winter at home: what you can, recipes with photos and videos

More and more gardeners are engaged in freezing vegetables for the winter at home. This is a quick way to prepare for the winter. Products retain the maximum amount of nutrients. Supermarket shelves are full of different varieties of frozen vegetables and fruits. But what could be better and tastier than strawberries, cherries, cabbages and zucchini grown at your own dacha.

A bountiful harvest requires immediate processing. And on the beds another wave of vegetables ripens. The gardener often does not have enough time for pickling and s alting. And putting semi-finished products into the freezer is easy and does not take much time.

You can freeze almost everything that grows in the country and gives a harvest: greens, berries, fruits and vegetables. The main thing is to follow the rules. Then the blanks will delight you with a long cold winter.

Why freeze is needed

Preservation of the crop is the main task of the gardener. Summer and early autumn are hot seasons. Vegetables and berries require immediate processing. The summer resident does not always have enough time to prepare pickles and marinades.

Freezing food comes to the rescue. Almost every garden house has a refrigerator and freezer. And it will take a little time to prepare and lay the raw materials.

The advantage of frozen products is the preservation of vitamins. During heat treatment, most of them are destroyed. And this way of storing products makes semi-finished products useful.

Not all gardeners have enough storage space for pickles and marinades. Some (mushrooms) should not be kept at room temperature. And frozen canned food is compact.

Almost any vegetable mix can be bought at the store. But home-grown and self-frozen foods are much tastier.

General freezing rules

To obtain high-quality vegetables, you need to freeze them according to the rules. This will preserve the color and presentation. Properly selected and put into the chamber, vegetables have a characteristic texture, they are easy and simple to prepare.

At what temperature do vegetables freeze

Prepared raw materials are placed in the freezer in the "quick freeze" mode. It's -25 degrees Celsius. After freezing (about an hour), the temperature is raised to -23 degrees.

Features of food storage in the freezer

Crop is not enough just to store. It is required to have suitable products for preparing delicious meals in winter. To obtain high-quality semi-finished products, you should follow the recommendations:

It is necessary to comply with the commodity neighborhood rule. Frozen vegetables should not be stored in the same compartment as meat, fish or mushrooms. If the latter spoil, the vegetables will remain edible.
Wash and dry drawers and shelves thoroughly before storage.
It is recommended to write the type of workpiece and the date of storage on the packaging. This is required for a quick revision of the contents of the freezer.
Boxes and shelves are filled as tightly as possible. But pre-frozen semi-finished products should be laid. Layers of uncooked foods freeze and become impossible to pull out.
Mixes should be packed in containers for portioned use: it is difficult to get them out of large bags. Do not re-freeze thawed food.

Don't try to freeze the whole crop: any harvest has a shelf life. It's a shame to throw away what we didn't have time to eat.

Shelf life

Gardeners often neglect the shelf life of frozen foods. It is not safe. Even at sub-zero temperatures, bacteria live and multiply. The cold only hinders their development. Freezing past the expiration date may be harmful to he alth.

When storing vegetables at a temperature of -23 to -18 degrees Celsius, products retain their beneficial properties throughout the year. At negative temperatures above -18 - vegetables can be consumed without fear for 8 months.

Each chest freezer has a temperature sensor. You should pay attention to its meanings regularly.

Freezer storage bag

For freezing use food-grade packaging only. Cellophane freezer bags are ideal. Raw materials are laid in them, air is expelled. Flat containers stack easily.

Some gardeners use food containers. They must be labeled accordingly. The container is filled with chopped vegetables and closed with lids. Containers of a rectangular profile and equal size fit tightly on the shelves.

How to select and prepare vegetables for the winter

The quality of frozen food depends on compliance with the storage rules. Basic recommendations should be followed:

Take ripe vegetables with intact skins. The presence of rot or stains is unacceptable.
Before laying, the products should be washed thoroughly in hot water. Then spread out to dry. Excess moisture reduces the quality of the blanks.
Dense skin should be peeled off, seeds removed from the middle, cut off the stalks.
If necessary, blanch. This operation will preserve the marketability of raw materials.
Store the workpiece in a tightly closed container: this will protect the vegetables from drying out.

Vegetables are frozen cut or whole. It depends on the intended use and freezer space.

What dishes do you need

For laying in the chest freezer, use only plastic dishes with a special mark. This will keep it from cracking and the vegetables from spoiling.

It is acceptable to use glass or porcelain dishes at intermediate stages. Juicy vegetables (tomatoes) are laid out on them. From above, the dishes are tightened with cling film to prevent freezing. After an hour, the frozen pieces are transferred to a container.

