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Yes, you can freeze asparagus using an easy blanching and flash freezing technique. The best way to freeze asparagus is to blanch, flash freeze, and then bag it for deep freezing. It will last about a year or so and will retain most of it's flavor the entire time, with the peak in the first 2 or 3.

Scroll on down and keep reading to find out how you can freeze this wonderful veggie!

Why Freeze Asparagus?

Asparagus is one of those vegetables that is so good. Nothing is better than lightly covering them in some olive oil and tossing them on the grill alongside whatever else you may be cooking.

Fresh asparagus only stays good in the fridge for around 5 days. And, that's even if you keep it at optimal conditions.

Unfortunately, like most fruits and vegetables, asparagus is seasonal. This means that is is only available during certain times of the year. And, while it may be available during non-seasonal times, it is usually harder to find, more expensive and a less good quality.

So, since asparagus is only in season from February til June, you might want to find ways to preserve it for non-season months as well. Luckily, this is really easy to do by blanching and freezing it.

It is the same method we use with many of our more dense veggies like freezing yellow squash, freezing zucchini, freezing radishes and freezing beets as well as some less dense veggies like when you freeze cabbage and freeze Bok choy.

Need to know all about freezing? These freezing food cheat sheets will help!

Admittedly, it will lose some of it's crisp texture like any other vegetable, but you were going to cook it until it was tender anyway, right? It can be added directly into a recipe without being thawed first or can thaw in the fridge overnight.

Asparagus Freezing Stats

Can You Freeze Asparagus Without Cooking?

If you plan to eat the asparagus relatively soon (like within a week), you will probably be fine not to freeze asparagus first. But, if you plan to go any real length of time, you should always blanch your veggies before freezing them.

Why do we say blanch instead of cook? Blanching works because it is essentially starting the cooking process. Many fruits and veggies have an enzyme that cause them to continue aging even if they are frozen. Blanching kills that enzyme and stops the aging process. When we quickly remove the food and put it in an ice bath that sudden temperature change stops the cooking process.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

How To Freeze Asparagus

You can freeze asparagus as whole stalks or cut into pieces. Whole stalks seem to hold up a little better but both work just fine. We will use a combination of blanching and flash freezing to get them ready for the deep freeze.

Flash freezing is great when you are freezing multiple pieces or chunks of food and don't want them to stick together. This method is also commonly used to freeze blueberries, freeze blackberries, freeze carrots, freeze watermelon and cantaloupe and freeze raspberries.

Step one: Wash and sort asparagus. Rinse it well under water. Then, sort it according to thickness (this helps for blanching later).

Pro tip -

• Small is thinner than a pencil
• Medium is about the thickness of a pencil
• Large is anything thicker than a pencil

Step two: Trim asparagus. Use a knife to cut the ends off each stalk. This is usually ½ an inch or so. You'll want each stalk to be approximately the same length.

Pro tip: if you want to freeze asparagus sliced, now is the time to slice up each stalk into 1 inch sections.

Step three: Blanch the asparagus. Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add the asparagus and boil for the time listed below.

Then, quickly remove from the boiling water and add just the asparagus to a bowl of ice water to quickly cool it down. This prevents it from getting fully cooked.

• Small: 2 minutes per 1 lb
• Medium: 3 minutes per 1 lb
• Large: 3-5 minutes per 1 lb (up to 5 depending on thickness)

Step four: Remove the cooled, blanched asparagus from the ice bath. Pat it dry with a paper towel.

Removing excess water is important so that you don't have water added during freezing. This can lead to freezer burn and also being mushy when defrosted.

Step five: Flash freeze the asparagus. Place it in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Then, place it in the freezer for a few hours until it is partially frozen.

Step six: Remove the asparagus from the freezer. Portion into the sizes you will be using when thawed and place in freezer bags.

Seal and label the bag and then place them into the freezer.

Top Tips

• Dry well. Make sure to get all of the water off of the asparagus before flash freezing. This prevents freezer burn and ensures it will not be water logged and mushy upon thawing.
• Do not overcook. Blanching is essential because it stop enzymes from continuing to age the food while frozen. However, if you actually cook the asparagus (or don't get it cooled quickly enough) it can become mushy upon thawing.
• Sort into similar sizes. By sorting the asparagus into similar thickness, it allows you to better control how long you should blanch it.
• No air. Squeeze all of the air from the freezer bag before sealing it. This will help to maintain maximum freshness.

How to Defrost Asparagus

Defrosting or thawing asparagus is relatively simple. You can remove it from the freezer and pop it into the refrigerator overnight.

Or, if you will be cooking it, you can simply cook it straight away. Just be aware that if you choose this route you will need to add additional cook time to your recipe.

You can use your frozen or defrosted asparagus in any way you typically would - grilled, steamed, in soups or casseroles. Or any of your other favorite recipes.

Freezing Asparagus FAQ

Technically, yes, you can freeze lettuce. However, lettuce has a load of moisture in it , so it does not make a good freezing candidate. But, if you need to, you can flash freeze both full leaves and shredded lettuce and then bag it in freezer bags. The best way to freeze lettuce is to puree it and freeze it in an ice cube try for use in smoothies.

So, freezing lettuce is possible. Any way you freeze it, it will be mushy and not good for salads or sandwiches. It will work just fine in soups and other recipes that do not rely on it's crisp texture. Frozen lettuce has a freezer life of up to a year with the first 2 or 3 months still retaining the most flavor and quality.

If you want to learn more about how to freeze lettuce (or more exact reasons why you shouldn't) keep on reading!

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Can you freeze lettuce?

As you have already learned from above, freezing lettuce isn't a great idea. It can be done, though, so let's talk more about how to get the best results.

If you want to freeze lettuce you should try and stick to freezing types of lettuce with thicker leaves. While none of them are going to come out still firm enough for a salad, the heavier leaf varieties of lettuce do much better.

Freezing Stats

Why do some fruits and vegetables not freeze well?

The more moisture in the fruit or vegetable combined with the fragility of the cell wall is how you can determine if something will freeze well or not. Essentially, what happens is when you freeze lettuce, or something similarly thin like cabbage or Bok choy, the moisture, in this case water, expands while it freezes.

This expansion causes a rupture in the cellular wall which leads to overall instability. An individual, micro, instance of this would not be a problem, but when it spreads throughout the entire body of cells, it changes the structure completely. That is how you go from a crisp, even rigid at times, piece of lettuce to a handful of mushy goo.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

So, how can you preserve lettuce?

As you may know, preserving food especially via freezing your fruits and veggies is a great way to stay stocked up on the food you eat and cut down on your good costs.

Unfortunately, lettuce is not a great candidate for preservation. Freezing and thawing it destroys it's cellular structure and makes it very mushy.

The best you can do, if you want to keep it crisp, is prolong it's fridge life. You can loosely wrap lettuce in a wet paper towel, bag it, and stick it in your crisper drawer in the refrigerator. You can also store individual leaves in a bag but dry them off first. Neither method will extend the amount of time they are good. They will however, preserve some of the crisp texture for much longer.

Supplies

• lettuce (any kind, but we're using Romain)
• colander
• mandolin slicer with protective gloves (for shredding)
• knife and cutting board (for shredding if no mandolin slicer)
• cookie sheet (for flash freezing)
• Freezer bags
• Sharpie or marker
• Freezer

How To Freeze Lettuce

We're going to cover two ways to freeze lettuce; flash freeze and puree. Flash freezing can be done with whole leaf, separated from the stalk or head, or shredded lettuce. Puree will be made into lettuce ice cubes.

Whether you grow your lettuce or buy it from the store, these methods will work.

Flash freeze

Flash freezing is commonly used when freezing a lot of vegetables. Basically is a pre-freeze before you store for long term freezing. You get individual pieces of what you are preserving cold enough that the moisture closest to their surface will harden and they will not stick together.

This method keeps foods with more water from sticking and clumping together and makes it easier to only thaw or use what you need at a time instead of the whole container.

You do this by:

• covering a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper
• laying the food out in a single, non-overlapping, layer
• sticking the cookie sheet into the freezer anywhere from 2-4 hour up to overnight (depending on what you are freezing)
• removing the cookie sheet from the fridge and continuing with the instructions

This method will give you the best results with smaller, more moist, foods and portions like when freezing blueberries, freezing blackberries, freezing carrots, freezing watermelon, freezing cantaloupe chunks and freezing raspberries.

Whole leaf or shredded

• Wash your lettuce in the sink over a colander (the colander is in case you drop any so it won't get in a dirty sink)
• Either separate the leaves from the stalk/head or use a mandolin slicer/knife to shred your lettuce.
• Flash freeze.
• Once frozen, place the leaves or scoop the shredded lettuce into freezer safe bags.
• Label the bags with the contents, freeze date, and use by date
• Place in a freezing location that will remain as undisturbed as possible for about 24 hours

Puree

• Wash your lettuce in the sink over a colander (the colander is in case you drop any so it won't get in a dirty sink)
• Cut the lettuce enough to fit the leaves into a food processor
• Use the puree function until it is no longer solid (sometimes the pulse or manual function works better)
• Pour liquid into an ice cube tray, leaving about ¼ open at the top to allow for expansion
• Flash freeze for up to 12 hours
• Once frozen, pop the lettuce cubes out of their tray and put them in a labeled freezer bag.
• Place in a freezing location that will remain as undisturbed as possible for about 24 hours

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the more common questions about freezing lettuce.

Q1. Does freezing ruin it?

Q2. Can you freeze a bag of shredded lettuce?

You can freeze bagged lettuce. You would want to follow the same process above that we use for shredded lettuce; wash, shred, flash freeze, bag, deep freeze.

Q3. Can you freeze lettuce soup?

Lettuce soup actually freezes very well. Lettuce soup is probably the best use of frozen lettuce other than lettuce ice cubes for a smoothie.

Q4. How do you defrost it?

Don't thaw it out. You can use the ice cubes frozen and they will blend easily. The leaves/shredded are thin enough that they will thaw quickly in whatever recipe in which they are used.

Q5. How can I use frozen lettuce?

Unfortunately, the two most popular uses of lettuce, salad and sandwiches, are not an option once lettuce is frozen since it will become too waterlogged and soggy. If you have some recipes that do not rely on the crispness of lettuce then frozen lettuce can work. But, again, your best bet is going to be ice cubes for a smoothie.

Final word

Now we know that freezing lettuce isn't very good unless you are planning to use it for smoothies or different recipes. If you are hoping for a nice refreshing salad in about 2 months or so, you are in for a big disappointment.

You can freeze mozzarella in just about any way you can find it; shredded, blocks, fresh mozzarella balls, even battered and breaded mozzarella cheese sticks! Depending on the type of mozzarella you are freezing, it can stay frozen for 3 - 9 months.

If you want to learn more about the best methods to freeze mozzarella cheese, keep on reading!

Why Freeze Mozzarella Cheese?

Freezing mozzarella cheese allows you to extend it's shelf life from 2 months (unopened) in the refrigerator to 3 - 9 months in the freezer. Additionally, it barely loses any of it's flavor when frozen. And, it thaws like a dream when used as a melted topping for pizza, casseroles, soups, or anything else you want.

We freeze a ton of mozzarella. Whatever we can't grow or make ourselves, we wait for it to go on sale and then load up our emergency stock pile with our other frozen food. It is a great way to save money because you can stock up when the price is at it's lowest. And then you have it ready to go whenever you need without an extra trip to the store.

Since cheese makes just about everything better, we buy a ton of it and then freeze it. It is similar to freezing feta cheese or freezing goat cheese.

Frozen mozzarella is best used as a melting cheese. If you want to put it on top of a pizza, or pre-made freezer meal, you will be pleasantly surprised with how much flavor your cheese will retain.

It is important to note that if you are expecting to freeze expensive, fresh mozzarella and then have it retain it's same quality later, it will leave you disappointed. Some higher quality cheeses are prized specifically for how soft and creamy they are.

After freezing it, the texture will be much more dry and crumbly. So, do be aware of that if you choose to freeze fresh mozzarella balls or something similar.

Mozzarella Freezing Stats

How To Freeze Mozzarella Cheese

Mozzarella is one of those cheeses that is available in several different forms for several different uses. Today we are going to focus on freezing shredded (fresh and store bought), full blocks, and fresh mozzarella balls.

Several of these methods will involve flash freezing. If you are not familiar with flash freezing, it is essentially a pre-freeze before the deep freeze. The steps are:

• cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper
• spread the food you are freezing on top of the cookie sheet in a single layer
• place the cookie sheet in the freezer and leave anywhere from 2 hours (shredded) to overnight (thick slices or cubes)
• Once the food has started to harden, remove the sheet from the freezer and then continue with the rest of the freezing preservation process

Knowing how to flash freeze is really useful. You can even use it when you are learning how to freeze cantaloupe and other fruits and veggies, too.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Shredded mozzarella

Freezing shredded mozzarella is quite easy. You can follow the steps below based on if you are shredding your own or if you have purchased it shredded at the store.

Freshly shredded

• Shred or grate your mozzarella onto a covered cookie sheet for flash freezing
• Spread the cheese out as thin as you can to prevent it from clumping together.
• Flash freeze by popping it into the freezer for a few hours.
• Once pre-frozen, scoop your shreds and add them into a freezer bag
• Squeeze as much air out as you can and seal
• Place this bag into a second labeled freezer bag
• Squeeze the air out of the second bag and seal
• Place the bag into the freezer and allow up to 24 hours to completely freeze

Store bought

All you need to do with store bought is stick it in the freezer unopened in its sealed bag.

Mozzarella blocks

A solid block of mozzarella will, once frozen and thawed, become very brittle and crumbly. It will still taste good, but it's texture will not be great for some things you would use it for.

We recommend thinking about what you will need that block for in the future and then prepare it accordingly.

If you are going to want to grate or shred it, either do that first and freeze using the method above or freeze the block solid and then grate without thawing it.

However, slices for sandwiches and things are generally what you would use a block of cheese for. Use a knife and cutting board to slice your block up BEFORE you freeze it.

If you're freezing slices follow all of the steps or skip the slice specific steps at the beginning and go straight to the wrapping step if you're freezing a solid block.

• Use a knife to cut according to your needs
• Lay all of your slices in a single layer on a covered cookie sheet and flash freeze them. Once frozen, take them out and prepare to wrap.
• You can either freeze individual slices or, bundle them in groups according to what you will need per meal.
  • For example, if you have a family of 4 that will each eat 1 sandwich for lunch, wrap 4 slices together so you can thaw them at the same time.
  • Pro tip: place a small square of parchment or wax paper in between each slice prior to wrapping to keep them from freezing together.
• (Full Block steps start here) Wrap your cheese as tight as you can in cling wrap.
• Then put a second layer of cling wrap around the cheese.
• Put the wrapped cheese in a freezer safe baggie and push out all of the air.
• Place the bag in the freezer and let it freeze for about 24 hours.

