What to do if vegetables are frozen? What to do if potatoes are frozen What to do if vegetables are frozen

29.01.2022

Winter. Frosts. thaw. Again frost. And vegetables are stored on the balcony or in the cellar. Carrots, beets, cabbage, onions… Stock made in the fall, and this stock should ideally last until summer or at least until mid-spring.

It’s good if before the frosts hit, the nets with vegetables managed to be covered with something - so as not to freeze. Well, if not? A business trip may interfere with saving vegetables on the balcony, snowfall will not allow you to get to the cellar in the country or in the village (if the owner of the stock is a city dweller).

And now we have frozen cabbage, frozen carrots, beets shriveled from frost, onions crunchy from ice ... And there is still half of winter and all of spring ahead. And the vegetables are about to begin to simply rot - after freezing, alas, this is exactly what happens.

And then the eternal Russian question - what to do? Throw it away - it seems to be a pity, and then what? The stock, made with such love, was gone. To continue to keep everything in the same place and everything in the same form is impossible, the vegetables will rot, and there will only be a pile of unappetizing smelling garbage.

The answer is simple - process vegetables immediately. Roll them into jars in the form of salads, preparations for borscht and cabbage soup. In canned form, they can be stored for a long time, and the fact that they are frozen will practically not affect the quality of the “canned” product. And the stock is intact, and there is no need to worry about the inevitable decay.

Here are a couple of simple recipes for processing frozen vegetables.

In order to make borscht preparation, you will need beets, cabbage, onions and carrots. For a six-liter saucepan - 8 medium onions, 1 head of cabbage, 5-6 carrots (not small, rather large, but not "elephant" size), the rest is taken by beets.

The beets are washed and boiled (boiled beets should be soft, readiness is checked with a match - if the match easily pierces the beets, then you can already remove them from the fire). After the boiled beets have cooled, they need to be peeled and grated on a coarse grater (or using a food processor - just remember to install the appropriate knives).

Cabbage is shredded - but preferably by hand, so that the pieces are larger, not quite small, as is obtained with a mechanical or electric shredder. But the size of the pieces is an amateur, the flight qualities of the dish are absolutely not affected.

Carrots are peeled, rubbed on a coarse grater - like beets. Onions are cut into rings, half rings, quarter rings - as you like.

A little vegetable oil is poured into the pan, and carrots are slightly stewed in it - until half cooked. As soon as the carrot is half stewed, the onion keeps her company, and so they communicate together until the onion rings become a little more golden and a little softer (but not completely!). Then a little water is added (a 6-liter pan needs no more than a glass of water, but you can get by with half), vegetable oil (1-1.5 cups) and cabbage. Then we sit and wait (about 15-20 minutes, no longer needed), until the cabbage is a little stewed and settles.

Don't forget to stir the contents of the pot! As soon as the cabbage has settled a little, add the beets - until the pan is completely filled and mix again. And - tomato sauce or tomato paste (a 6-liter pan will require 1 jar ½ liter, no more). By the way, if you do not like to add tomato paste to borsch, then I inform you that it is not necessary for canning.

Now, while the mixture is brought to a boil, it's time to salt (to taste), pepper (to taste), add various seasonings and spices, such as coriander, cloves, paprika, and so on (also to taste). And ½ cup of vinegar.

As soon as everything boils, we wait 10 minutes and begin to lay out the mixture in prepared sterilized jars. At your disposal - 6 liters of borscht preparation, which can be used as a salad, and (adding a little boiled potatoes) - as a "fur coat" for herring under a fur coat.

Everything is the same, only minus the beets, and the amount of cabbage is increased until the pan is completely filled - and you will get a blank for cabbage soup (however, when cooking cabbage soup, you will need a couple more fresh tomatoes, but you can do without them). You can also use the mixture cold, like coleslaw in vegetable oil.

Frozen vegetables will be saved, and your stocks will be replenished with good canned foods. And all your care in preparing vegetable dishes will come down to opening cans and boiling water.

Photos: www.flickr.com
Text: www.7ya.uz

Here are a couple of simple recipes for processing frozen vegetables.

Carrots are peeled, rubbed on a coarse grater - like beets. Onions are cut into rings, half rings, quarter rings - as you like.

Frozen vegetables will be saved, and your stocks will be replenished with good canned foods. And all your care in preparing vegetable dishes will come down to opening cans and boiling water.
Source CaneCorso

Carrots are an irreplaceable and popular root crop in the world. Consists of vitamins and minerals necessary for health, as well as fiber. This vegetable is indispensable for cooking soups, side dishes. There is an opinion that storing carrots all year round is pointless, 50% of the stored crop will rot. This is not true.

Experienced summer residents know that a properly prepared vegetable for storage never spoils in one year and carrots will not change their taste. It is important to choose from many methods one that is suitable for high-quality storage of the product. A balcony is suitable for good preservation of carrots. Most apartment dwellers do not have their own basement for storing vegetables. For residents of cities, the balcony of an apartment has long become a place for storing food in the winter.

At what temperature can carrots be stored on a balcony or glazed loggia

The temperature at which carrots retain vitamins, minerals and taste is from 0 to + 1 C at a humidity of 85-90%. Make sure it doesn't go any lower. With the onset of frost, bring it into the house. Permissible storage temperature on the balcony is from + 1 to + 8 degrees. If the temperature is below zero on the balcony, then the carrot juice will freeze. After raising the temperature regime, all the juice will begin to flow out through cracks in the root crop formed due to ice. Through the cracks, any kind of infection will penetrate into the vegetables, which will lead to rotting of the carrots.

If the temperature rises more than + 8 degrees, carrots, due to the acceleration of metabolism, will begin to germinate or rot. At temperatures above + 8 degrees, the vegetable will begin to dry out and simply fade. should be weak, because along with fresh air, bad microorganisms will penetrate, causing diseases. When the percentage of humidity changes, the carrots will begin to dry out rapidly and fade.

