Freezing Potatoes

Freezing potatoes is one of the most efficient ways of storing the produce. Potatoes were first grown in Peru around 750 B.C. Besides being delicious, the root crops are fun to harvest, which makes them a pleasure to grow.

Children especially enjoy sinking their hands into the soil and coming up with a fresh spud. In fact, harvesting tubers is sort of like fishing in the dirt! After the crop is gathered, the attention turns to preservation.

For many gardeners,Poataoes freezing is the ideal way of preserving their harvests. The extra money spent to operate the freezer is considered worth the investment when the return is high quality flavor, color, texture, and nutrients.

The general rule for freezing food is to freeze vegetables that are typically cooked before eating such as potatoes, beans, or greens. Vegetables that are eaten raw like cabbage, cucumbers, and onions are least suited for freezing.

Frozen potatoes does not destroy any nutrition found in the food. Any nutrient loss during preservation generally takes place during blanching and the cooling process before the vegetables are frozen.

Nutrient losses can be kept to a minimum if you blanch and freeze the food quickly and as soon after harvesting as possible. Studies have shown that if foods are prepared and frozen by following specific guidelines, they retain the same value as fresh food.

Freezer Containers

Plastic freezer bags are ideal for freezing your potatoes to exclude air and prevent loss of moisture. All containers should be clearly marked with the contents for convenience in retrieval from the freezer and date it was frozen so you can use the oldest storage first.

Blanching

If you try freezing potatoes without initially blanching them, you may find out the hard way the cardboard consistency they take on after several months in the freezer. When frozen products taste no where near like the spuds you stored last harvest, this is the work of enzymes.

Fresh vegetables are packed with enzymes that break down vitamin C and convert starch to sugar in a short time after harvesting. Enzymes are slowed down by cold temperatures but they are stopped by blanching.

Food experts discovered that blanching before freezing potatoes makes certain enzymes inactive. These proteins would otherwise cause undesirable colors, flavors, and odors to develop in the stored foods. Blanched vegetables are also softened, which makes them easier to pack into freezer containers.

Preparation for Freezing Potatoes

The main reason for blanching is to help frozen produce keep better. Select freshly harvested, smooth, small new potatoes. Wash, sort for size, peel or scrape skins, and rinse. Scald, cool, drain, and pack. Scalding time is 3 to 5 minutes, according to sizes. When packing, allow ½ inch headroom.

Thawing Frozen Vegetables

Freezing potatoes and other vegetables does not sterilize the food as the heat processing in canning does. Although many microorganisms are killed by freezing, there are some such as molds that continue to live while frozen.

When foods are removed from the freezer, the dormant microorganisms begin to multiply once again. During the thawing process, spoilage sets in. The higher the temperature goes, the faster the microorganisms grow. Microbes increase at a slower rate if food is thawed at a low temperature in a refrigerator than at room temperature. After freezing potatoes, there is no reason to thaw before cooking. Just remove from the freezer and immediately place in boiling water, a preheated oven, skillet, or deep fryer.

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