Pro tip: You can use a straw to literally suck the extra air out of the bag if you leave a small opening at the top of the zipper bag.

Double pro tip: Use physics to your advantage and dip the mostly closed bag in a large bowl of water. The water pressure will push the air towards the top of the bag. Then, just zip it tight.

Fresh mozzarella balls

This is the good stuff that you find in the specialty cheese section, individually wrapped in it's own brine. Fresh mozzarella balls are similar to other soft creamy cheeses, like Boccincini and Burrate, which should not be frozen but enjoyed fresh.

Freezing, while a great way to preserve your cheese so it will last much longer, will destroy the creaminess of these types of cheeses.

But, if you still want to do it anyway, this method, similar to the block method above, will give you the best results.

• Drain all of the liquid off of the mozzarella balls and pat them dry with paper towels.
  • You don't want to freeze it in the liquid. At worst you will end up with soggy, frost bitten cheese and at best it will just take longer to defrost with no discernible advantage from having been frozen in liquid.
• Decide if you are freezing whole balls or if you want slices, cubes, etc and cut accordingly
• If you are cutting it, place all of the pieces in a single layer on a covered cookie sheet and flash freeze them. Once frozen, take them out for wrapping.
• (Ball steps start here) Wrap your cheese in cling wrap very tightly.
• Wrap another tight layer around the first.
• Put the wrapped cheese in a pre-labeled freezer bag.
• Place the bag in the freezer and let it freeze for about 24 hours.

This method will also work with marinated mozzarella balls. You just want to make sure they are tight enough that the air and moisture cannot mix in the freezer.

How to Defrost Mozzarella Cheese

You can use grated and shredded frozen mozzarella straight from the freezer without thawing first if you are planning to cook or melt it. It is thin enough that, even if put on a salad, it will not stay frozen for long.

For the other types, take the bags from the freezer and put them in the fridge. Allow them to slowly thaw over 24 to 48 hours. This will make sure that they keep as much of their flavor and texture as possible.

How to Use Frozen or Thawed Mozzarella

• Salads
• Sandwiches
• Pizza
• Lasagna
• Soups
• Omelets

Freezing Mozzarella FAQs

Can you freeze goat cheese? Goat cheese seems to be one of those things that is really polarizing. You either love it for it's sharp flavor and creamy texture or you hate it for those very same seasons.

We, and probably you too since you're here, are firmly in the "Love it!" camp. So, when you find a good sale or have made too much from your own dairy goats milk you have to find a way to preserve it so it doesn't go bad before you can eat it.

Keep on reading to see exactly how you can freeze goat cheese in any of it's (very delicious) forms!

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Can You Freeze Goat Cheese?

You can freeze goat cheese. There are a few ways to do so and, when frozen and defrosted properly, your cheese will lose very little flavor and only a bit of it's original texture.

Freezing in small, meal size or single serving cubes works best, but you can also freeze goat cheese spreads, goat cheese logs, goat cheese crumbles, homemade goat cheese balls, heck, even cranberry goat cheese can be frozen.

The most important part is to wrap your cheese tightly in cling wrap twice, and then put it in an airtight container or baggie before freezing it. To thaw, move your goat cheese from the freezer to the fridge and let it slowly defrost over 24 to 48 hours. Goat cheese will stay good in the freezer up to 6 months but is at it's peak before the 3 month mark.

As we've already said, yes, you can freeze goat cheese. Goat cheese freezes very well, as a matter of fact. Some forms freeze better than others. For example, Goat cheese spreads freeze but will usually be a bit watery when you unfreeze them. Logs, or chèvre, freeze a bit better and will generally keep their soft exterior but turn grainier towards the center.

Goat cheese crumbles freeze the best overall with very little, if any, change to it's original flavor and texture. Similar to freezing mozzarella cheese, that is mostly due to it's very low moisture content. Moisture and oxygen are the enemies of well preserved frozen foods. The more moisture and air you can keep away from what you are freezing the higher quality it will retain.

Freezing Stats

Why should you freeze it?

Goat cheese has a very short fridge life. Usually only a week or so. If you eat a lot of it, made a bunch, or just found a great deal on Costco goat cheese (or anywhere else) and bought a ton, you will want to be able to keep it for much longer than if you just kept it cold in your refrigerator produce drawer.

Frozen Vs Non-frozen

Supplies

You are going to need the following supplies:

• Goat cheese: crumbles, logs, or spread
• cling wrap
• Freezer bags
• Sharpie or marker
• Freezer
• knife and cutting board

How To Freeze Goat Cheese

We will cover how to properly freeze 3 forms of goat cheese today; spreads, logs, and crumbles. All 3 are easy to do and essentially break down to, wrap tightly and keep the air out. Before starting, make sure to label your freezer bags and/or containers with the contents, freeze date, and use by date.

Let's see more details.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Goat cheese spread and/or Goat cheese crumble

Crumbles are the best form of goat cheese you can freeze. Because they are already hard, crumbly, and lack much moisture, they do not have as much of a change during the freezing and thawing parts of food preservation.

• If you have already opened the container of goat cheese spread you will need to wrap it before freezing.
• Remove the lid from the spread and wrap the container tightly in cling wrap. Then, put the lid back on over the wrap (it will secure the wrap in place).
• With the lid back on, wrap the container a second time, just as tightly as the first.
• Place the wrapped container into a freezer bag and squeeze all of the air out before sealing.
• Place the bag into the freezer and allow around 24 hours to freeze completely.

Unopened container

• If you have yet to open the container, you can leave it as is without wrapping it in cling wrap.
• Place the unwrapped container into a freezer bag and squeeze all of the air out as you did in the steps above.
• Place the bag into the freezer and allow around 24 hours to freeze completely.

Goat cheese logs or chèvre

You can freeze logs whole. Follow the same steps below, just skip the part where you cut it first. However, we do recommend you freeze in smaller portions. Goat cheese cannot be refrozen without disastrous effects to the quality, flavor, and texture.

We like to cut ours into cubes or chunks that are either the size for a meal or single, individual servings. That way, when you thaw, you only thaw what you need and nothing goes to waste.

• Use a knife and cutting board and cut your cheese log according to the size portions you need.
• Wrap each piece individually in cling wrap. Make sure it is tight and no air at all can get to the cheese.
• Take another section of cling wrap and wrap the cheese a second time.
• Do this for all of your cheese servings.
• Place all of the wrapped cheese in a freezer bag and push the air out.
• Pu the bag in the freezer and let it freeze for about 24 hours.

Pro tip: Close the zipper bag with only a small corner unzipped. Use a drinking straw to suck the rest of the air out of the bag before zipping it shut.

Super pro tip: The most efficient way to remove air is to use a bit of physics. Zip your bag with just a small corner open as in pro tip 1. Then, lower the bag into a large bowl or sink of cool water (cool so it does not melt the cheese). Submerge the bag all the way to the opening but without getting any water in the bag.

The water pressure around the bag will squeeze all of the air out of the bag as you lower it. Think about what swim trunks or a t-shirt look like when someone is coming out of the water. The way the water almost makes the cloth suck and stick to their skin is the same concept as the pressure pushing the air out.

How do you defrost it?

Generally, thawing a frozen food does not take too long and can be done quickly under running water, in the microwave, or just on the counter. Goat cheese, however, is a little different. To thaw any types of cheese discussed today you will need to put it into the fridge and let it slowly defrost for 24 to 48 hours.

Goat cheese does not always melt very well. If it reheats too quickly, or overheats, it will change in texture and become very grainy. Some types, like spreads, will even start to separate.

If you do try and thaw a log more quickly over heat (not recommended) do it very slowly and only to the point where the goat cheese starts to melt but not fully melted. It may separate but can be mixed back together with okay results.

Final word

As you now know, goat cheese, in all of its various forms, can be frozen with great results. As long as you follow the right packing methods and use the slow thaw method you're goat cheese should taste almost as good as the day you bought it!

Can you freeze honey? It is certainly possible to do so. Freezing honey is a fantastic way to keep it's temperature at a steady level so it will retain it's taste, quality, texture, and nutritional value over long periods of time. It will also help prevent future crystallization.

The easiest way to freeze honey is to put it into a Mason jar, close the lid tightly to keep out the moisture, and stick in a chest freezer where it can stay undisturbed. It can also be frozen as single servings in an ice cube tray.

You can even freeze full honeycombs if you are a beekeeper. Honey is naturally long lasting and can keep, on its own, for thousands of year. Under the right conditions, your frozen honey can last a lifetime or more. When you are ready to defrost it, place the jar in a bowl of warm water so it can reheat gradually to a thickness you can use.

If you are curious to learn multiple ways to freeze honey and the benefits therein, keep on reading!

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Can You Freeze Honey?

You can freeze honey using a few different methods. Here are some quick freezing stats to help you decide if and how you want to freeze your honey.

Freezing Stats

Why should you freeze it?

Honey has a low level of moisture and a low pH level so it retains a high level of quality when frozen for much longer than most foods. It will also retain it's flavor and texture which is the most common complaint about freezing as a food preservation method.

Honey can have it's quality affected over time if it is in an environment that experiences large fluctuations in temperature. Freezing will keep honey at a consistent temperature while also keeping bacteria growth from occurring. Similar to freezing jam, the high sugar content in honey will keep it from freezing into a solid block of ice. Instead it will become almost like an incredibly thick and viscous gel.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Why should I not freeze honey?

The thickness of the honey and need to keep moisture out at risk of crystallization are really the only drawbacks to freezing it; mainly the moisture concern. It is best to freeze in a glass jar because it is the best at keeping out moisture. However, honey cannot be refrozen so the thickness becomes an issue when trying to only thaw what you need.

The best way we can figure around this is to pre-freeze in ice cube trays for single use portions and either accept they may crystalize in a plastic freezer bag or have less efficient storage space and pack the cube into a glass Mason Jar.

Another thing to keep in mind concerning storage and crystallization is where it will be kept while frozen. For honey to freeze up to the solid gel phase of freezing it needs to get down to ast least -43.6° F. The standard home freezer will usually get under -50° F. However, a kitchen freezer is often opened a few times a day and can cause the temperature to fluctuate and risk crystallization.

Honey freezes best and maintains it's quality best if it is kept in a deep chest freezer where it is open less often.

Supplies

You are going to need the following supplies:

• honey or honeycomb
• Mason Jars
• ice cube trays (for ice cubes)
• Measuring cup
• Freezer bags
• Sharpie or marker
• Freezer

How To Freeze Honey

We recommend three ways to freeze honey. As we mentioned above, there are pros and cons each with their own tradeoffs for each method. Pick whichever one works best for you.

Step One

Decide how you want to freeze. Full honeycomb freezing really only has one way, which will be listed on it's own below. Here is a table that will give you the pros and cons of freezing full jars or single serving ice cubes.

Determine the method you want to use, gather the appropriate supplies, and move on to step two.

Step Two

If you want to measure out the amount of honey you put in the Mason Jars, you can. We will usually just fill them about ¾ of the way full leaving a space at the top to allow the honey to expand.

If you want single serving honey ice cubes, you'll do the same as when freezing cilantro or freezing jam in ice cube trays.

Fill the pods of an ice tray with a tablespoon or 2 of honey. You can use an actual measuring spoon, if you like, or just eyeball it. Make sure to leave about ¼ of the pod open, just like with the Mason Jars.

For those freezing a full jar, continue to step three. If you are freezing ice cubes place the trays in the freezer for around 4 hours or until solid to the touch.

Step Three

Regardless of which method you are using, this step is for labeling the storage unit. Use a Sharpie to write the contents (honey), freezing date (today), and use by date (forever ∞).

Step Four

Once you label your lids, hand tighten them down on the Mason Jars as much as you can. Then stick them in the freezer for long term storage.

For ice cubes, once they are solid enough to handle, pop them out of the tray and put them in a pre-labeled baggie or Mason Jar and into the freezer.

Pro Tip: For the absolute best quality with minimal crystallization, use glass for either method and use a chest freezer or dedicated freezer that is only opened rarely.

Beekeeper Honeycomb Variation

We are not beekeepers so we are not going to offer too much commentary on those best practices. However, we have learned the methods used by experienced beekeepers so we could include them in this guide, as well.

The short and sweet version is:

1. Do not harvest the honey by uncapping the hive.
2. Take the entire honeycomb frame and wrap it tightly in plastic. You can use large rubber bands or string to hold the plastic in place.
3. Place the frames into a dedicated, deep, chest freezer that will stay closed until it's time to harvest the honeycomb.

Do anything you can to minimize moisture. Moisture can soak into the wooden frames and start to mold.

How do you defrost it?

Honey is easy to defrost. You will want to let it reheat gradually. Simply put the jar in a bowl of warm-ish water and let it sit on the counter until it is thin enough to use.

Can I refreeze honey?

You should not try and refreeze honey. It will freeze again, but it will degrade in flavor, quality, texture, and nutrients. If you are going to use frozen honey regularly, it is better to freeze in smaller, single use portions like you can do when freezing mint leaves.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some more common questions about freezing honey.

Q1. Will freezing destroy the nutrients in honey?

Not at all. Freezing honey is great because it makes it last even longer than normal while maintaining it's nutritional qualities as well as retaining it's quality and flavor.

Q2. Why is my honey crystallizing?

The primary reason that honey crystallizes is due to the combination of cold temperatures and the presence of moisture, typically water. The glucose and water will react to the cold and turn into crystals. It's funny that the sub zero temperature in freezing is a better way to avoid crystallization than simply keeping honey in the fridge.

Crystallized honey is still perfectly safe to eat. It is just thicker and more difficult to use.

Q3. How can I remove the crystals in my honey?

Getting rid of the crystals in your honey is really easy. You will want to heat the honey up very, very slowly. Place the honey in a sauce pan of water and put it on very low heat. As it heats, the crystals will start to dissolve. Once the crystals are all gone, remove the honey from the water, put the cap on tightly to keep out air and moisture, and return it to your pantry.

Can you freeze jam? As a matter of fact, jam, both homemade and store bought, freeze very well. Because of the presence of sugar, it already has preservation qualities. Freezing it just enhances them and allows them to keep even longer.

Ready for more details on how to use the food preservation methods mentioned above? Keep on reading and find out!

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Can You Freeze Jam?

Freezing jam is really easy. The two best methods are the full jar method, which uses a freezer safe plastic container or, preferably, a Mason Jar and the ice cube method, which freezes jam into smaller, personal use size portions. Either way will preserve your jam an additional 12 months, although you will get the best quality in the first 6 months.

Thawing in the fridge overnight is recommended as it can be kept a bit longer but you can also "quick thaw" in a bowl of cool to warm water.