Thin-skinned vegetables require more careful handling. It cannot be washed or cleaned.

Ways to store carrots

Storage in clay

You will need:

boxes;
cardboard boxes;
water;
clay;
garlic;
polyethylene film.

The clay protects the surface of the carrot and keeps it from wilting. There are two ways:

Fill half of the bucket with clay and fill with water, mix and add water. Leave the mixture for 3-4 days. It will infuse and become like sour cream. Put a film on the bottom of the box and carefully lay out the vegetable. When the clay dries, lay out another layer of carrots and fill with clay. Thus, fill the box to the top.
Collect carrots, dip in garlic solution, then in clay. Garlic solution: Pass 200 grams of garlic through a meat grinder and stir in two liters of water. Clay mortar: clay must be diluted with water until a thick mixture is formed. Lay out the roots and let air out. Place carrots in crates or boxes.

And the preservation of vitamins (after all, everyone knows that in winter, those sold in supermarkets differ from summer ones in vitamin composition). Yes, and access to stocks will be permanent.

About whether it is possible to freeze, and whether its beneficial properties are lost after defrosting, we will tell further.

Freezing Benefits

It is customary to store in a basement or other cool place. Under certain conditions, the vegetable can until spring. However, if the temperature is too low or too high, it becomes stained, moldy, dries out or freezes. It is especially difficult for those who keep carrots in the apartment. After all, not everyone has a basement or a balcony equipped for this. That is why the ideal way out in such a situation is frozen carrots, which last for a long time.

Moreover, it is not at all necessary to have a separate freezer, because all modern refrigerators are equipped with spacious freezers. Therefore, this type of preparation does not require any additional costs or extra effort.

For all housewives, this method of harvesting has another big plus: you do not need to spend a lot of time. When cooking, just take out the bag and add the required amount of carrots to the dish.

Selecting and Preparing Carrots

Before you freeze carrots in the freezer, you need to responsibly approach the choice of products and choose only high-quality material. It is better if these are vegetables from your garden.

So, young, juicy, whole, not rotten are selected.

Important! It is impossible to take overripe root crops for freezing.-their benefits are minimal.

Choose carrots need a medium size. It is better to postpone small specimens - when frozen, they lose their taste.

Before harvesting, vegetables are well cleaned of dirt, washed, thinly cut off the top layer, cut off the ends and laid out on a towel to dry well.

Suitable container

While the vegetables are drying, you can choose a container for freezing.

These may be:

small plastic trays (containers);
disposable cups;
special packages intended for storage of frozen products;
molds for ice or baking (for mashed potatoes or grated carrots);
polyethylene bags with zipper.

You can also use ordinary plastic bags, but they must be durable and always new.
When using a plastic container, remember to leave 1-1.25 cm of empty space up to the lid, because when frozen, vegetables expand and they need free space.

Freezing methods

Before you freeze carrots for the winter in the refrigerator (it doesn’t matter if you store them in bags or in containers), think about its purpose after defrosting. It is on this that the shape of the cut and the degree of processing depend.

Important! It is not advisable to freeze whole carrots-it takes up a lot of space.

chopped

For many dishes, carrots are best used in sliced form, cut into circles, thin strips or small cubes (about 6 mm).

Raw

Shredded carrots in a convenient way for you are dried and laid out in bags or containers in one-time portions. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure that there is as little air as possible in the container.

To make it easier to navigate, you can stick stickers on the containers with the date of packaging and the purpose (for soup, roast, etc.), and place them in the freezer.

You can freeze carrots in two ways:

Chopped vegetables are laid out on a board or tray and placed in the freezer for 1-2 hours.
Frozen pieces are packed in containers, the air is expelled from them, hermetically sealed and hidden in the freezer.

Pre-blanching

Since carrots require long cooking or stewing during cooking, it is advisable to blanch them for several minutes before freezing. Then - rinse with cold water. This will improve the taste and reduce the cooking time further.

For this type of preparation, you will need a large saucepan, a container of water and ice.

Ice water should be ready before you start blanching.

Blanching is done in the following way:

A large saucepan is filled 2/3 with water and put on fire.
After the water boils, prepared chopped (or whole) carrots are thrown into it.
After 2 minutes, the vegetables are taken out and quickly transferred to ice water.
The same amount of time (2 minutes) is given to the carrot to “cool down” to quickly stop the cooking process.
Carrots are transferred to a colander or sieve to glass the water. You can fish the vegetables out of the water with a slotted spoon and lay them out on a paper towel.
After the carrot has dried, it is laid out in a thin layer on a tray. In this case, you need to ensure that the parts do not touch.
Place the tray in the freezer for 2-3 hours.

Ready vegetables are laid out in portions in prepared containers (it is better to remove them from the tray with a spatula) and placed in the freezer.

Grated on a grater

Most often, raw carrots are frozen, after rubbing it on a grater. There is no special technology for this: the vegetable chopped in this way is laid out in portions and put in the freezer.

It is better to freeze grated carrots in baking molds. After the carrot is frozen, it is simply transferred to a bag.

Puree

Moms who do not know how to freeze carrots for the winter for a child can use this recipe.

Carrots are boiled in unsalted water for 20–30 minutes, chopped with a blender, packaged in bags and placed in the freezer. Such a frozen puree can be successfully used in the form baby food.

Here are a couple of simple recipes for processing frozen vegetables.

Carrots are peeled, rubbed on a coarse grater - like beets. Onions are cut into rings, half rings, quarter rings - as you like.

Frozen vegetables will be saved, and your stocks will be replenished with good canned foods. And all your care in preparing vegetable dishes will come down to opening cans and boiling water.