This is how you properly freeze the fruits and vegetables for their prolonged life
| Updated: Apr 28, 2020, 11:46 IST
Since the virus has impacted a lot of us in many ways including food supplies, it only makes sense for us to find ways how we can store fruits and vegetables for the longest time in our house. Prolonging the life of fruits and vegetables is a good thing to know when it comes to how to do it in the first place. Whether due to food shortage or because you're simply trying to limit your trips to the grocery store.
Here is how you can freeze your fruits and veggies to keep them fresh for long time:
Fruits:
- Prepare the fruits: Make sure you are choosing some well-ripened fruits for freezing. Sort them out, wash and drain them. If there are any poor quality or green parts, you need to discard them. Peel or slice your fruits as preferred.
- Know which packing type to use: There are many packs that you can use to freeze your fruits - a sugar pack, a syrup pack, a dry pack and an unsweetened pack. The type of pack usually is selected based on its intention to use. Fruits packed in syrup are usually best for uncooked dessert use. The ones packed in dry sugar or unsweetened are best for cooking purposes as there is less liquid in the product.
Vegetables:
- Choose a freezer container: When freezing veggies, you need wide-mouth jars that are easier to handle when you need to remove the vegetables than the narrow-mouthed ones. You can also use flexible freezer bags, protective cardboard cartons to freeze your vegetables.
- Prepare the vegetables: Use vegetables at peak flavour and texture when freezing. Wash the veggies in cold water and then sort them out according to size for balancing.
- Know which packing type to use: The two packing methods that are best for frozen vegetables are dry and tray packs. Dry packing includes placing the blanched and drained vegetables in container and you need to pack them tightly in order to cut down the amount of air in the package. For tray packing, you need to place chilled and drained veggies in shallow trays or pans. You can freeze them until the vegetables are firm and then you can quickly fill freezer bags or containers.
Know Whether to Dry or Tray Pack Your Vegetables
The two packing methods that are best for frozen vegetables are dry and tray packs. Dry packing includes placing the blanched and drained vegetables in containers and packing them tightly to cut down on the amount of air in the package. If you're using freezer bags, make sure to leave space to allow the food to expand.
Here is how you can freeze your fruits and veggies to keep them fresh for long time:
Fruits:
- Prepare the fruits: Make sure you are choosing some well-ripened fruits for freezing. Sort them out, wash and drain them. If there are any poor quality or green parts, you need to discard them. Peel or slice your fruits as preferred.
- Know which packing type to use: There are many packs that you can use to freeze your fruits - a sugar pack, a syrup pack, a dry pack and an unsweetened pack. The type of pack usually is selected based on its intention to use. Fruits packed in syrup are usually best for uncooked dessert use. The ones packed in dry sugar or unsweetened are best for cooking purposes as there is less liquid in the product.
Vegetables:
- Choose a freezer container: When freezing veggies, you need wide-mouth jars that are easier to handle when you need to remove the vegetables than the narrow-mouthed ones. You can also use flexible freezer bags, protective cardboard cartons to freeze your vegetables.
- Prepare the vegetables: Use vegetables at peak flavour and texture when freezing. Wash the veggies in cold water and then sort them out according to size for balancing.
- Know which packing type to use: The two packing methods that are best for frozen vegetables are dry and tray packs. Dry packing includes placing the blanched and drained vegetables in container and you need to pack them tightly in order to cut down the amount of air in the package. For tray packing, you need to place chilled and drained veggies in shallow trays or pans. You can freeze them until the vegetables are firm and then you can quickly fill freezer bags or containers.
Know Whether to Dry or Tray Pack Your Vegetables
The two packing methods that are best for frozen vegetables are dry and tray packs. Dry packing includes placing the blanched and drained vegetables in containers and packing them tightly to cut down on the amount of air in the package. If you're using freezer bags, make sure to leave space to allow the food to expand.