We are going to show you the two best methods for freezing depending on your own personal needs.

Jam, because of it's consistency, is similar to freezing apple sauce, freezing salsa, freezing half and half, or even freezing sauerkraut. However, it is unique in that the high sugar content will cause it to freeze a little differently.

First, though, let's go over a few basics so you can get the best result no matter the method you use.

• Make sure you use an airtight, freezer safe container. We prefer Mason Jars for large batches and ziplock bags for ice cubes.
• It's best to freeze in portions you will use right away instead of thawing everything at once
• Do not freeze homemade jam while it's still hot
• Label your jar lids or freezer bags with the contents, freeze date, and the use by date.

Freezing Stats

Why should you freeze it? (Reason or reasons)

You should freeze jam to make sure it keeps for as long as you need it. Generally, freezing is done with homemade jam. That's because making jam can take a while so it is usually done in larger batches than one could, or should, at least, eat before it would go bad.

The table below will show you a comparison of jam life when frozen versus being kept in the fridge.

Frozen Vs Non-frozen

Supplies

You are going to need the following supplies:

• jam
• ice cube trays (for ice cube method)
• Measuring cup
• Mason Jars
• Freezer bags
• Sharpie or marker
• Freezer

There are two ways that we think are best for freezing jam; large batches in Mason Jars or small, single use portions as ice cubes. We will cover them both below.

How To Freeze Jam

These methods work for homemade and store bought jams.

Step One

Determine your portion size. If you want to freeze large batches you will want to gather together your Mason Jars or freezer safe containers.

For freezing single servings of jam, get out your ice cube trays.

If you are freezing store bought jam, move to the next step. Homemade jam needs to completely cool to room temperature before moving to the next step.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Step Two

You may want to get out your measuring cups or measuring spoons for step two.

You can simply fill a Mason Jar ¾ of the way up, leaving ¼ of the jar with headspace. The headspace is left so the jam has room to expand without cracking the glass. If you want more exact measurements, you can use your measuring cups to see exactly how much jam you are freezing in each jar.

Single servings ice cubes of jam (or jam cubes) are very easy and, in our opinion, the most useable method of freezing. You do this essentially the same way you freeze honey or cilantro in ice cube trays.

Take out an ice tray and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of jam into each open pod. You may be able to fit more or less depending on the size of the tray you are using.

Just like with the Mason Jars above, leave about a ¼ of the pod open so the jam can expand when freezing. Once the tray is filled, stick them in the freezer for about 4 hours.

Step Three

If you have not already, get out your jar lids or freezer bags and a sharpie. You will want to write the contents, the current date you are freezing everything, and then the day you need to use it by.

Step Four

Once labeled, place your Mason Jars of jam in the freezer, where they can stay for up to a year. It will take around 12 to 24 hours for them to completely freeze. During this time, try to keep the freezer closed as much as possible. this will ensure a quicker freeze and lessen the chances of freezer burn later.

Once your ice cubes have had about 4 hours to freeze, or are solid enough to handle. Remember, jam will not freeze completely solid so transfer the jam cubes from the tray into a freezer bag as quickly as you can so the heat from your hands will not start to melt them.

Once bagged, put them in the freezer and allow them time to completely freeze, same as the jar method above.

How do you defrost it?

There are two methods you can use to defrost jam; the "slow thaw" and the "quick thaw".

Slow Thaw (Recommended)

Simply place your jar or ice cubes in the refrigerator for a few hours (best if left overnight). The slower warming in the, still cold, fridge will help cut down on the jam getting too watery. It will also keep bacteria growth at bay.

Quick Thaw

The quick thaw method is when you place the jar or freezer bag of jam on the counter or in cool to warm water. Typically your jam will defrost within an hour but, the quick thaw can make the jam more runny and the fruit mushy.

Plus, the quick change from frozen to room temp can accelerate the growth of bacteria so only use this method if you need jam right away and only thaw what you need. If you unfreeze too much, dispose of it instead of trying to refreeze it.

Why...?

Can I refreeze it?

Jam, when refrozen, loses a considerable amount of quality and can be unsafe depending on how it was thawed. The "slow thaw" method from above will remain safe but still poor quality upon refreezing.

"Quick thaw" in the sink should be used immediately and not refrozen. At best, the quality will suffer greatly, at worst, bacteria growth can make the jam unsafe if left too long.

So only thaw what you will use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the more common questions about freezing jam.

Q1. Can you freeze marmalade?

Marmalade can also be frozen using the same techniques as freezing jam. The main difference is going to be the effect freezing has on the large fruit pieces in marmalade. Freezing will draw out moisture which can make them a bit soggy.

Q2. Can you freeze store bought jam?

Store bought jam freezes just as well and just as easily as homemade jam. We recommend you transfer the jam from the original glass container to a freezer safe plastic container or Mason Jar.

Q3. Does jam freeze solid?

The sugar in the jam will not freeze all the way. The jam will just become thicker but never truly become solid. That will not impact how well it is preserved, however. Your jam will still keep.

Q4. How can I tell if jam has gone bad?

Bad jam is easy to spot (and also a terrible band name). You can tell by the way it looks, smells, and, hopefully you catch it before you find out, by taste.

• Your first clue is separation and liquid pooling at the top. The jam will also start to turn a darker color. Sometimes you will even start to see some mold growing.
• Bad jam will have a rancid smell to it. Instead of the sugary sweet fragrance you are used to, it will smell more like a public park trash can after a hot summer picnic (or something similar)
• If the sight and smell does not catch you, the taste certainly will. Instead of a delicious fruit explosion in your mouth, it will have a sour and rotten taste to it. Hopefully you catch bad jam before tasting it.

If your jam exhibits any of these sign, throw it away and do not use. You do not want to freeze or consume bad jam. If you use a clean spoon while serving your jam, it can help down how quickly your jam will turn. Using a dirty spoon can introduce new bacteria into the jam which can then accelerate the spoiling process.

Final word

As you can see, jam is easy to freeze. You can freeze full batches for up to a year or, our preference, freeze smaller single use portions. Both methods work great and are guaranteed to keep you in jam as long as you want it.

Not only can you freeze cilantro, but it's pretty easy too. While it is very different in flavor, the preservation process is not unlike that of fresh mint leaves. In fact, you use pretty much the same techniques for both.

Want to learn all the ways you can freeze cilantro, including those delicious flavor bombs? Keep reading!

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Can You Freeze Cilantro?

Yes, you can freeze cilantro, easily. It can be frozen as whole stalks, chopped, or as ice cube flavor bombs; chopped cilantro frozen in pods of water, oil, butter, or homemade pesto.

Thawing is as simple as leaving a sprig on the counter while you cook or sticking it in the fridge for a few hours. You can use frozen cilantro in the same manner you would normally use it other than garnish. It will become soggy once defrosted so it's texture and visual appeal will suffer. It stays at peak freshness for 6 months but can keep for up to a year.

Cilantro is one of the best herbs to freeze. It will retain the majority of its flavor throughout being frozen and will only suffer in texture and how it looks. The best thing about it is the method of making frozen ice cube flavor bombs.

Freezing Stats

Why should you freeze it?

Obviously, freezing cilantro will make sure it lasts much longer than if you were to leave it on the counter or in the fridge. As we mentioned already, the frozen flavor bombs will actually help you save time cooking later on. Just toss the appropriate amount of whatever seasoning you need in a flavor bomb cube and then add those to your recipe when cooking.

Frozen Vs Non-frozen

Supplies

You are going to need the following supplies:

• fresh cilantro (from garden or store bought)
• cookie sheet (for flash freezing)
• blender or food processor (for chopping)
• ice cube trays (for mint cubes)
• Freezer bags
• Sharpie or marker
• Freezer
• knife
• vacuum sealer

How To Freeze Cilantro

As we mentioned above, we have several methods you can use to freeze cilantro. Each method will need you to start out doing the same couple of things. Before starting you should:

• wash your cilantro in a colander in the sink
• label all of your freezer bags with the contents, freeze date, and use by date
• gather any other supplies you will need while the cilantro dries completely

Without Blanching

Ice cubes aka Flavor Bombs

These are done pretty much the same way you freeze jam or freeze honey in ice cube trays.

1. After cleaning, place your cilantro, stalk and all, into a food processor with a bit of oil or water
2. Use the manual or pulse setting to chop everything up into small bit
3. Now, scoop about a tablespoon of the chopped cilantro into the reservoirs of an ice cube tray or...
   • use your chopped cilantro to make cilantro pesto.
4. Then fill the reservoirs with water, oil, butter, or pesto. Make sure to leave about ¼ of the pod empty to allow room for expansion.
5. Stick the trays in the freezer for about 2 to 4 hours so they can freeze.
6. Pop the cubes out of the tray and put them into a pre-labeled freezer bag for long term storage.

How to thaw: When you're ready to use your flavor bombs you can either put them directly into the dish you are preparing or leave in a small dish in the fridge or on the counter for a few hours.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

With Blanching

The following methods need to be blanched prior to preservation. Blanching is a very common step needed when freezing foods.

You can also blanch prior to making the flavor bombs above, but it is not necessary. If you have never done it before or you want a refresher, here is how to blanch cilantro.

1. Set a pot of water to boil on the stove
2. Fill a large mixing bowl with ice water
3. Place your cilantro in a colander that will fit in the pot of water
4. Once the pot of water is at a rolling boil lower the colander into the boiling water for 20-30 seconds.
5. After 20-30 seconds, take the cilantro out of the boiling water and immediately put it into the ice bath

Vacuum Seal

1. Trim the cilantro down into pieces that will easily fit into the vacuum bag.
2. Blanch according to the directions above
3. Pat dry the cilantro with paper towels. You want to make sure there is as little moisture as possible when sealing and freezing.
4. After dry, place the cilantro in the vacuum bag.
5. Follow the directions for your specific model of vacuum sealer
6. Once sealed, you can put the bags in the freezer where they will keep for up to a year

How to thaw: Follow the same thaw and use instructions from the Ice cube method above.

Flash Freezing

How to thaw: Follow the same thaw and use instructions from the Ice cube method above.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the more common questions about freezing cilantro.

Q1. How long will it last?

Frozen cilantro will last in it's various frozen forms between 6 and 12 months. The first 6 months it will be the freshest with degrading quality over the remaining 6.

Q2. Can I refreeze it?

No, it is not recommended. Cilantro will not hold up very well and will suffer a steep decline in quality if refrozen.

Are you over run with beets? Maybe you grew too many in your garden. Maybe the assistant to the general manager at work brings them to the office non-stop. However you may have ended up with a ton of beets, you are probably wondering how to store them. Well, not only can you freeze beets, but you can do so in several (really easy) ways!

If you want to learn some of the best food preservation techniques that can't be...beet...keep on reading!

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Can You Freeze Beets?

Yes, you can freeze beets in several ways and forms. They can be frozen sliced, diced, chopped, shredded, grated, and more! You can leave the skin on, peel them, cook them, or freeze them raw. Thawing them out is as easy as sticking them in the oven, microwave, or your favorite soup or salad recipe.

Keep yourself in a steady supply of frozen beets because they can keep for up to a year!

Beets actually freeze very well. Today we are going to cover several different freezing methods so you can use them no matter how you want to prepare your beets.

This method works for all kinds of beets. You can also freeze beet greens using the same method as Freezing Bok Choy and freezing cabbages. Make sure you start out with high quality, very fresh and firm beets. If you freeze something that's low quality, it's going to degrade that much more during the freezing process.

Can you freeze beets without cooking them?

Can you? Yes.

Should you? No, unlike when freezing pumpkin, you should not freeze beets without cooking (or at least blanching) them first.

Why? Whole beets when frozen have a significant change in their texture and quality. They will have a grainy texture that is not unlike eating a handful of purple sand (ok, maybe that's an exaggeration, but it's still pretty bad).

You can, technically, still freeze beets that have been sliced, diced, chopped, or otherwise separated from the whole of the beet. But, in general, foods like fruits, vegetables, roots, tubers, etc. all fair much better in sub-zero temperatures after they have been blanched or cooked.

Freezing Stats

Frozen Vs Non-frozen

Supplies

You are going to need the following supplies:

• beets
• cookie sheet (for flash freezing)
• blender or food processor (for puree)
• ice cube trays (for puree)
• Freezer bags
• Sharpie or marker
• Freezer
• mandolin slicer with protective gloves (for sliced)
• knife and cutting board (for various cuts)
• colander (for washing)
• vegetable cleaning brush
• large stock pot (steamed or boiled)
• Ninja Foodi (good for roasting and air frying)

How To Freeze Beets

We will look at the many ways you can freeze beets that will keep for up to a year. First, though, we will look at how to flash freeze. It is a very useful method that is used in this, and many of our other freezing guides.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

How To Flash Freeze

Flash freezing is when you do a partial freeze of your food before bagging and storing for a deep freeze.

• Cover a cookie sheet in aluminum foil or parchment paper
• Arrange your food, sliced beets for example, in a single, non-overlapping layer
• Stick the cookie sheet into the freezer for 2 to 4 hours just long enough for them to start to harden and have no outside moisture
• Pull out the cookie sheet and put the slices into a pre-labeled freezer bag and put back in the 0freezer for long term storage.

Now, let's look at the various methods of freezing.

Cooked

Below you will find a few ways to freeze cooked beets. We will include Steamed/Boiled, Roasted, Chopped/Diced/Sliced with Blanching, and how to blanch and freeze Beet Greens.

Steamed/Boiled

• Boil or steam your beets with the skin on (it is much easier to slip off after cooking)
• They are ready once they are tender enough to stick a form in them.
• Use a knife and cutting board to cut into slices
• Put the slices on a prepared cookie sheet for flash freezing
• After flash freezing, put the beets into pre-labeled bags and put in the freezer

Roasted (with or without skin)

• Cut into small pieces and spread in single layer on a cookie sheet
• Coat them in olive oil and your preferred seasonings
• Roast in oven at 350° for around 20 minutes, give or take (ready when fork can penetrate)
• Cool and then stick pan in freezer to flash freeze for 2 to 4 hours
• Once flash frozen, put them into freezer bags and into the freezer
• Reheat in oven or in microwave

Chopped, Diced, and Sliced

• You can either blanch beforehand or not (but non blanched beets can have a grainy texture)
• Cut them into small pieces and layer them onto a cookie sheet
• Put the cookie sheet into the freezer to flash freeze for 2 to 4 hours
• Once done, put them in a freezer bag and freeze

Beet Greens

• Choose the freshest and most tender beet greens you can
• Blanche up to 2 lbs for 2 minutes
• Flash freeze if you can
• bag and freeze

Raw

Chopped, Diced, Grated, Minced, Shredded, and Sliced

• Pick your preferred beet freezing form
• If possible, flash freeze them first. The more you cut a vegetable the more moisture is released. When you are freezing in any of these forms they will clump and freeze together if immediately put into a bag.
• After flash freezing, place them in a pre-labeled bag
• Put in the freezer

Pureed or Mashed

• If you want to puree your beets, just cut them up and put them in your food processor.
• If you are freezing Beet Mash, make that first and then continue to the next step
• Take out an ice cube tray and pour the beet puree or mash into each of the reservoirs
• Stick the tray in the freezer for a few hours (2 to 4 should work) until they are starting to freeze
• Pop the cubes out and put the in a freezer bag for long term freezing.

