How To Freeze Vegetables - Whirlpool EH050FXVN00 Manual

TYPE OF PACK
USE FOR HOW TO DO
Unsweetened Special diets
Prepare fruit. Pack in either of two ways:
- cranberries
1. With water containing ascorbic acid. Use crumpled freezer
-currants
- gooseberries
wrap to keep fruit submerged in water. Seal and freeze.
- rhubarb
2. Without liquid, spreading out in individual layers on shallow
-figs
pan to freeze. Pack into containers (works best with most
berries as well as figs, pineapples, plums, grapes, and
rhubarb). Seal and freeze.
How to freeze vegetables
Vegetables (like broccoli or corn) that are
ordinarily served cooked can be frozen satisfac-
torily. Salad greens, tomatoes and others that are
to be served raw should not be frozen since they
lose their crispness when thawed.
1. Freeze only fresh, high-quality vegetables
picked when barely mature, before they've had
a chance to become starchy. Vegetables are
best frozen no more than 2 to 3 hours after they
have been picked.
2. Prepare vegetables just as you do for the table,
washing them carefully in cold water. Sort or cut
into appropriate sizes for packaging.
3. The most important step in freezing vegetables
is blanching or scalding. Boiling water, steam
or microwave cooking is used to stop enzyme
action, ripening, or maturing. Blanching also
helps vegetables retain color, stabilizes vitamin
content and aids in vitamin retention. Since
blanched vegetables are partially cooked they
require very little cooking when they come from
the freezer.
4. After cooling, pack vegetables in moisture-
vapor-proof containers, such as: rigid containers
with flared sides for ease in filling; wide-mouthed
glass jars; or freezer bags. For protection and
stacking ease place bags and irregularly shaped
packages in folding paper-board cartons, or
freeze vegetables in single layer on trays,
packing in polyethylene bags after freezing.
5. Leave headspace to allow for expansion. If
recipe doesn't specify, follow this rule of thumb:
Container size Headspace needed
pint (500 ml) '/2 inch (1.25 cm)
quart (liter)
lY2
inch (3.8 cm)
Close container and seal according to
manufacturer's directions. Freeze at once.
6. Freeze no more than 3 pounds of vegetables
for each cubic foot of capacity (1.35 to 1.8 kg of
food for each liter of freezer space) at one time.
Do not freeze:
l
Lettuce, celery, or raw carrot sticks-they
become limp.
l
Potatoes-they become mushy.
l
Fresh tomatoes-their high water content
causes the tomatoes to collapse when thawed.