Do I need to wash vegetables before freezing

It is assumed that the frozen products are fully prepared for cooking. After defrosting, you can immediately make a side dish or snack from them.Therefore, the laid vegetables must be washed in hot water. For heavily soiled products, a brush is recommended.

Why blanch vegetables before freezing

Blanching - alternately immersing vegetables in boiling water and cold water. Runs within 2-5 minutes. If the operation is prolonged, the product becomes cooked.

Blanching is a necessary part of the freezing process for some foods. It allows you to keep the presentation. Cauliflower without this operation changes color from white to gray. It becomes unpleasant to eat.

Some vegetables, when blanched, acquire the missing density. This prevents the pieces from sticking together.

What vegetables can be frozen at home

Almost all vegetables grown in the garden must be frozen. But they need to be properly prepared for storage.Often foods look attractively fresh, but when they are taken out of the freezer, they do not make you want to eat them. The mass has an incomprehensible consistency and a strange color.

The reason is a violation of the procurement rules. Fruits were selected green or overripe, damaged by insects. The temperature inside the chest was too high or unstable. The packing container was damaged during packing. To avoid disappointment, you should carefully follow the rules for sorting, processing and laying vegetables.

Tomatoes

Berries are frozen in several ways:

Peel the skin off the tomatoes. Cut large tomatoes into pieces, remove the seed chambers along with partitions. Put the remaining dry parts in a plastic container and place in the freezer. Tomatoes are used for fresh consumption and cooking.
Freezing cherry tomatoes is made entirely. Sort the berries, wash and place in a plastic bag.
Tomatoes cut into pieces and put on a glass dish in a single layer. Cover with cling film. After freezing (after 60 minutes), the tomatoes should be carefully removed and placed in a plastic bag.

Thawed tomatoes taste the same as fresh ones.

Cucumbers

Cucumbers are also suitable for freezing. It is better to use salad varieties. Greens should be cut into pieces, rings or strips. Then place in containers. This is a semi-finished product for winter salads. But it is recommended to use the product within six months.

Bulgarian pepper

Bulgarian peppers are frozen for winter stuffing or additions to stews, soups. In the first case, the stalks are removed from the peppers and the seeds are cleaned. The fruits are inserted into each other and placed in plastic bags. The pepper is ready to be stuffed.

In the second case, the fruits are cleaned of seeds and cut into cubes or strips. The container is tightly filled with sliced \u200b\u200band laid in a chest freezer.

Some gardeners immediately fill peppercorns with minced meat or vegetables. When using meat, the shelf life should not exceed 3 months.

Eggplant

This nightshade has a rough and bitter skin. It needs to be cleaned up. Then the fruits should be blanched for 5-7 minutes. After all the preparatory operations, the eggplants are cut and frozen.

For stuffing, the fruits are cut in half lengthwise and frozen in this form.

Green peas and milky corn

Green peas and milky corn are favorite winter salad ingredients. Freeze the ingredients yourself:

husking cobs (three of them together) and pods;
put into packages;
tie tightly.

The result is a great addition to salads and soups.

Cabbage

Broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi and Brussels sprouts are suitable for blanks. We disassemble broccoli and color into inflorescences, cut off the legs. Then blanch for 3 minutes. Dry the cabbage and freeze it in a plastic bag.

Brussels - we disassemble into heads of cabbage, clean from covering leaves and also blanch. Dry and freeze.

Kolrabi clean from thick skin and rub on a coarse grater. Then put in a plastic container and put in the freezer. The released juice is frozen with cabbage. In winter, it is used to make soups and sauces.

Zucchini, squash, pumpkin

Melons and gourds are easy and pleasant to harvest. First, they should be cleaned and the seeds removed. For stew, vegetables need to be cut into cubes, for stuffing - with washers (with a cleaned middle). Divide the vegetables in portions (for one preparation) into bags and freeze.

String beans

Asparagus beans are used to prepare various dishes. It's nice to have it on the menu in winter.

Pods should be sorted, damaged ones should be discarded. Then cut off the stems and ends. Large cut into pieces. The pods need to be blanched in s alted water. Processing time - 3 minutes. Then they should be dried on a paper towel. After all the steps, put the product into bags and put it in the chest.

Ginger

This is a popular spicy and he althy addition to dishes. The root can be frozen in the following ways:

With a free freezer, the product is frozen whole. It is washed, dried and placed in a plastic bag.
Gardeners use grated ginger for cooking. The root is washed, cleaned and grated. Then carefully lay out on a dish and cover with a film. After 60 minutes, the frozen hemispheres are placed in a bag or container and placed in storage.
Ginger can be frozen sliced. The root is washed, peeled and cut into desired pieces. They are placed in a bag and frozen.