For Beet Mash, you can also use the same process as freezing mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes.

Often Asked

Q1. Can you freeze pickled beets?

Yes, you can easily freeze oranges and they will last up to 12 months. Oranges can freeze whole, sliced, juiced or in halves. You can even freeze orange zest for future recipes.

If you want to learn more about freezing oranges and keeping them fresh for a good long while, keep on reading!

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Can You Freeze Oranges?

Almost every orange is able to be frozen. We will say up front that freezing oranges, just like freezing most fruits and vegetables, will decrease their quality, flavor, and texture as time passes. This is unavoidable but you can mitigate it a bit by employing some of the techniques we list below and using your oranges quickly.

You can freeze all kinds of oranges and orange juice. The best way to freeze them is peeled slices using a combination of flash freezing and long term freezer bags. When kept at a constant sub-zero temperature, frozen oranges can last up to a year. They can easily be thawed in the fridge, on the counter, or tossed right into a smoothie, drink, cocktail, or other recipe.

Frozen oranges also work best in recipes and smoothies. Essentially, anything that does not need the orange to retain it's original shape and texture can use frozen oranges.

Freezing Stats

Not all oranges freeze equally. The University of California did a study on Naval oranges and found freezing them will result in poor results. Oranges, when frozen, develop limonin; a compound that has a very bitter taste. Naval oranges have a higher level of limonin than other types of oranges. So, freezing Naval oranges will be very disappointing if you try it.

However, other varieties of oranges and juice are fair game. Incidentally, you can also freeze limes and many other types of citrus fruit, like grapefruit and, lemons using the same methods we discuss today.

Freezing Stats

Why should you freeze it?

We say this a lot but finding a great deal on produce is really hard to pass up. You can buy more for the off season knowing that you can freeze oranges and have them all year around. We also like to freeze orange juice in ice cube trays to add some extra flavor to our drinks.

The chart below will show you exactly how much longer you can extend the life of your oranges simply by freezing them.

Frozen Vs Non-frozen

Supplies

You are going to need the following supplies:

• oranges or orange juice
• cookie sheet (for flash freezing)
• ice cube trays (for juice)
• Freezer bags
• Sharpie or marker
• Freezer
• knife and cutting board (for slices, wheels, and halves)
• pot or sauce pan (for syrup packing)
• Mason Jars (for syrup packing)

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

How To Freeze Oranges

There are several ways to freeze oranges. We will cover them in 3 sections; Without Peel, With Peel, and Juice.

Note: All of the methods below recommend you label the bag, jar, or other storage container with the contents, freezing date, and use by date.

Without Peel

We will start freezing peeled oranges since that is the most likely way you will want to freeze them. Obviously, your first step in each of the below methods is to remove the orange peel.

Dry Packing

Dry packing is the easiest of the peeled methods.

• Cut your orange into slices. Wheels and halves are possible, but much more difficult without the peel.
• Use a knife to remove the seeds, if you like.
• Place the orange slices into your labeled freezer bags.
• Place the bag in your freezer until they are frozen.

Note: This method is quick and easy. However, when dry packing the oranges all freeze together at the same time and will likely freeze into a single clump; making it difficult to use only what you need.

A way to avoid that is to...

Flash Freeze

Flash freezing is, more or less, when you pre-freeze individual (just like when you freeze kiwi) slices before the deep freeze. this allows the moisture in the slices to stay within each slice until they freeze.

• Cut your orange into slices and remove the seeds the same way as you would when dry packing.
• Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
• Place the orange slices in a single layer on the cookie sheet and put them in the freezer for about 2 to 4 hours.
• Once they freeze, take the slices off the cookie sheet and put them in a labeled freezer bag.
• Put the bag back into the freezer for long term storage

With Peel

Here you will find a couple of freezing methods that leave the peel on the orange if that is something you prefer. The peel gives the orange a little extra bit of protection and also will give you the option of making an orange peel zest in the future.

Whole

Obviously, this means you are taking the orange, as is, and freezing it. This process is quite simple. All you need to do is:

• Label a freezer safe ziplock bag with both the freeze and use by dates
• Place a whole orange in the bag
• Squeeze as much air out as you can
• Put the bag in the freezer

Wheels, slices, or halves

If you want to keep the peel on, this is the best method. You can do this using the dry packing or flash freezing method listed above.

• Cut your orange in half, wheels, or into slices.
• Determine your method of freezing
  • Dry Packing
    • put them in a labeled freezer bag
    • squeeze out all the air
    • put in freezer
  • Flash Freezing
    • Cover cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper
    • Place oranges in single layer on cookie sheet
    • Freeze for 2 to 4 hours
    • Put oranges in labeled freezer bags
    • Place bags in freezer for long term storage

Syrup Packing (best with slices; peel on or off)

You've probably seen fruit at the store or the farmers market preserved in syrup. You can freeze cherries this same way.

You can do it on your own and it's really easy but does take some extra time to prep the syrup.

• Boil a 2:3 mixture of sugar and water on your stove top (measurements based on the amount of oranges being preserved)
• Once the sugar has dissolved, take the pot off the heat and cool the syrup in the fridge
• Once you're ready, prepare your oranges the same way described in the other methods.
• Put the slices in a Mason jar; being careful not to over pack them as the oranges will need room to move and have syrup cover everything completely.
• Pour the syrup into the Mason jar until the oranges are covered. Leave a bit of air space in the top of the jar; just like in canning. Around an inch, give or take, of headspace should do.
• Put the lids on tightly and lable them the same as you would label freezer bags; contents, freeze date, and use by date.

Juice

Orange juice can be frozen in large quantities or small ice cubes. Both of these methods will assume you have either purchased orange juice or already juiced your own.

Container

Use a Mason Jar or some other freezer safe container to freeze larger quantities of orange juice for later.

• Fill your container with orange juice.
• Leave about ¾" of headpsace so the juice can expand while freezing.
• Place in the freezer.
• Orange Juice should keep when frozen for 8 to 12 months.

Ice Cubes

We prefer freezing as ice cubes to flavor drinks.

• Fill an ice cube tray up with orange juice. Be careful not to overfill.
• Flash freeze for 2-4 hours.
• Pop out cubes and put them in a labeled ziplock bag.
• put back in the freezer until you need them later.

How do you defrost it?

Thawing after flash freezing will give you the best results since they are less likely to be frozen together in a large clump. Stick them in the fridge overnight and they hould be defrosted by morning. If you need them more quickly, you can stick them in a bowl on the counter or put them in a seperate zipper bag and run it under cool water. Either way should have them defrost in under an hour.

The best way you can use frozen oranges is to not thaw them at all. Frozen fruit and veggies, in general, become water logged and lose a lot of their quality and texture after being frozen. They will still taste decent but not as good as you would really want fresh fruit to taste.

Just like you can do with mint leaves and frozen watermelon you can use frozen oranges as a replacement for ice cubes in your drinks. As they melt, they will give anything from a glass of water to a tasty Screwdriver cocktail an orange infused flavor.

How can I use frozen oranges?

Frozen oranges work best as an ingredient to drinks (including garnishes), smoothies, and recipes (including zesting the peel).

Sometimes you find a killer deal on Bok Choy and you have to miss out because there is no way you or your family could eat it all before it went bad. Fortunately, not only can you freeze Bok Choy, but you can do it pretty easily.

Keep on reading to learn how you can freeze it and not have your food go to waste!

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Can you freeze bok choy?

Yes, you can freeze bok choy via flash freezing, blanching or a combination of techniques. Once frozen, Bok Choy will stay good for up to 12 months but is best when used within the first 4 to 6 months. There is no need to thaw when you're ready to use it

It can be added to any recipe still frozen and it will thaw almost immediately.

Bok choy is a type of cabbage. And just like the cabbage you may be used to seeing at the grocery store, Bok choy can also be frozen in the same ways.

Freezing Stats

Why should you freeze it?

Freezing food is a great way to preserve it. This can help you have access to seasonal foods off season, or stock up during garden season or a sale.

Bok choy was cultivated and grown, primarily, in China. It is packed full of vitamins and nutrients and considered a super food. Unlike many fruits and vegetables where you usually have to separate the edible portion from a stem, stalk, or branch, you can eat all of the Bok choy plant. Both the leaves and stalk are both edible.

Because it's such a great source of nutrition and there is little to no waste when cooking with Bok choy freezing it so you always have it available is a great idea. Plus, when you freeze it, it will last a lot longer than if you buy it fresh and leave it in the fridge.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Frozen Vs Non-frozen

Supplies

• Bok choy
• 2 colanders
• knife and cutting board
• large stock pot
• large mixing bowl
• kitchen timer
• Measuring cup
• cookie sheet (for flash freezing)
• Freezer bags
• Sharpie or marker
• Freezer

How To Freeze Bok Choy

We mentioned above that you can flash freeze, blanch, or a combination of both methods to preserve Bok choy. We prefer to do them both and today we will show you how.

Step One

Start by cleaning your Bok choy. You can run it under cool water in your sink. We like to put down a colander so we can peel off the leaves and get everything rinsed thoroughly.

You will also want to gather the rest of your supplies now.

Step Two

Once your Bok choy is good and clean, take out your knife and cutting board and get ready to separate the leaves. The entire vegetable can be eaten so there is no need to cut and throw away stems.

You can either break off full leaves or you can chop the entire thing up into smaller bits. Both ways freeze the same. It comes down to a matter of preference for you.

Step Three

Now it's time to blanch. Take a stock pot, fill it with water, and set it on your stovetop to boil. While you are waiting fill up a large mixing bowl with ice and water and grab a second colander or wash the one you used earlier.

Add all of your Bok choy to the colander, When your water is at a rolling boil, lower the colander of Bok choy into the water and set a timer for 3 minutes. Keep an eye on the pot, however. You will know your Bok choy is ready to come out once the leaves start to turn green.

When the timer goes off or the leaves change color, pull the colander out of the boiling water and place it in the bowl of ice water. The sudden ice bath will stop the cooking process right away.

Pull the Bok choy out of the water and pat dry with a paper towel; removing as much moisture as you can.

Do you have to blanch Bok choy before freezing?

You don't have to blanch Bok choy before freezing it but we strongly recommend you do. Most fruits and vegetables contain an enzyme that allows them to continue the aging process even if they have been frozen. That means that your frozen food can still go bad and become an icy, rotten mess.

When you boil the food for a short period of time, you are essentially partially cooking it which destroys that aging enzyme. Now you can freeze your food and not worry that it is going to spoil after you freeze it.

Step Four

Now we get to flash freezing. Flash freezing is when you pre-freeze your food in smaller segments before packaging them together for a deep freeze. Let's explain how to do this.

Take a cookie sheet and cover it in aluminum foil or parchment paper. Lay all of your Bok choy, cut or whole leaf, in a single, non-overlapping layer. Depending on the size of your cookie sheet, freeze, and the amount of Bok choy you are freezing, this may take a few cookie sheets or a couple of rounds.

Place the cookie sheets in the freezer and leave them for 2 to 4 hours (or overnight if you don't want to wait). While they are freezing, label your storage bags or containers with the contents, freeze date, and use by date. That way nothing gets lost and wasted.

Once they have frozen, take the cookie sheets out of the fridge, load the labeled bags up with Bok choy and put them back in the freezer where they will stay.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How do you defrost it?

Just like cabbage, Bok choy does not need to be thawed before hand. It can be put right into the recipe for which you need it. However, if you would like to thaw it, you can simply run it under some cool water for a moment or so until it defrosts.

Q2. How long will it last?

Bok choy, when frozen using the methods listed above, can have a fresh freezer life of 4 to 6 months and will still be palatable for up to 12 months. Compare that to a non-frozen fridge life of 3 to 5 days.

If you've ever had a garden with mint you know once it takes root it grows like crazy. But, once the weather turns the mint will disappear just as quickly as it showed up. Then you're left for the rest of the cold months, prime hot tea with fresh mint time, with no mint to be had. You'll be pleased to know that not only can you freeze mint leaves but there are several ways to do it and all of them are pretty easy!

You can freeze mint leaves either fresh or dehydrated. Depending on the method you use, frozen mint leaves will keep for 3 or 6 months. There's no need to defrost them as you can just add them to a recipe or drink and they will thaw automatically.

Keep reading to find out which freezing method works best for you!

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Can you freeze mint leaves?

Mint leaves actually freeze very well. In fact, unlike most foods you can freeze, mint hardly loses any quality from the freezing process. It is also a very versatile freezer because you have so many ways you can freeze it.

Mint leaves can be frozen either chopped or as whole leaves. You can also choose to freeze them fresh or dehydrated.

Freezing Stats

Why should you freeze it?

Freezing fresh mint will make sure you have mint all year round. Plus, if you are pulling it during your gardening season, it will help clear out some mint for other crops to grow.

Freezing is really easy and just about anyone has the capability to do it. It also is the best method of storage to maintain a strong flavor over a long period of time.

Frozen Vs Non-frozen

Supplies

You are going to need the following supplies:

• fresh mint (from garden or store bought)
• cookie sheet (for flash freezing)
• blender or food processor (for chopping)
• ice cube trays (for mint cubes)
• Freezer bags
• Sharpie or marker
• Freezer
• knife
• kitchen timer
• dehydrator (we use this Ninja Foodi)

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

How To Freeze Mint Leaves

As we mentioned above, we have several methods you can use to freeze mint. We will split them into two categories; Fresh mint and Dried mint. Let's start with fresh mint.

Fresh Mint

The following method are best for mint picked fresh from the garden or from the store. They will typically stay at peak freshness for about 3 months. You can still use it up to 6 months.

Ice cube

1. Remove stems and damaged leaves. Clean under cool running water
2. Chop into fine pieces. Place a spoonful of chopped mint into an ice cube tray and fill halfway with water
3. Stick trays in freezer for a few hours until frozen. Transfer cubes from tray into labeled freezer bag.

How to thaw: To use, you can place the small mint cube into a drink or recipe, still frozen. If you want to remove the excess water, put the cube in a cup or bowl and leave out until it has melted. You can then pour the water through a fine mesh strainer and catch the mint.

