No fancy equipment is needed for preparing foods for freezing vegetables. However a vacuum sealer is a huge help because it keeps oxygen away from the food which improves the texture of the frozen food. Things you will need are
Freezer bags
Kitchen scale
Preparation space/work area
Sharp knives
Blanching pot or microwave
Freezer space
For freezing containers, I prefer freezer bags because it is possible to create a vacuum in the bag simply by heating the food to freeze, squeezing the air out of the bag and sealing. As the food cools, a tighter vacuum is created. As mentioned above, this effect is magnified with a vacuum sealer.
Kitchen ScaleBlanching is heating and sometimes partially cooking a food prior to freezing. For example, to blanch green beans, get them all cleaned and cut up. I like to put them into a collander or wire basket and then drop that into a pot of boiling water. Leave them there for about three minutes. This process stabilizes the color and improves the texture of the food. If I don’t have a large amount of food to process, I use the microwave for blanching. Two quart bags of food take about three minutes in the microwave. Blanching does not work on fruit though. Do not blanch berries of any kind, apples, peaches, guava or apricots. I can’t think of a fruit that will withstand blanching.
Just a note here about freezing avocado — Remove the avocado from the skin. Before putting the pulp into a bag, put about a cup of water into a small sprayer with about a tablespoon of lemon or lime juice and spray the pulp. Then put it into a freezer bag, remove as much air as possible and freeze. The defrosted avocado is great for guacamole or avocado cheese cake.
If you’re not sure how a specific food will handle blanching and freezing, just take a small amount a test it. To test a quarter of a cup of food may take an hour to prep, blanch, bag, freeze and defrost. It is well worth the time. Use a scale to put a measured amount of food into a bag. Figure a can of corn is 12 ounces. Use that amount to figure what you need for one meal for your family.
And one last tip: Be sure you have enough freezer space. Make the most of your freezer space by flattening out the packages of foods so that they stack well in the freezer.
Click'LIKE'
2 Comments to “Equipment Needed for Freezing Foodsâ€
Good advices. My mother always freeze something. I think it would be helpful for her.
I hope the information will help her to save money, too. Thanks for reading.