Freezing veggies

arielbride06

We did this for the first time last year with green beans.  We blanched them and then sealed them with our food sealer.  The beans ended up a little bit mushier then I would like.  Is there a better way to do this?  I'm assuming I have to blanche them no matter what I do?

SuperGreen

Yes, you should blanch them.  I've never tried freezing them raw, but everything I'm read doesn't even give that as an option. Try blanching them for less time.  Most veggies I only blanch for a minute or two before freezing them.  I know the book I use, How to Store Your Garden Produce the times are pretty much all too high and the produce comes out mushy.  Great book though, it describes various preservation techniques and has an alphabetical produce section, telling you how to store each kind.

MandyBrownNoser

I'm assuming you did but just covering bases- did you put the beans in cold water after blanching?  I spaced out once and did an entire batch of broccoli without the cold water and basically they just kept cooking until they cooled off on their own.  

Needless to say, it didn't work out well. 

SuperGreen

Good thought Mandy!  You do have to plunge them in ice cold water after boiling them to stop the cooking process.  Leave them in the ice water until they are completely cold, then freeze them.

julie5220

We did the same thing last year, and I wasn't pleased with the frozen block of beans so this year I'm going to lay them out on a cookie sheet like I do with berries, candies, etc. to freeze quicker and individually.  That plus blanching for a shorter time period may help you.

treesapplaud

I freeze almost everything first on a cookie sheet and then put it into a bag.