Frozen Olive Oil and Mint cube

1. Remove stems and damaged leaves. Clean under cool running water.
2. Add your mint leaves and ¼ cup of olive oil into a food processor. Use the manual function until the oil and mint start to look like they are binding together. Fill an ice cube tray about halfway with the min and oil concoction.
3. Stick trays in freezer for a few hours until frozen. Transfer cubes from the tray into labeled freezer bag.

How to thaw: Follow the same thaw and use instructions from the Ice cube method above.

Flash Freezing

1. Remove stems and damaged leaves. Clean under cool running water.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Create a single layer of mint leaves on top of the cookie sheet.
3. Stick the cookie sheet in the freezer for few hours. Once frozen remove them from the cookie tray and place them in a labeled freezer bag and put them back in the freezer.

Dried Mint

Air Drying

1. Take a branch full of mint leaves and place them in a dark, cool, well ventilated area. For best results, allow them to hang dry and keep them protected from dust. You can put a bag over them to assist.
2. After a week or two, the leaves should be brittle and crumble easily
3. Place them in a labeled freezer bag and stick them in the freezer

Obviously, the easiest method since everyone has access to air. It is also the method that takes the longest; usually around a week or 2 for the leaves to completely dry out.

Dehydrator (or Ninja Foodi with Multi-Function)

1. Rinse a branch of mint leaves under cold running water to remove dirt and debris. Then pat or hang dry them.
2. Trim the stems from your leaves so you just have the leafy green parts left.
3. Follow the specific directions from your dehydrator manual for drying herbs, leaves, and spices.
4. After they are dried, put them in a labeled freezer bag and put them in the freezer.

Oven Drying

Second to the microwave, the oven drying method is the quickest way to dry your leaves.

1. Rinse your mint leaves off with cold water and pat or hang dry them.
2. While they are drying cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and preheat the oven to 170° Fahrenheit.
3. If you haven't already, strip the leaves from the branch and trim the stems from the leaves. Then make a single layer of mint leaves, with no overlap, on the cookie sheet.
4. Put the sheet of mint leaves in the oven and set a kitchen timer for 2 hours. Come back and check to see if they are dry. If not, set the timer again and come back in an hour. Drying may take up to 4 hours.
5. Once dried, put your mint leaves in their storage container and place them in the freezer.

Microwave Drying

This is the quickest most accessible, and almost the easiest way to dry your mint leaves.

1. Rinse a branch of mint leaves under cold running water to remove dirt and debris. Then pat or hang dry them.
2. Next, place a paper towel on a microwave safe plate and line the leaves on it.
3. Set your microwave to cook on high for 30 second. Flip the leaves and then heat for another 30 seconds. Continue this process until the leaves are completely dried out.

Pro Tips:

• If you crush dried mint leaves before adding them to your drink or recipe, they will release much more of their flavor and aroma.

• It's best to freeze mint immediately after picking it.
• The morning seems to be the best time to harvest mint leaves; as their flavor is strongest at this point.
• Be gentle. Mint bruises easily. Select only the best leaves with no damage, wilted leaves, pests, or any other undesirable things.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the more common questions about freezing mint leaves

Q1. How long will it last?

If you're wondering how long mint can last in the freezer versus how long mint can last in the fridge, frozen mint in it's various forms can last between 3 and 6 months in the freezer. Fresh mint, on the other hand, can only keep for 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator.

Q2. Can I refreeze it?

Mint does not refreeze very well at all. Also, there's not really any reason to if you follow the methods above. You should be able to only take out what you need at a time and leave the rest to stay frozen until next time.

Q3. What can I use frozen mint for?

Frozen mint can be used for everything that fresh mint leaves are used for with the added bonus of being extra cold. One of our favorite uses is to take a mint ice cube or two and pop them in a glass of cold water, iced tea, or even a cocktail like a mojito or vodka soda. They will melt slowly and give your beverage a cool and refreshing flavor.

Final word

Mint is one of the best things you can freeze at home. You have a ton of ways to do it. Every method is easy. And mint hardly loses any flavor or quality from the entire process.

Try it yourself next time you get some mint. You won't be disappointed!

Every year around St Patrick's Day and New Years millions of people across the globe make a dash for corned beef, black eyed peas, and, of course, cabbage. Usually, the corned beef and peas don't survive a single meal, but the cabbage generally has leftovers; both cooked and unused, raw pieces. If you'd like to save them, you're in luck, because you can freeze cabbage.

If you're all in on freezing cabbage like we are, keep on reading to learn the variety of ways it can be done!

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Can you freeze cabbage?

Yes, you can freeze cabbage in a variety of different ways. It can be frozen raw or cooked and as a whole head (not recommended), wedges (a little more okay), chopped (now you're getting it), and shredded (there you go!).

Depending on the size and how you want to freeze it can be done with or without blanching. Frozen cabbage can keep for up to 18 months but is best in the first 3 to 4 months of freezing. Best of all, it doesn't need to be thawed before you throw it in a soup or stew, which cuts down on potential soggy leaves!

Cabbage is wonderful in that there are so many different varieties like red cabbage, purple cabbage, green cabbage, and even Bok Choy. Not only can any of these (plus more) work amazingly well in recipes, they can also all be frozen using any of the techniques we discuss today.

Though cabbage does OK frozen, other leafy vegetables (like when you try to freeze lettuce) don't tend to fair quite as well.

Freezing Stats

Why should you freeze it?

Cabbage still remains favorable for a while after it has been frozen but it's best within the first 3 or 4 months of freezing. It will still remain safe to eat all the way up to 18 months but quality will severely degrade after that initial 3 to 4 month period. Generally, freezer burn is the culprit

Frozen Vs Non-frozen

Supplies

• cabbage (any kind)
• colander
• mandolin slicer with protective gloves (for shredding)
• knife and cutting board (for shredding if no mandolin slicer)
• large stock pot
• large mixing bowl
• kitchen timer
• Measuring cup
• cookie sheet (for flash freezing)
• Freezer bags
• Sharpie or marker
• Freezer

How To Freeze Cabbage

We have a couple of ways to freeze cabbage; whole head, chopped/wedges, and shredded. We will over each method below and which method will give you the best results.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Step One

This step is mostly the same for any method you choose. You will want to gather all of your supplies together so they are easily accessible.

Whole head or wedges

To preface, we DO NOT recommend freezing an entire head of cabbage. It takes longer to freeze (which can cause freezer burn), longer to thaw (which can make your cabbage soggy and withered), is bulky and takes up more space than other methods.

Buuuuuut....if you insist...

Remove the outer leaves and soak the entire head of cabbage in a salt water brine. Fill a large mixing bowl or basin with warm water, add in a handful of salt, and let the cabbage soak for about 15 minutes or so, occasionally shaking the head to dislodge any insects that may be stuck.

Wedges, chopped, and shredded

Cut your cabbage in whichever method you choose. Wedges are not quite as bad as freezing a whole head but you still run into some of the same problems. Both chopped and shredded are much easier and yield better results.

The easiest way to cut wedges or chop cabbage is with an old fashioned knife and cutting board. You can also use a knife for shredded cabbage but we prefer a mandolin slicer.

Place your cabbage in a colander in your sink. Run cool water and rinse off any dirt and grime you may see. Make sure each piece gets good coverage and you should be fine.

Step Two

Without Blanching

Again, we do not think skipping blanching is a good idea unless yo plan to eat the cabbage very, very soon (in which case, just put it in the fridge where it will stay fresh for up to 3 weeks if it stays wrapped).

You can freeze any of these types of cabbage without blanching by following the cleaning and cutting methods in step one, drying everything completely, bagging them, and putting them in the fridge.

Easy peasy, but won't give you great results.

With Blanching

The act of blanching your food is like a form of partial cooking. Many veggies and fruits have an enzyme that will make them continue to age even after being frozen. That means freezing will only slow the process down and your cabbage will still rot. Hence why we don't think skipping this is a good idea.

Blanching a full head is probably technically possible, but we wouldn't try it. However, wedges, chopped cabbage, and shredded cabbage are all good candidates and will give you good results.

How to blanch

To blanch you will need a second colander (or at least wash the first one before reusing it), large mixing bowl, and a stock pot. Fill the pot with water and set it on your stove top to boil (remember, don't watch or it never will 😂).

While you are watching for it to boil, fill your mixing bowl with cold ice water and put your cabbage in the colander. Once your water is at a good rolling boil, lower the colander down into the water. Set a kitchen timer for:

• 1 to 2 minutes for shredded cabbage
• 2 to 3 minutes for chopped cabbage
• 3+ minutes for wedges

Times may vary depending on the size and amount of cabbage you are blanching. You only want to boil the cabbage long enough to kill the aging enzymes. When your timer goes off take your cabbage and dunk it in the ice bath you have waiting in the mixing bowl.

Now that the aging process has been stopped with blanching we use an ice bath to stop the cooking process.

Step Three

You will now take your cabbage and let it dry. We usually will lay it out on or pat it down with paper towels. You want to remove as much excess moisture as possible to prevent freezer burn later on.

While your cabbage is drying pull out your your storage bags and sharpie or marker. Label them with the contents, amount, freeze date, and a best by date. You can also include an expiration date since frozen cabbage is best within the first 3 months and will go bad between 12 and 18 months.

Your cabbage should be dry by now. Take out your cookie sheet and cover it with aluminum foil or parchment paper; we will use this for flash freezing.

What is flash freezing?

Flash freezing, in home food preservation, is basically a pre-freeze before the long term deep freeze. It works best with smaller foods and portions like when you freeze blueberries, freeze blackberries, freeze carrots, freeze watermelon freeze cantaloupe chunks chunks, and freeze raspberries. For example, shredded or chopped cabbage will give great results when flash frozen.

To do this, you will make a single layer of cabbage on the cookie sheet; spread out for shredded and individual leaves for chopped. Then place the cookie sheet in the freezer for a couple of hours. When you come back, the cabbage will have started to freeze enough that you can move on to the long term storage section in step four.

Step Four

After you flash freeze your cabbage, put it all in your labeled storage bags. You should have removed most of the water in step three; which is the first phase of avoiding freezer burn. When you close the bags up, you want to remove as much air as you can.

Air and moisture in the bag will lead to sublimation; the chemical reaction that results in freezer burn (check out that link if you want a more scientific explanation). It's almost impossible to stop freezer burn. However, it is not too difficult to hold off for a while.

You can:

• make sure the freezer stays closed until your cabbage has had time to completely freeze. Frequent opening and closing will cause the temperature to move around a lot which can make the freezing process take longer and also result in condensation.
• use your frozen food earlier than fresh foods. The less time they spend frozen they less likely they are to become experience freezer burn.
• make sure your freezer's internal temperature is down to at least 0° (zero degrees Fahrenheit). This will also shorten the freezing time.
• only use containers just big enough to fit your cabbage in. Smaller containers have less space for air and thus less likely trigger sublimation as early.

Pro tip: The best way to squeeze all of the air out of the bag is to use your sink and take advantage of water pressure. Lower the bag into a sink or bowl full of water while zipping the bag almost shut. Leave a small opening on one end and dip the bag down to that point.

Water pressure will squeeze the bag and push all of the air out the top. Then just seal it and move to step 5.

Step Five

Now it's freezin' time!

Things tend to fit better when you can lay them out flat. Shredded cabbage is the easiest to do this with chopped cabbage not far behind. Wedges are more difficult to lay flat and whole heads are nearly impossible.

Place all of your bags in the freezer. If you have older frozen food already in the freezer, make sure to put the new frozen food behind it. This is called the "first in-first out" (or FIFO) rule. Basically, you want to make sure you use the food in the order it is frozen so nothing gets lost and goes to waste; this is why we like to include the date when labeling storage bags and containers.

How do you defrost it?

Cabbage is great because it is mostly used for soups and stews so you don't need to defrost it; you can add them straight into the recipe. If you are making something like coleslaw or sauerkraut (you can also freeze sauerkraut), you can leave the freezer bag in the fridge over night or even run cold water over it in the sink until it is thawed enough to use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the more common questions about freezing cabbage.

Q1. Can you pan fry frozen cabbage?

Q2. Can you freeze cooked cabbage and noodles?

Cooked cabbage and noodles is an easy dish to freeze. Since it's already been prepared you do not need to go through all of the steps from above. All you need to do is put it into an airtight bag or container, squeeze out any remaining air, and put it in the freezer (don't forget to label and date it).

It should stay good for a couple of months. To reheat it, just take it out, put it in a microwaveable bowl, cover it, and heat it.

Q3. Can I freeze corned beef and cabbage?

Corned beef and cabbage freezes and reheats pretty well. Just wrap or put them in an airtight, freezer safe bag or container and put them in the freezer. Reheat them in the microwave or in the oven and it will taste almost as good as when you cooked it.

Final word

So, freezing cabbage is really easy. As with any fruits and vegetables, they are never going to have the same taste, texture, and quality as when they are fresh. But, cabbage holds up pretty well when frozen. It works best when used in warm meals like soups or stews, but is definitely something that we would not hesitate to add to our food preservation list.

If you take your coffee with cream you know that if you run out and can't get more before you have your morning coffee it can be devastating. Okay, maybe that's a bit dramatic, but it is pretty terrible. Fortunately, you can freeze half and half so that you always have some available.

Keep on reading to learn the exact method we use to make sure our half and half freezes well and stays fresh for a long time!

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Can you freeze half and half?

Yes, you can easily freeze half and half. Just pour a container into a freezer bag or measure out portions to fill ice cube tray pods. Stick them in the freezer and you're good to go. Once frozen, they'll last another 2 or 3 months.

If you need them for a recipe or your coffee, it's quick to thaw.

Freezing half and half is very similar to freezing over liquids like freezing milk, and softer foods like freezing apple sauce, freezing chili and freezing salsa.

Freezing Stats

Why should you freeze it?

There are several reasons why you may decide to freeze half and half. Like when you are freezing any food, you may have found a good sale at the store and bought a ton. You stock up when you can because you don't want to be without your coffee creamer.

Half and half has many uses outside of your coffee. It makes many recipes fluffier (like eggs), desserts creamier (like ice cream), and makes cocktails richer.

Just like when freezing mozzarella cheese and other dairy items, you can use half and half to cook with after defrosting without any noticeable texture or quality issues.

Frozen Vs Non-frozen

Supplies

• half and half
• cookie sheet (for freezer shelf)
• ice cube trays (for half and half pods)
• Freezer bags
• Sharpie or marker
• Freezer

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

How to freeze half and half

Freezing half and half is really easy. Yes go through the process.

Step One

First things first. Gather all of your freezing supplies together and make sure everything is accessible. This includes the half and half itself.

Step Two

Generally, when freezing things, whether solid or liquid, we decide on how much we want to freeze in a single container or freezer bag. Since half and half isn't something you really consume on it's own, this is a little trickier.

