1. Freezing Fruits and Vegetables
Welcome to our series of Wisline programs on home food preservation. Today we will talk about the basics of freezing fruits and vegetables.
Before we get started, let’s see who is joining us today. (Roll call)
Thanks to everyone for joining us today. Let’s get started.

2. Resources for Today Freezing Fruits and Vegetables (B3278)
Many of the points in today’s discussion come from:
B3278 Freezing Fruits and Vegetables
Farm markets and gardens are beginning to offer spinach, asparagus and other spring produce items that can be very successfully frozen, so now is a good time to review the basics of this quick and easy food preservation method.

3. Freezing Fruits and Vegetables
Advantages;
Quick and easy
Preserves nutrients
Retains taste and color
Would you like to enjoy bright, crisp garden green beans all year long? How about ripe juicy raspberries? Freezing fruits and vegetables can be an easy way to enjoy the bounty of your garden and orchard all year round. Compared with other methods of food preservation, freezing saves time and nutrients, and keeps fruits and vegetables fresh-tasting and colorful.

4. Freezing: The Basics Pre-treat for best quality Quick freezing is key
Packaging is important for maintaining quality
Freezing is such an easy method of food preservation, but sometimes we forget that for best quality we need to do more than simply throw the extra ears of corn or quarts of raw green beans in the freezer.
Many fruits and vegetables will benefit from some type of pretreatment before freezing, such as some type of sugar pack for fruits and a quick blanching for vegetables.
Freeze no more than 2-3 cubic feet at any one time. The longer the time that it takes to freeze produce, the larger the ice crystals and the greater the damage to tissue. Produce that is frozen too slowly is often watery and unappealing when thawed. Some chest freezers have a small section off to one side that is a quick-freeze area.
The right packaging material is key to maintaining quality of frozen foods. In general, you want to keep moisture in and air out. When moisture is lost, areas of freezer burn develop. Exposure to air during frozen storage causes nutrient loss and flavor changes. An easy way to prepare individually frozen foods is to place prepared items on a cookie sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer. Once items are frozen, package, seal and label. Some bakery cooling racks will fit into a chest or top freezer and allow you to freeze several cookie sheets at once.

5. Packaging Rigid plastic freezer boxes Heavy plastic freezer bags
Glass canning jars
Wraps of aluminum foil, freezer paper or plastic film
Choose packaging designed for frozen storage:
Rigid plastic freezer boxes
Heavy plastic freezer bags
Glass canning jars
Wraps of aluminum foil, freezer paper or plastic film
Pack cold fruit or vegetables tightly into containers or bags, removing as much air as possible. Leave a small amount of headspace, if necessary. Label packages clearly with date and product, and freeze.

6. Freezing Fruits Use acid to prevent color change
Freeze unsweetened for greatest flexibility
Sweeten for good texture and color
Light colored fruits tend to darken after peeling or slicing, and an antioxidant can help to prevent this color change. Antioxidants which can be used successfully with light-colored fruit include:
Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is effective in preventing oxidation of most fruits. Crush tablets to produce a dip or syrup with 1500 mg per quart. Lemon juice will also work (citric acid) but not as effectively.
Any fruit can be frozen unsweetened, and some such as blueberries, currants and cranberries freeze well without sweetening. If you plan to use frozen fruit for jam or jelly, or for applications such as baking, it’s best not to sugar the fruit before freezing.
Added sugar will stabilize color and texture of frozen fruit. Freeze using a dry sugar pack, or prepare a syrup. Fruits packed in syrup are generally better for dessert. Just remember, added syrup will add calories to any dish.
And remember, always wash fruits before freezing. Even delicate berries should be washed and drained before freezing.

7. Freezing Vegetables Blanch vegetables for better quality
Boiling water blanch
Steam blanch
Chill rapidly in ice-water
Freezing vegetables
Blanches vegetables stabilizes their color, flavor, and texture, and also preserves nutrients. There are two general methods for blanching: blanching in boiling water and steam blanching. Vegetables to be frozen are placed in, or over boiling water.
Blanching serves to inactivate enzymes and preserves color, texture flavor and nutrients in frozen vegetables.
When blanching, add only a small amount of vegetables so that the water continues to boil. Cover and start counting the blanching time—the exact time varies with the type of vegetable. Once blanching is completed, immediately plunge the heated vegetables in an ice-water bath to cool. Too much blanching and the vegetables will appear over-cooked. A good rule of thumb is to cool for the same amount of time as you blanch. Too much time chilling may lead to a loss of nutrients. For instance, if you blanch carrot slices for two minutes, then cool them in ice water for two minutes. Drain cooled vegetables and place them into freezer bags or containers. Label and date the bags and store for up to one year in the freezer.
Peppers (hot, pimento, green) and onions do not require a blanching step before freezing. Simply wash, slice, drain and freeze. Peppers should be seeded before freezing.

8. About blanching…. An issue of quality
Blanch only for the required time
Cool rapidly
Store un-blanched foods for less than 3 months
Vegetables that are blanched or in some way heated before freezing will have better quality than those which are not blanched. Blanching inactivates enzymes, and preserves color, texture, flavor and nutrients in frozen vegetables. But, blanching is NOT required for safety and some consumers may prefer to forgo blanching if the storage time will be short.
Blanch small quantities and only for the required time. Too many vegetables blanched at once, or cooking for too long a time is bound to lead to over-cooked produce.
Cool rapidly in an ice-water bath.
If you choose not to blanch items such as corn, carrots, green beans, and so forth, limit storage time to 2-3 months or quality will begin to deteriorate. Every year I get phone calls from church groups looking to freeze corn on the cob for several months but wishing to forgo the 6-8 minute blanch time.