In the first case, after defrosting, the root should be cleaned.

Turnip

The turnip is included in the diet menu. It is added to soups, stews. Turnip garnish meat dishes.

Freezing a root crop is easy. First, it is washed, peeled. Then cut into cubes and blanched for 3 minutes. The dried pieces are placed in a plastic bag and frozen.

Zucchini

This representative of gourds is frozen in the same way as zucchini, squash and pumpkin.

Potatoes

Often a gardener doesn't have time to peel potatoes. And so you want to cook french fries or just fried! Freezing for the future will solve the problem.

First place the peeled potatoes in cold water for 30 minutes. Part of the starch will settle to the bottom: this will preserve the taste of the roots when frozen.

Then cut the tubers into slices and blanch for 5 minutes. Dry on a paper towel, pour into a bag and store in a chest.

It is important to choose potatoes with a low amount of starch: freezing will be more delicious.

Corn

To freeze this product, choose ears with a waxy degree of maturity. Too young or fully ripe are not suitable: they lose their marketable appearance when frozen.

Some gardeners freeze corn on the cob. To do this, heads of cabbage should be cleaned of covering leaves. Then wash and blanch for 5 minutes. Arrange the cobs in freezer bags (2-3 pieces each) and place in the chest.

The second way is freezing grains. Heads of cabbage should be husked, the grains should be cleaned of pieces of the stem and debris. Then collect in a colander and blanch for 3 minutes. Drain the seeds on a paper towel and pat dry for 30 minutes. Arrange dried corn in bags, seal tightly and mark in a chest.

The second method allows you to save space in the freezer. But it is more labor intensive.

Other vegetables

It is convenient to freeze small carrots and beets. Root vegetables should be washed, peeled, cut and placed in containers or bags.

DIY Freeze Vegetable Mix Recipes

Supermarket shelves offer mixes for all tastes. But it’s more pleasant to make recipes yourself from products grown in the garden. The proportions of the ingredients depend only on the taste and desire of the gardener.

All vegetables should be prepared separately for freezing. Then they are connected, hermetically sealed and stored.

Paprikash

This recipe came from the Balkans. The mixture consists of sweet peppers, zucchini (you can replace zucchini), tomatoes (you can use any color) and green beans. The proportions are arbitrary.

Peel and cut zucchini and bell peppers. Blanch beans for 3 minutes in s alted water, then dry on a towel. Cut out the septa and seed chambers from the tomatoes. Mix everything in a large bowl and divide into bags. Place in chest.

Vegetables in country style

Composition of the mixture:

bow;
sweet pepper;
broccoli;
corn;
string beans;
carrot;
potatoes.

All vegetables are prepared separately. Blanch potatoes, beans, broccoli and corn. Then cut the ingredients into arbitrary pieces, mix in a bowl, put into bags and freeze.

Lecho

Some gardeners cannot imagine their menu without this mixture. It consists of tomatoes and sweet peppers. Tomatoes should cut out the seed chambers and partitions. Pepper - remove the seeds. Cut randomly, mix and freeze.

Spring Blend

This mixture is actively consumed not only in spring. Vitamins are needed in slushy autumn and cold winter.

To be prepared:

green peas;
cabbage (broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts);
carrot;
bow;
potatoes.

Vegetables are prepared for freezing separately. Blanch cabbage and potatoes. The ingredients are then mixed and stored.

Hawaiian Blend

This mixture includes rice. Ingredients:

bow;
potato;
rice;
green peas;
pepper;
corn.

Rice should be boiled in s alted water until half cooked. Blanch potatoes and corn. Cut vegetables into arbitrary pieces, put together with boiled and chilled rice in a bowl, mix. Then sort into containers and store.

Mexican platter

The mix has a large set of ingredients. It consists of:

carrots;
string beans;
sweet colorful pepper;
corn;
eggplant;
red beans;
green peas;
onions;
celery root.

Beans (green and red), corn, eggplant and celery root are prepared for freezing and blanched. Then the ingredients are dried on a towel. The rest of the vegetables are chopped. Everything is mixed in a deep bowl, laid out in containers and stored.

Defrosting rules

Frozen vegetables need to be properly thawed to prepare delicious and nutritious meals.

The blanks should be placed in a deep bowl and placed on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Such natural defrosting will preserve the maximum of vitamins.

Defrosting at room temperature results in loss of vitamins, juice and presentation.

Using frozen foods

Frozen vegetables and mixes are used equally with fresh produce. From them prepare: soups, salads, sauces and garnishes. To obtain tasty and he althy meals, it is recommended to follow the rules for freezing, storing and defrosting food.