Half and half is generally used in things like coffee, tea, and a variety of recipes. So generally, you are looking at portion sizes in the teaspoon and tablespoon range of things. You don't want to waste good freezer bags on such a small portion.

We recommend considering half and half pod style freezing. Half and Half pods are when you freeze half and half in an ice cube tray in smaller, pre-measured portions. This is preferable because you won't have to thaw an entire bag when a recipe calls for a teaspoon or two or if you just want some coffee.

Step Three

Once you have decided if you are going to freeze large amounts at a time or if you want to go the pod route, you will want to decide on the measurements to use.

If you are freezing a container at a time, then that's all you need to know and you can move to the next step. If you are going to freeze half and half pods, you'll need to think about how much to freeze per pod.

Most ice cube trays can hold a little more than a tablespoon of liquid. Freezing a tablespoon per pod is a pretty good place to start. If you are using them for a recipe, you can just thaw out a single cube. You can even cut it into pieces when you don't need the whole thing.

Step Four

You are going to want to start labeling your freezer bags. You can use quart bags or gallon size bags depending on how much you are freezing.

When labeling it is important to include the contents of the bag, the freeze date, and the "use by" date. You don't want to freeze everything and then not be able to tell what's in the bag or worse, eat something that was lost in the back of the freezer for years.

Step Five

When you're ready to make your pods this is done the same as when you freeze honey, jam or cilantro in an ice cube tray.

Simply measure out a tablespoon (or whatever you decided) and pour it into one of the reservoirs in the ice cube tray. Do this until you run out of half and half or ice cube trays.

Next, put the trays in the freezer and leave them for a few hours. If you do this at night and leave them in until morning they will have plenty of time to freeze. Then, all you need to do is pop the pods out of the tray, bag them, and put them back in the freezer until you need them.

How do you defrost?

All you need to do to thaw your half and half is leave it in the fridge for a few hours or overnight in a bowl or mug. You can also run some cool water over it if you have it sealed in a bag. This is quicker but can still take a while and you waste a lot of water.

Once it's defrosted, you will want to take a whisk or fork to it and give it a good stirring. When half and half freezes, the cream will start to separate and can become grainy. Mixing it up should take some of that graininess away, especially if you are using it in coffee or a recipe.

Final word

As you can see, freezing half and half is not difficult at all. In fact, it can make life a little more convenient by always having some one hand!

If you have a very active apple tree or just find a great deal at your local market it's almost irresistible to make yourself some homemade apple sauce. Buuuuut, if you end up with too many apples or apple sauce they can spoil pretty quickly. You should know there is a solution to them going bad that isn't throw them out or give them to your friends, family, and neighbors (again). Not only can you freeze apple sauce, but it is super easy and can keep for up to a year!

Keep on reading to learn how to freeze your apple sauce and make it last for up to a year!

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Can you freeze apple sauce?

Apple sauce is easily frozen. You can freeze it in mason jars, plastic storage containers, or, our preferred method, freezer bags.

Frozen apple sauce will stay good for 6 months to a year after it has been frozen. You can thaw it in a variety of ways like overnight in the fridge, in cool water, or even heated up in the microwave or stovetop!

What can you do with a lot of apples? You can make apple pie, apple cider, even chickens can eat apples as a healthy treat. But our favorite thing to do is make it into apple sauce.

And, if you're anything like us, you get really excited and make way more than any reasonable human should try to eat. In such cases you will need a way to preserve your apple sauce or to the chickens it will go (but don't feed them apple sauce if you make it with sugar).

So, the short answer is yes, you can freeze apple sauce. But you will need a few supplies first.

Supplies

• Apples or apple sauce (duh)
• Apple peeler (if making apple sauce)
• Apple corer (if making apple sauce)
• Measuring cups
• Freezer bags
• Sharpie or marker
• Freezer

How To Freeze Apple Sauce

This is really only a five step process. Let's see how you do it.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Step One

This is the easiest step of them all. Open your store bought container of apple sauce or follow your homemade apple sauce recipe.

Step Two

You will need to figure out how much apple sauce you need to freeze and how you will want it portioned out (just like when you freeze chili).

If you have a large or even medium size family, that loves apple sauce and it is something you eat with meals, it may make sense to freeze batches in large, gallon size freezer bags. However, we assume most people eat apple sauce as a quick snack or in between meals. Thus, using quart size freezer bags is best for individual portion sizes.

Whichever size bags you decide to use, take them, along with your sharpie or marker, and label the bags. You will want to definitely add the contents and bagging date. It is also helpful to put a "best by", or "throw away by" (or "Toxic after") date so you don't accidently eat apple sauce that has been in the freezer too long.

If it is too old, it will not likely be harmful or toxic, but it will probably have freezer burn and will absolutely lose quality. Basically, it will just not taste very good after about a year.

Step Three

If you've picked out your bags it means you've decided, at least mostly, on portion sizes. Now, we like to be very specific when making our portions. It makes doing a pantry challenge a lot easier when you can plan out your meals down to the measuring cup.

It's much easier than it sounds. The generally recommended serving size for apple sauce is about half a cup. However, when we make ours, unlike the recipe above, we only use cinnamon and very little, if any, sugar. Since it does not have the same caloric punch as most other recipes, we double our portion size to a cup.

Decide how much you want and use a measuring cup to scoop out your desired portion size. You can also portion it out per meal or group to save on plastic waste and space. A quart size freezer bag can hold about 4 cups while a gallon size freezer bag can hold around 16 cups.

Step Four

Once everything is bagged up and ready to freeze, you will want to squeeze as much of the air out of the bag as possible before you close it completely. This will help prevent freezer burn.

Everything has some kind of moisture in it. When you are freezing something, the moisture makes it's way to the surface of what you are freezing and, through a process called sublimation. The presence of air accelerates this process.

To keep freezer burn at bay you can:

• only open the freezer when you need something. Frequent opening and closing will cause the internal temperature to fluctuate which can prolong the freezing process and lead to moisture build up.
• eat your frozen food before buying more fresh food. The longer something is in the freezer and frozen the more opportunity there is for freezer burn to take effect.
• decrease the temperature of your freezer so things can freeze quickly and give moisture less time to move to the surface of your food
• Use containers just large enough for the food to fit and minimize "extra" air space.

Pro tip: Close the bag most of the way with just a small opening on the end. You can then push the air out more easily.

Double pro tip: Close the bag just like in Pro tip 1 but instead of squeezing the air out, submerge the bag in water up to the zipper. Be careful not to get water in the actual bag. The pressure of the water is even on all sides of the bag and will squeeze the air out extremely well.

Step Five

Finally, it's time to freeze!

Lay the bags out flat and stack them in your freezer. Stacking and freezing them flat helps make them easier to manage while cutting down on space. Try putting a cookie sheet or even a piece of cardboard down between the bags and the shelf. Non-solids, like milk, half and half, salsa, sauerkraut, and apple sauce will mold to the grate of the freezer shelf as they freeze. Once they completely freeze they will slightly expand which can cause them to become stuck in between the bars.

Leave them in the freezer over night and give them time to completely freeze. Once they are rock solid, you can move them to a better location if you need to or just leave them where they're at.

FAQ

Here are some of the more common questions about freezing apple sauce.

How long will frozen apple sauce stay good?

If you freeze your apple sauce, you can store it without it going bad for around 6 months to a year. For best results, follow the process from above and use a chest or deep freezer for longer times.

Since apple sauce is an organic material, bacteria will still grow in it, unless frozen, and it will eventually go bad. You can extend the life of your apple sauce by keeping it cold in the fridge but that will only slow down the aging process and keep it fresh for a week, maybe two weeks.

How should I thaw it out?

The easiest way to defrost or thaw your frozen apples or apple sauce is to pull the bag from the freezer and put it in the fridge. Doing this overnight will usually give you enough time for it to be ready to eat by morning.

Another, quicker, way to do this is to place it in a bowl and stick that under cool running water. It should not take too long for the apple sauce to thaw enough that you can eat it.

If you want warm or even hot applesauce, you can thaw it on the stove or in the microwave. On a stovetop, set a burner to low or low-medium and place your frozen apple sauce in a small sauce pan. This method will probably take around 10 minutes, give or take. Just remember to keep an eye on it and stir often so you don't end up with burnt apple sauce.

The microwave is much faster and less likely to burn. Try heating your applesauce in a microwave safe bowl or pyrex in increments of 10 to 30 seconds, depending on the power and size of your microwave. Each time you heat it, see if it is soft enough to stir. Once it is soft enough to stir, you can take it out or continue to heat it until it is at your desired temperature.

Can I refreeze it after it's been defrosted?

You can refreeze if it's absolutely necessary but it isn't the best idea. It will still be safe to eat but it will eventually become freezer burnt and will start to lose quality each subsequent time it is frozen.

This is one of the reasons that we use smaller portions. That way we know we will eat it and we won't have to decide if it's worth refreezing again.

What can I use frozen apple sauce for?

Frozen applesauce can be a good, frozen snack. Instead of long term freezing in baggies, you can put it in ice cube trays with some miniature popsicle sticks and make apple sauce pops.

Again, freeze them in an ice tray and use them in a glass of water to give it some extra flavor. Just be aware that they will melt pretty quickly in water and you'll end up with a pile of apple sauce at the bottom of your glass.

We think the best uses for frozen apple sauce are the same as unfrozen. Thaw it out and eat it as a healthy snack or heat it up with some cinnamon, butter, and brown sugar for a (less healthy) dessert.

Homemade Vs store bought

Store bought is already in a sealed jar so it does not need to be preserved unless already opened. Homemade will need to either be eaten quickly enough before it goes bad or it will need to be frozen.

Canning Vs freezing

We prefer freezing for a couple of reasons. One, it's way easier and faster. Like we mention above, it's essentially scoop, bag, label, freeze. Our second reason does need some explanation.

Whenever we buy or make apple sauce, we will usually flavor it with some cinnamon but will use very little, if any, sugar. Sugar is often used to sweeten up apple sauce and it is also a large component of canning and preservation. So, since less time and less sugar used are things we strive for, we like to stick with freezing over canning.

Ziplock Bag Vs Mason Jars

Mason jars are pretty durable and made to endure extreme temperature changes and a lot of pressure. You can definitely use them to freeze apple sauce, or just about any liquid, puree, or solid food. The downside of using Mason Jars is that they can be expensive and they are pretty bulky; taking up a lot of room in your freezer. The plus for Mason Jars is they are pretty much a one time investment and can be reused for future food preservation.

Plastic zip lock baggies are what we generally use. While they can be reusable, it is usually difficult to remove frozen apple sauce from them without ripping them. Also, they will sometimes get small tears when your food is freezing and expanding; both scenarios will render them useless. We don't like to use a lot of plastic unnecessarily, but the cost, in both money and space, is just too high to use Mason Jars, in our opinion.

Can you freeze apple slices?

If apple sauce isn't your thing, you can also freeze chunks or apple slices. The process is similar to freezing watermelon, freezing cantaloupe, freezing blackberries, freezing blueberries, and freezing raspberries. All you need to do is cut them into slices, after washing and peeling, dip them in water and lemon juice so they don't turn brown from oxidation, and line them on a cookie sheet.

Put the cookie sheet in the freezer for a few hours and then, once they are starting to freeze, pop them off the cookie sheet and into some freezer safe bags. Apple slices, like apple sauce, will stay good and not lose much quality for around 8 to 12 months or so.

If you've ever grown a garden and experienced a big harvest, you understand that you develop an attachment to the plants and their crops. So much so that you hate to see anything go to waste, even if you have eaten all you can and given a lot away to friends, family, and neighbors. But, we can put an end to any potential future food waste by learning how to freeze carrots so they never go bad again!

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Can You Freeze Carrots

Yes, you can freeze carrots that have been cooked in most any way, or if they have been blanched. Carrots, like most vegetables, when frozen will stay good for at least 12 months.

Some people will tell you freezing carrots is really easy because you don't have to blanch them first. We think those people are wrong. But we can explain.

We do not disagree that carrots are easy to freeze. That part is true and we will show you exactly how soon. We disagree with the part about blanching...at least most of the time anyway.

What happens if you don't blanch carrots before freezing?

So, can you freeze carrots without blanching them first or not? Let's look at an example, shall we?

Have you ever tried freezing carrots before and they all turned black? If your carrots are turning black when you freeze them, something has gone wrong in the preservation process. When your fruits or veggies turn black it means they have most likely starting to rot or have been for some time. They are not safe to eat and should be disposed of.

Most often this is caused by freezing without blanching. Many fruits and veggies contain enzymes that allows them to continue aging even when frozen.

This rule applies to freezing asparagus, freezing peas, freezing zucchini and many other vegetables. Some exceptions to this are when you are freezing ginger and freezing pumpkin.

Blanching is essentially the same thing as cooking for a short period of time. This cooking is just long enough to destroy those enzymes and makes your carrots prime candidates for freezing.

So, you can freeze carrots without blanching them first but we do not recommend it unless it is for a very brief period of time.

Can you freeze a bag of whole or carrot slices?

We don't recommend freezing a full bag of carrots. You run the risk of ending up with rotten carrots like we mentioned earlier. However, carrots slices are something you can freeze without blanching first (although we still think you should anyway).

Freezing your carrots as slices would make them perfect for making these Sweet and Smoky Cast Iron Carrots. YUM!

You'll want to cut your carrots into small slices. We like to use a mandolin slicer so they are all even and the same general width. Then, you follow the same process as when you freeze watermelon, freeze cantaloupe, or freeze raspberries.

Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper and line the carrot slices in a single layer on top. Stick them in the freezer for a few hours. When you check on them, if they are frozen, pop the chips of the cookie sheet and put them in a freezer bag.

They make a great, easy snack. Just make sure to eat them soon (within a week) or they will start to lose their quality.

But, let's get to the best way to freeze carrots.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Supplies

You are going to need the following supplies:

• carrots
• 2 colanders
• cookie sheet (for freezing whole)
• mandolin slicer with protective gloves (for sliced carrots)
• knife and cutting board (for sliced carrots if no mandolin slicer)
• kitchen timer
• freezer bags
• sharpie or marker

Freezing Carrots

Let's learn how to freeze these vision enhancing beauties!

Step One

You will want to first wash all of your carrots. Whether they are store bought (where other people are picking them up. Ew!) or from your garden (covered in dirt) they will need to be cleaned. We usually just stick them in a colander and scrub them with our hands or a vegetable cleaning brush.

Step Two

Once they are good and clean, it's time to blanche them. First, decide if you are freezing whole carrots, baby carrot cuts, or slices. We don't recommend freezing shredded carrots. The moisture makes them clump together and very difficult to work with when thawed.

