Preserve your harvest in 10 minutes
Freezing your favourite summer produce is a simple, fast, and economical way (if you do it right) to preserve the best in your crops.
If you're a dedicated preserver, there's probably row after row of gleaming jars in your pantry by this time of year, filled with delicious jams, jellies, chutneys, and pickles. If you're not a dedicated preserver and want a low fuss way to store your harvest, freezing is a simple method that maintains maximum nutrients.
THE BASICS OF FREEZING VEGETABLES
If you freeze fresh vegetables straight from the garden, most quickly deteriorate, lasting about a month or so before they become inedible.
Vegetables need blanching before freezing to retain their colour, texture, flavour, and nutrients when defrosted. This involves briefly immersing them in boiling water, immediately followed by rapid cooling in icy water to stop the cooking process.
Blanching, followed by fast freezing, has multiple benefits. It:
■
destroys unwanted micro-organisms; ■
stops the chemical processes inside the vegetable that cause ripening;
■
minimises cell damage.
When defrosted, the colour, texture, flavour, and nutrients will be very close to what they were on the day they were blanched.
TIMING IS KEY
It depends on the vegetable. Blanching isn't the same as cooking, more half-cooking, the outside soft, the inside still crisp.
Time in boiling water too short – you don't stop the chemical deterioration process within the vegetable.
Time in boiling water too long – the vegetables cook through and won't store well.
Freeze too slowly – large ice crystals form, bursting cell walls, turning vegetables into watery mush when defrosted.
Read more: blanching times for common vegetables, see page 32
PREPARATION
Choose young, tender vegetables as these will taste best after freezing. They're best harvested early in the day and preserved within an hour or two.
Wash thoroughly to remove dirt, then peel and/or chop. It's crucial to keep pieces a similar size so they blanch evenly. Smaller pieces freeze fastest, which is critical to maintaining the best texture.