Blanch Fruits and Veggies Before Freezing Them

In part one of The Time is Now to Freeze Fruits and Vegetable, I told you about all the fruit and vegetable stands that are out there. That you can freeze produce and enjoy them during those long cold winter months. I explained what to do in order to freeze fruits and vegetables.

There is one very important information that you have to have in order to blanch your fresh vegetables so they won't spoil when you pull them out of the freezer to enjoy and that is the different blanching times for different type of vegetables.

Here you will find the times for blanching the following vegetables. A few vegetables you don't have to blanch.

Asparagus - Wash and cut in desired length - blanch for 2 to 4 minutes
Beans, Lima - Shell, wash, sort - blanch for 2 to 3 minutes
Beans, Green or Waxed - Wash, cut or snap into 1 ½ inch pieces or leave whole - blanch for 3 to 4 minutes
Beets - Boil just to where the peel cracks so you can peel it off, cool and freeze
Broccoli - Wash, trim, split lengthwise, 1 inch thick - blanch 3 to 5 minutes
Brussels sprouts - Cut off old leaves, leave whole - blanch 4 minutes
Carrots - Wash, peel, cut in slices or dice - blanch 3 minutes
Corn - Husk, trim, wash, blanch, cut from cob if you want to - blanch 5 to 7 minutes
Greens, all kinds - Blanch 2 to 3 minutes
Peas, all kinds - Shell, sort, wash - blanch 1 to 2 minutes
Peppers, red or green bell - Wash, remove stem and seed. Chop or cut in halves or strips, freeze
Sweet Potatoes - Boil to peel, cool, freeze.
Tomatoes - Wash, boil just to where the skin cracks so you can peel it off, core and freeze. Tomatoes when frozen are to be used only as cooking or seasoning tomatoes as they will not be solid when thawed. They are great for those winter stews.

If you follow these steps you will be enjoying fresh vegetable and fruit all winter long. But if something does happen, like you pull out a container or bag of frozen fruit and/or vegetables which doesn't seem right to you , the rule of thumb is to throw it out.

Here are some tips that will help you to have less spoilage.

Selection of fruits and vegetables.
One of the first steps is selecting the proper foods at the right stage of maturity - just at the stage when they would be best eaten fresh. Over ripe produce, produces a frozen food that is lacking in flavor and color. Some varieties freeze more successfully than others - retain their color, flavor, and texture better.

Freezing Vegetables
All vegetables for freezing should be garden fresh, young and tender. If vegetables must be held several hours between gathering or buying and freezing, put them in the refrigerator. Work rapidly and with small quantities of vegetables at a time.

Preparing Vegetables
Wash the vegetables in cool water to remove all soil. Wash a second time if needed. Do not let the vegetables stand in water. As they are being washed, sort for size and stage of maturity, discarding any inferior vegetables. Prepare the vegetables for table use by cutting into size and remove peel or husks.

Freezing fruits
Always work with small amounts of fruit at a time to allow for quick handling and prompt freezing. Wash in cold water, twice if needed, but always handle fruit gently. Never allow fruit to stand in water. To prevent discoloration after peeling, place apples, peaches, pears, etc. in cold water and lemon juice - 1 gallon water and 3 tablespoons lemon juice. Don't allow the fruit to stand in the solution any longer than necessary. Drain well and work fast.

Chill, Drain, Pack
I can't stress this enough. When you are chilling your vegetables after blanching don't forget them. Don't let them set in the ice water any longer that necessary. Keep checking them and as soon as they are chilled pack them immediately into freezer containers or freezer bags. If you are using freezer bags make sure you get as much of the air out of the bag as you can.