We will move forward as if we are cutting them into slices. For this, like the freezing them raw section says, we like to use a mandolin slicer. Make sure you are safe and wearing your protective gloves (I found out the hard way).

If you don't have one or prefer to not use a mandolin slicer, you can, of course, always use a good old knife and cutting board.

Step Three

Now, it's time to blanch. This is the part that makes sure you can store your carrots for a long time. It's also easy to do, so why not use this method?

You will want to, first, put on a stock pot of water to boil. While you are waiting, we will get the rest of your blanching supplies together.

Pull out your second colander or wash the dirt from your first one. Put all of your carrots (or as many as you can fit) into the colander. You will also want to get a large mixing bowl and check to make sure you have plenty of ice.

Once the water is boiling, lower your colander of carrots (Colander of Carrots would be a terrible name for a Harry Potter book, by the way) into the boiling water. Set a timer for 2 to 5 minutes. How long depends on the amount, size, and thickness of the carrots.

While your timer is counting down, fill your large mixing bowl ½ full of water and then add ice until it is ¾ full. If you are freezing multiple batches of carrots or other produce, it helps to keep a few cups of ice ready to add to the bowl as it melts.

When the timer goes off, take the colander from the boiling water, carefully, and lower it into the ice bath. The boiling water cooks your carrots long enough to stop the aging enzyme while the ice's rapid cooling stops the cooking process almost immediately.

Step Four

You can now start scooping the carrots out of the colander. When you scoop them out, you will want to let them drip dry as much as you can and then lay them on a bed of paper towels. You will want as little moisture as possible when freezing. Too much moisture when the carrots freeze can lead to a soft or even rubbery texture later.

Follow the same directions from earlier and line all of your carrots on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Place them in the freezer for a few hours so they can harden.

Once they have started to freeze and are solid, scoop them up and get ready to bag them. We prefer to use a 1 cup measuring cup so we can have premade portions ready to go. We will typically use quart bags but, for larger families, you can easily find gallon freezer bags for full batches.

Step Five

Once all the bags are full, flatten them out and place them in your freezer. If you are freezing a whole lot of stuff, you may want to consider grabbing a larger chest style freezer. At one point, we were using three of these along with our kitchen freezer.

Step Five

That's all there is to freezing carrots. Hopefully, you will never have to watch your beloved garden veggies go bad on the kitchen window sill again.

You can freeze watermelon in a couple of different, and easy, ways. Watermelon can be frozen in slices, chunks, cubed, or pureed. It works great as a cold snack and has the texture and consistency of a popsicle so you don't even need to thaw it unless you want to. Pureed frozen watermelon is great for making smoothies or flavoring your water.

What else can you use frozen watermelon for and how do you freeze it in the first place? Read on to find out!

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How to freeze watermelon?

Well, even if we, you and I, are the only people who do this we now have a perfect solution for making watermelon last longer. So, you may ask, how do you preserve watermelon?

As you can probably tell from the title above, we freeze it. But, it isn't just as simple as that (but don't worry, it still easy). You just need to be a bit specific with your freezing method. If you don't know what you're doing, you are going to just throw it in the freezer and pull out a mushy mess.

We'll cover our two favorite ways on how to freeze watermelon which should cover any situation you may need watermelon for in the future.

Our two preferred methods to use when freezing watermelon are in chunks or pureed. If you remember our topic on freezing Cantaloupe (or blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries), you may remember it is very similar.

What do you need?

You are going to need the following supplies:

• watermelon
• knife or melon baller
• cookie sheet (for freezing whole)
• blender or food processor (for puree)
• ice cube trays (for puree)
• freezer bags
• sharpie or marker

Freezing slices or cubes

Now, when we say you can freeze chunks of watermelon, we really mean pieces that are smaller than wedges. So you can freeze slices, cubes, balls, any shape you like. You just want to keep them small enough that they can freeze through relatively quickly. We prefer cube chunks because they are the easiest.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Step One

Decide on your desired shape and cut your watermelon into that shape. You will then want to take out a a cookie sheet and cover it with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

Step Two

Line the pan with all of your cut pieces of watermelon. Keep them in a single layer and put them in the freezer for a few hours.

Step Three

When you go back to check, make sure they are pretty solid, but they don't have to be completely frozen yet. Pull them off of the pan and place them in a large freezer safe ziploc bag.

Step Four

Write the contents and date on the outside of the bag and put them back into the freezer. That's all there is to it!

Watermelon puree

While researching for this method we say a lot of people asking whether you can puree watermelon and freeze it. Truth is, you can. In fact, out of the two techniques we are discussing today, this is our favorite.

Step One

You are going to need to cut your watermelon into smaller pieces. They don't have to be pretty though, just small enough to not gum up the blender or food processor.

Step Two

Place all of the watermelon chunks into the blender and fire it up. Let it run until it is completely pulverized. You do not want any solid pieces left at all.

Step Three

Pull out an ice cube tray and pour the pureed watermelon from the blender into the trays. Once they are all full, put the ice cube tray into the freezer for a few hours or over night.

Step Four

Once enough time has passed, take the tray out of the freezer and simply pop the frozen watermelon puree cubes out. Put them in a labeled (content and date) ziplock freezer bag and stick them back in the freezer.

What to do with frozen watermelon

So, watermelon is not featured in a wide variety of recipes. hat's probably because it is so good on its own. What we like to do with our frozen watermelon is treat it as a healthy snack. Grab a handful of these on the way to the couch to watch TV and you can avoid the handful of chips or candy.

You can also use the chunks instead of ice cubes in your drink. They will give a glass of water a fruit juice infused flavor without spending grocery store prices on "fruit-infused" drinks that cost a fortune and are packed with sugar and preservatives.

But our favorite is using watermelon pureed ice cubes and using them to make smoothies. The consistency of pureed watermelon is already like a smoothie and it blends so seamlessly with a wide variety of other smoothie fruits, veggies, and even some protein powders.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are a few common questions about freezing watermelon.

Is it OK to put watermelon in the fridge? How long is watermelon good in fridge? Can you chill a watermelon in the freezer?

It is okay to put watermelon in the fridge. The fridge is a great place to protect your watermelon from pests and/or to avoid ending up with ants or some other creepy crawlies on your counter. However, be warned, low temperatures actually cause melons to go bad faster; usually within 3 to 4 days!

That is for cut watermelon; chunks, slices, wedges, you get the idea. An uncut watermelon will last, at the absolute maximum, for maybe 3 weeks. Buuuuuut, uncut melons can harbour bacteria inside which is no bueno.

Now, watermelon put in the freezer, whether chunks, slices, or puree, will last up to a year (8-12 months) and runs a much, much, MUUUCH, lower risk of any nasty bacterias growing on it.

If you are planning on eating it very soon and you just want to get it cold before hand, you can chill a watermelon in the fridge or freezer with no risk of it rotting or making you sick (unless you eat the entire watermelon yourself…which is probably not a bacterial sickness…nevermind).

Of course, if you are unsure about anything food related, you can always follow FDA.org guidelines to be safe.

How do you defrost frozen watermelon?

You can usually just eat the watermelon straight from the freezer; especially if it's pureed. Watermelon is so easy to break apart already that, even when frozen, it is not very difficult to chew. But, if you want to thaw it first anyway, stick it in the fridge over night or run it under some cool water for a minute or so.

We love fresh fruit! And we assume since you are here, you do too! We always end up growing more blackberries than we intend to because we over plant to begin with. Since we always end up with a huge harvest, we decided we needed to learn how to freeze blackberries.

Can You Freeze Blackberries?

Yes, you can easily freeze blackberries. Simply wash them, lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet to flash freeze them. Then, once frozen, you can put them into freezer bags for long term storage.

Blackberries are fantastic! They are delicious on their own, but you can also make jams out of them, put them in pie, in blackberry iced tea, or put them in a delicious fruit smoothie.

Freezing blackberries is very similar to freezing other fruits like freezing cherries, freezing grapes, freezing blueberries and freezing raspberries. Just follow the steps below.

How to freeze blackberries

Step One

After growing blackberries, when we harvest them, the first thing we do is washed them, especially if we're going to preserve them. Now, do you have to wash fresh blackberries before freezing? You don't have to, but you probably don't want to preserve all of the dirt and nasty stuff that can accumulate while being outside.

What we typically do is pile all of our blackberries into a metal colander in the sink, and then just rinse them with a steady stream of cool water.

Make sure you work you hands through all.of the blackberries and allow the water to wash over everything. This will make sure all of the dirt, bug stuff, or anything else from outdoors is washed off.

Step Two

After you've washed all of your blackberries and you feel like they're clean enough, you will want to give them time to dry. You can just leave them in the colander and make sure it is elevated to allow airflow to go through the holes.

Once they are dry, you'll want to take a 9 x 13 baking pan and arrange them in a single layer. You don't need to cut them or anything. You can freeze whole blackberries.

Put them into your freezer and allow them to freeze overnight. It should really only take a couple of hours, but if you do it overnight you won't feel the need to check on them every hour or so.

Step Three

Now that you had a good night's rest, your blackberries should be completely frozen. Take the cookie sheet out of the freezer.

Now you want to transfer all of your blackberries from your cookie sheets into quart size freezer bags. We like to measure them out a cup at a time. That allows us to keep decent portions and we know how much we're eating and how much we still have left. This information is important if you are ever doing a pantry inventory or taking the pantry challenge.

If you are freezing a lot of blackberries all at one time, you can use gallon size freezer bag. It is important to use bags designed for the freezer. They're much better at keeping moisture out of the bag and avoiding frostbite.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Common Questions

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions we have come across on this subject.

"How long will my blackberries last in freezer?"

Blackberries will freeze for up to 6 months without losing quality. When you're ready to eat them, take out a frozen portion and set them in a bowl of cold water until they are soft enough to eat. You may need to change out the water a time or two depending on how many blackberries you are thawing.

"Should I wash blackberries before freezing to keep mold or other things from growing on them?"

It depends on the type of berry. As a general rule, you are going to want to wash anything that comes from outside before you freeze and preserve it. Look at it this way, if you are preserving the food without washing it you are also preserving whatever dirt, microorganisms, and other random nasty outside/bug stuff, as well.

You may even want to try a quick vinegar bath (3:1 cups ratio water:vinegar) and rinse prior to freezing to kill off any potential mold growth. Or, if you don't like vinegar you can dunk them in hot water (120°+) for around 30 to 45 seconds.

A notable berry exception is the blueberry. Blueberries naturally have a wax over them that protects them. You can just freeze them. However, you will want to rinse them once you thaw and eat them.

"Won't freezing destroy the antioxidants?"

Freezing will not destroy antioxidants in any fruits or veggies. In fact, some studies show that freezing, or even just refrigerating, berries, fruits, and veggies can INCREASE their nutritional value; including antioxidants.

"Why are my blackberries turning red after I freeze them?"

Brace yourself, we're about to get all sciencey (is that a word?)!

This phenomenon is known as "red cell regression". Essentially, sudden changes to a berry's environment, particularly temperature, will lead to a chemical reaction that causes an otherwise black colored blackberry to revert back to a shade of red.

Research still continues on the exact chemical reaction but is not completely understood yet.

The best way can avoid having your blackberries turn red is to make sure they do not experience any drastic temperature changes in a short period of time. Some good practices to follow are:
● harvesting in the morning while the berries are still a lower temperature.
● setting up a shade prior to picking them if you are not able to harvest in the morning.
● cooling your berries in stages; like full sun to shade, shad to inside, inside room temperature to refrigerator, and finally, refrigerator to freezer.

"Ok, they're frozen. Now, how do I defrost frozen blackberries later?"

You may be asking yourself, "how do you unfreeze blackberries without them getting mushy?". The answer is not in how you freeze them, but in how you defrost them. A simple way to do this is to take a portion of berries and put them in a bowl on the counter top. Fill that bowl with cold water and leave them sitting for just a couple of minutes.

Come back and check on the berries and see if they have defrosted. If they are still frozen, replace the water with fresh cold water and repeat the process until your berries are defrosted but still firm.

If you do this too long, the berries can then start to retain some of that water and soak it in, and then they will become mushy.

Can you freeze kiwi? We've asked ourselves that same question many, many times. We are not fortunate enough to live in a tropical paradise where kiwis grow in abundance so we have to rely on our local produce department to keep us stocked up. And we ALWAYS keep an eye out for a good sale.

But kiwi gets soft and mushy after a week. Right? So what do you do with it if you can't eat it all that quickly?

Simple.

You freeze it.

Can you freeze kiwi?

You absolutely can freeze kiwi! It's super easy and you have a few options to do it. You can freeze kiwi whole, sliced (or diced), or as a puree.

Kiwi is one of the easiest foods to freeze. It doesn't need to be blanched. It doesn't even need to be peeled (you can eat the skin)!

Frozen kiwi is a wonderfully delicious, and healthy, snack. If you have any experience freezing cantaloupe, freezing blackberries, freezing blueberries, freezing strawberries, or freezing raspberries, then this will be a familiar process for you. If you haven't, don't sweat it, you'll catch up just fine!

Frozen kiwis are perfect for making smoothies or treating yourself with a healthy, chip-like snack. The methods we use are freezing whole (with or without the skin), sliced (or diced), and pureed. Let's take a look at how it's done.

Supplies

You are going to need the following supplies:

• kiwis
• cookie sheet (for freezing whole)
• blender or food processor (for puree)
• ice cube trays (for puree)
• measuring cup
• freezer bags
• sharpie or marker

Freezing whole kiwis

Freezing whole kiwis is the easiest of all three methods.

Step One

Put your whole kiwis in a freezer bag and stick them in the freezer.

The end.

For real. It's that easy.

You can peel them first, if you like. If you do not peel them, you will want to wash it first and make sure all of the hairs are removed. But freezing whole kiwi is really easy.

Although it is easy, this is our least favorite way to preserve kiwi. Whole kiwi takes a while to thaw and, once thawed, is extremely soggy and mushy due to all of the moisture in the fruit. The flavor is still okay but the texture experience is not nearly as good as sliced, diced, or pureed.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Freezing kiwi slices

Kiwi slices are our personal favorites. They are quick and easy to thaw. Plus, frozen kiwi chips are really, really good. Additionally, if you want to have a kiwi smoothie, you can toss them in the blender with your other ingredients and they blend pretty easily even when still frozen.

Step One

If you want to leave the skin on, make sure to wash all the little hair fibers off. If not, start by peeling your kiwis.

Step Two

Decide if you want kiwi dice, full round kiwi circles, or half moon shaped slices. Take a sharp knife and, if you want half moon slices or dice, cut the kiwi in half first. If you want full circles, just start on one end and carefully cut thin slices.

