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Freezing fruits and vegetables
Fruits should be washed and sorted before freezing. Discard those that are not yet ripe or of poor quality. Allowing fruit to soak in water will cause lose of nutrients and flavor. Stem, pit, peel or slice fruit as desired; prepare enough fruit for only a few packages at a time to prevent browning. Do not use galvanized equipment in direct contact with fruit, the acid in the fruit dissolves zinc, which can be harmful in large amounts. Use vegetables at peak flavor and texture. Whenever possible, harvest in the morning and freeze within a few hours. Wash vegetables thoroughly in cold water and sort according to size for blanching and packing. Blanching, which is scalding vegetables in boiling water or steam for a short period of time, should be done to ensure highest frozen food quality and shelf life. Blanching time is crucial and varies with the vegetable and its size. Underblanching stimulates the activity of enzymes and is worse than not blanching at all; overblanching can cause loss of flavor, color, vitamins and minerals. Specific blanching times can be found at the Web site below or by call the extension office. Water blanching is the most widely recommended method for blanching vegetables. Use one gallon of water per pound of vegetables. Put the vegetables in a blanching basket and lower into vigorously boiling water. Place a lid on the pot and start counting blanching time as soon as the water returns to a boil. As soon as blanching is complete, cool vegetables quickly to stop the cooking process by plunging the basket of vegetables immediately into a large quantity of cold water. Cooling vegetables should take as long as blanching. Drain vegetables completely after cooling. There are several ways to pack fruit for freezing, such as a syrup pack, sugar pack, dry pack or unsweetened pack. Most fruits have better texture and flavor if packed in sugar or syrup, however, sugar is not needed to preserve the fruit. Peaches, apples, pears and apricots darken quickly when exposed to air and can darken in thawing. Use ascorbic acid in the package to prevent discoloration of fruits during the freezing process. If you use a commercially sold fruit color preserver that is not pure ascorbic acid, follow the directions on the box. All packaged food should be room temperature or cooler before putting in the freezer. Do not overload your freezer with too much warm food at one time. Quick freezing is best for frozen food quality. Spread the new packages around until they are frozen, then they can be stacked together if desired. Be sure to label all foods with name of food, date and type of pack. Most fruits and vegetables will remain high in quality for eight to 12 months. Longer storage will not make the food unfit for use, but may impair its quality. It is a good idea to post a list of the frozen foods with freezing dates near the freezer and check the packages off the list as they are removed. For more information on home-preserving fruits and vegetables or for recipes contact the National Center for Home Food Preservation online at http://homefoodpreservation. com.
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