Tips for freezing produce so that it doesn't thaw out all mushy?

[nadine_mn]

Last year I tried to freeze some produce when they were fresh and cheap. With my strawberries I froze them first individually on a cookie sheet before putting them in a freezer bag (because I saw a tip that that was supposed to help prevent mushiness). I blanched green beans and froze, fresh corn on the cob...blanched and took it off the cob, froze rhubarb and blueberries.

Every single time I have thawed to use them I get a mushy mess. Am I letting them thaw too long...should I use them when still a bit frozen?

Now that summer is here ..kinda... I want to capitalize on fresh local produce, but clearly I am doing something wrong.

[Beearewhyain]

1. Hmmmm, tough problem.

It is my understanding that the reason produce gets mushy after freezing is because of ice crystal formation within the cell walls. The crystals cut open the cell walls resulting in what you described. The only way I know of to lessen that is by using a blast freezer or some other technique that minimizes the formation of crystals.

I will be very interested to see if anyone has a workaround for this. Best of luck!

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. freezing breaks down the cell layer for the most part and there is no avoiding mushy....it

is all about appropriate use. We freeze loads of cherries, blackberries, blueberries and strawberries, but they either become material for jams, smoothies and cooked recipes - all well worth it. We throw handfuls of frozen blueberries on our morning cereal or yogurt.

So as long as you have expectations of such, they are invaluable to have on hand...but texture-wise, not nearly equal to the fresh counterparts. We actually no longer freeze green beans because they do lose so much in the process.

[nadine_mn]

5. those are some beautiful tomatoes - I used the strawberries in pie

along with the rhubarb, but the taste was off.

I think I will limit fruit use to smoothies and not even attempt the beans this year.

[intaglio]

3. Couple of ways

Place in sugar and freeze, it partially desiccates the outer layer and stops that going mushy. Brush off as much as you can before storing.

There is a high tech solution - liquid nitrogen. Cut the fruit small (rasberry size) and dip it briefly in the liquid gas. The freeze happens so fast that the cell walls don't get a chance to rupture. Here's a link to a Brit site about it http://www.culinaryinnovations.co.uk/liquid-nitrogen.html

Over here they can be bought in 5 gallon dewar flasks but make sure that you have plenty of work for it otherwise you are wasting money!

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. There is a really good book called "Putting Food By"

which shows you how to protect and keep all of the bounty of summer.
It is a classic, and I see Amazon has it, in hardcover, for 1 cent plus 3.99 shipping...so for 4.00 it is a great deal.
It sits on my bookcase today, more than 30 years of use.
covers not only freezing, but various canning methods, drying, etc
plus has great recipies for sauces, jams, etc.

http://www.amazon.com/Putting-Food-Plume-Janet-Greene/dp/0452268990/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369931718&sr=1-3&keywords=putting+food+by+fifth+edition

[nadine_mn]

6. ooh thanks I will have to check it out nt

[csziggy]

8. Contact your county extension office

They have a lot of information on food storage - most of it is free.

http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/

[bitchkitty]

7. Freezing works well

for preserving veggies and fruits that are to be cooked. Just thawed...you're going to have a mess. But frozen then thawed strawberries are AWESOME with just a light sprinkling of sugar. Ornish used to have a recipe for strawberries - sprinkled with a bit of basalmic vinegar and sweetened to taste - but I never tried that.

[struggle4progress]

9. I think the only way to avoid the problem is super-fast freezing

Maybe if you freeze the veggies by dunking them in liquid nitrogen or something like that