Half moon shapes are cut the same as full circle slices, you just cut it in half first. Kiwi dice can be cut by following the half moon shape method and then, while holding the slices together, turn the kiwi and make another line of slices perpendicular to the first slices.

Step Three

Whichever method you choose, the next step is the same. Line all of your kiwi pieces in a single layer on a cookie sheet (just as you would when freezing bananas slices or freezing mozzarella slices). Place the cookie sheet in your freezer and wait a few hours. We like to do it overnight but if it's earlier in the day they should be good and solid in about 5 or 6 hours.

We freeze them on a cookie sheet first so that they do not stick together in the bag.

Step Four

After the kiwi has had time to freeze, take the cookie sheet out of the freezer. Next, you will want to put all of the frozen kiwi pieces in a freezer safe bag. We always make sure to write the contents, quantity, and freeze date on the outside of the bag.

Puree your kiwi

If you don't want to use your kiwi for chips then puree is the way to go. Pureed kiwi is also a great base for baby food.

Step One

Again, wash the hairs from the skin or peel the kiwis first. The hairs come of pretty easily under a steady stream of cold water and a little bit of wiping. You can use your hands to wipe it clean.

Step Two

You can toss whole kiwis in your blender or food processor, if you like. We find we have better results if we cut our kiwis in half or in quarters first. Whichever you do, place them all in your blender and use the puree, or similar, function.

If you are having trouble getting a good, smooth mix, you can start to add a little water in to help the blades mash it up a little better.

Step Three

After your kiwis are pureed, pour them into the reservoirs of an ice cube tray. Just like with the slices, we will do a pre-freeze before the final freeze.

Stick the ice cube trays in the fridge overnight or for a few hours. They may take a little longer since they are now in a thicker liquid form and not a thin slice.

Step Four

Once frozen, remove the ice cube trays from the freezer and pop all of the kiwi cubes out. Put them all in a freezer safe bag, write the contents, quantity, and date on it and place it back in the freezer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are a few common questions about freezing raspberries.

How long can you keep kiwis in the freezer?

Kiwis can stay fresh in the freezer for up to a year. We always follow FDA guidelines and recommendations for food and freezing safety.

How do you defrost frozen kiwi?

There are 2½ methods of defrosting that we recommend. We say 2½ because one method isn't exactly thawing them.

The first method for thawing frozen kiwi is to just stick the frozen kiwis in the fridge overnight. It's slow but after a few hours your kiwis will no longer be frozen. They will, however, be pretty soggy.

The second way to unfreeze them is to place them in a bowl of cold water and set it on the counter. Check on them in about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how thick the slices are. If they are still frozen when you check, replace the water with fresh cold water and check again in another 5 to 10 minutes. Repeat this process until your kiwis is thawed. This method will also result in soggy and mushy kiwi.

The last, or second and a half, method is to not thaw them at all. Eat them as frozen chips or put the pieces in a smoothie. They will thaw in the liquid of the smoothie and will not have an unappetizing mushy texture.

Why are my thawed kiwis so mushy?

Remember, kiwis have a high moisture content so when thawed they change in texture quite a bit. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to remove enough moisture to avoid mushy kiwis once frozen. That is why we highly recommend the sliced or pureed methods.

Yes, you can freeze cantaloupe. In fact, you can freeze it whole or as a puree to use in a wide variety of different ways, like a healthy snack or in smoothies. Frozen cantaloupe can last up to a year in your freezer without losing too much of it's taste, texture, and quality.

Keep reading to find out all details and methods.

Why Freeze Cantaloupe?

Cantaloupe is a bright orange, juicy and delicious fruit. It is a type of melon. It is full of lots of vitamins, minerals and water content (to help keep you hydrated).

Unfortunately, this yummy fruit is seasonal. That means it is usually only available during certain months. Depending on the climate, peak season can be from May through September.

So, if cantaloupe is one of your favorite snacks, then you would probably like to have access to it year round. Fresh cantaloupe uncut can only last for 3 weeks in cold storage, and for one week in the refrigerator.

Therefore, in order to have access to cantaloupe at all times, you will need to find a way to store it long term. The best way to do this is by freezing your cantaloupe.

Freezing slices or cubes

Freezing cantaloupe is pretty simple when you get right down to it. Just like when freezing blackberries, freezing blueberries, freezing strawberries, freezing raspberries (and most other fruits) you don't have to bother with blanching first.

The simplest way to freeze cantaloupe is to just cut it, bag it, and freeze it.

Step One: Make sure you have chosen a ripe cantaloupe and washed the rind first.

Using a knife or your melon peeler you will want to cut your cantaloupe in half. Once you do that you can pull all of the seeds from the core and scrape it clean. Don't throw away your seeds either. They make a fantastic roasted snack.

Step Two: Decide if you want slices or balls. If you want slices you can use your melon peeler and simply cut out the slices. If you want bite sized balls just use your melon baller and scoop them out of the center.

Step Three: Now lay your slices or melon balls on your cookie sheet in a single layer (just like when freezing bananas or freezing asparagus slices). Put the cookie sheet in the freezer for a few hours or overnight to flash freeze. This will give them time to freeze completely and not stick together which can be a real hassle when you want to use them later.

Step Four: Once the cantaloupe has completely frozen, take the pieces from the cookie sheet and place them in freezer safe ziplock bags. Make sure you write the contents, quantity, and date on the outside of the bag before putting it back into the freezer.

Cantaloupe puree

This is our favorite method because it is so versatile. As we mentioned earlier, you can use these in smoothies, sorbets, or just eat it as a cold snack.

First, repeat steps one and two above. In step two, make sure to cut it into chunks and not just slices.

Step three: Place your chunks into a blender or food processor. Turn it on for a few minutes at high or until the chunks are a consistent puree.

Step four: Pour the pureed cantaloupe into the compartments of an ice cube tray and pop it into the freezer for a few hours.

Step five: Once the cubes of puree are frozen, pop them out of the ice cube tray and place them into freezer bags. Make sure to squeeze all of the air from the bag before sealing and labeling it.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Top Tips

• Make sure you use a ripe cantaloupe.
• Don't skip the flash freezing if freezing in slices or chunks.
• Label the freezer bag or container with the contents, quantity and date.
• Freeze in amounts that you will use later. Ie: freeze enough for a smoothie in each bag.

How to Defrost Cantaloupe

Defrosting or thawing cantaloupe is quite easy. The absolute best and safest way to do it is by placing it into the refrigerator overnight.

It usually takes several hours for it to completely thaw, so overnight works best. However, do be aware that if you are looking to snack on it, the texture will be a little mushy if it is completely thawed.

So, if you are just using it for regular snacking, you may want to just defrost it for an hour or two in the fridge. Then, take it out to eat while it is still a little frozen.

Of note, for many of the uses listed below (like smoothies) you don't need to thaw it at all. You can simply pull it out of the freezer and use it.

How to Use Frozen or Thawed Cantaloupe

• Smoothies
• Juices
• Sorbet
• Snack
• Fruit Salad
• Muffins, breads or other baked goods

Freezing Cantaloupe FAQs

How to Freeze Cantaloupe

MrAnimal Farm

Freezing cantaloupe is a super easy way to ensure you can enjoy this sweet fruit year round. You can freeze it in slices, chunks or as a puree.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Freezing Time 1 hour hr

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Equipment

• Knife
• Cutting Board
• Cookie Sheet
• Freezer Bags

Ingredients

  

• 1 whole Cantaloupe ripe

Instructions

 

• Wash off your ripe cantaloupe.
• Cut the cantaloupe in half and scoop out the seeds.

Freezing in slices or chunks

• Cut it into slices and then cut the rind off of each slice.
• If you want to freeze as chunks, cut each slice into chunks a few inches in size.
• Place the slices or chunks on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer to flash freeze. This takes an hour or so.
• Once they are hard, remove from the freezer and package into a freezer bag or an airtight container and place back into the freezer.

As a puree

• Take your halved cantaloupe with the seeds removed and cut it into slices or chunks.
• Place it into a food processor and process until it is a mushy consistency like a smoothie.
• Pour the puree into ice cube trays and place into the freezer.
• After an hour or two, once the cubes are frozen, remove and package into a freezer bag or an airtight container and place back into the freezer.

Notes

Top Tips

• Use a fresh, ripe cantaloupe
• Package it in amounts that will be how much you want to use when thawed.
• Puree is best for juices, smoothies and cooking; slices are best for fruit salads and snacking.
• Freezes well for up to one year.

Keyword Freezing Cantaloupe

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

When we plant our garden we almost always plant too much. We end up with way more berries than we can eat in a single season. Fortunately, we learned how to freeze raspberries so they can last us all the way until the next berry season!

Read below for all the details on how to preserve your raspberries before they go bad.

Can You Freeze Raspberries?

Yes, you can easily freeze raspberries in a couple of ways; whole or pureed. Both food preservation techniques are pretty simple. Essentially, all the steps boil down to clean, freeze (or puree first), eat. We will, of course get into more details as we go further.

Steps for how to freeze raspberries

We love the versatility of berries. Regardless of if they are blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries, they have a million and one uses. You can put them in oatmeal, on top of pancakes, blend them in a smoothie, or eat them plain, just to name a few.

What's even better, is you can preserve them using the same techniques! That's right, you can also freeze blueberries, freeze blackberries, and freeze strawberries, You can freeze them and have garden fresh berries all year around.

Frozen raspberries, in particular, are perfect for giving whatever you are eating a perfectly blended sweet and sour kick. The add a little more flavor to waffles and can give your breakfast smoothie the extra jump you need to get your day started.

We will cover two methods of freezing today; freezing whole berries and freezing raspberry puree (but not the kind you find in a second hand store).

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Supplies

You are going to need the following supplies:

• raspberries (of course)
• colander
• cookie sheet (for freezing whole)
• blender or food processor (for puree)
• ice cube trays (for puree)
• measuring cup
• freezer bags
• sharpie or marker

Freezing whole berries

Let's start out with the easiest method; freezing whole berries.

Step One

Once you have harvested your raspberries you will want to gather them into a colander large enough to hold them all. Put the colander in your sink and run cold water over them. Use your hands to move the berries around and get off any unwanted dirt, bugs, or anything else you do not want to preserve with your food.

Step Two

Now you want to dry your raspberries completely. You can do this by laying them out on some paper towels. You can also place them in a second colander, slightly raised to allow air flow to dry them. Whichever method you use, you will want to make sure they are as dry as possible.

Step Three

Take out your cookie sheet and arrange a single layer of raspberries. You can pack as many as you like into the cookie sheet just make sure that it's a single layer and they are not stacked or piled up.

Now place the cookie sheet in the freezer and leave for a few hour (we like to do this at night so they can sit overnight).

Step Four

Once a few hours has passed (or you've woken up) your berries should all be frozen. Now all you need to do is portion them out however you like and add them into freezer bags. Make sure to label the bags with a Sharpie noting the contents, quantity, and date of freezing.

Puree your raspberries

Freezing pureed raspberries is really good if you like to make smoothies, sorbets, and those sorts of snacks.

Step One

This is the same as freezing whole raspberries. You will want to pick them and clean them in a colander under cold running water. Make sure to massage the berries enough to allow good water coverage and remove any undesirable debris.

Step Two

Here is where we start to diverge. Instead of drying your berries, toss them all in a blender or food processor. Set it to the puree (sometimes they will have a smoothie setting) and let it do it's thing until they are all blended together.

Step Three

Pour your blended raspberries into your ice cube trays. Place the trays into the freezer and allow to sit for a few hours or overnight.

Step Four

Once they have all frozen simply pop the raspberry cubes out of the tray and put them in a freezer bag. When you are are ready to use them you can toss them straight into the blender for your smoothie. It's super easy and delicious!

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are a few common questions about freezing raspberries.

How long can you keep raspberries in the freezer?

You can leave frozen raspberries, both whole and pureed, in the freezer for up to a year. They may still be safe to eat after that but they will definitely start to degrade in taste, texture, and quality. Remember to always follow FDA guidelines on food preservation safety.

How do you defrost frozen raspberries?

When you're ready to use your raspberries you have a couple options. You can leave them in the fridge overnight to allow them to slowly thaw. This is time consuming and can also make them soggy. You can also just munch on them frozen. This is the quickest method but can be tough on your teeth and not an enjoyable experience.

The best method is to put your berries in a bowl and fill it with cold water. Then sit the bowl on your counter and wait a few minutes. Test the berries and see if they are still frozen or if they have thawed. Replace the water and test as needed until they are completely unfrozen but still firm. Too much water or soaking for too long can make the berries water logged and soggy.

If you are one of the many types of people that over estimate what they need when planting their garden (or be prepared, as we like to say) you may find yourself with an overabundance of radishes as well as other crops. How do you make sure they do not go bad? Can you freeze radishes?

Keep reading for all the details on how to preserve this awesome vegetable.

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Can you freeze radishes?

Yes, you can freeze radishes! In fact, freezing radishes for long term storage is one of the best food preservation techniques you can use. Essentially, to freeze radishes is a 4 step process; clean, cut, blanch, & freeze.

Frozen radishes may lose some taste and texture, as well as a small bit of nutrients but they will stay good for up to 6 months which is long enough to get to your next gardening season.

Radishes are a great vegetable that is easy to grow and are packed full of valuable nutrients. They go well with many dishes as they are considered a "super food".

With out further ado, let's get into the process.

How To Freeze Radishes

Freezing is one of the best methods to preserve most of your garden crops. Learning to freeze radishes is not too much different than freezing zucchini, freezing yellow squash , freezing butternut squash, and freezing green beans. If you are familiar with how to blanch then you will have no problem preserving your radishes, as well.

Supplies

Let's get started with our supply list. To freeze radishes you are going to need:

• radishes
• vegetable cleaning brush
• 2 colanders (one for cleaning and one for blanching)
• knife or mandolin slicer
• large stock pot
• large mixing bowl
• measuring cup
• freezer bags
• sharpie or marker

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Start by washing them

The first step in preserving radishes, and any vegetable really, is to make sure it is good and clean. Since radishes are considered root vegetables they are going to be pretty dirty. Fortunately, cleaning them isn't too hard.

Simply, run your radishes under cold water and gently scrub the dirt off of the radish. You can do this by hand or by using a vegetable cleaning brush. These are designed to remove excess dirt without damaging the skin or edible parts of the vegetable.

We also recommend using a colander while cleaning to make sure your sink does not end up clogged with dirt and mud.

Cut into slices

Take a sharp knife or your mandolin slicer and prepare to cut your radishes. You will want to slice them into thin slices or 'medallions'. You want them to be thin but not transparently thin. About ⅛" - ¼" should work well.

Do make sure to remove the ends and discard them. Like with how to freeze cucumbers, squash, and other veggies, the ends contain an enzyme that will allow the radish to continue to age even when frozen. If you cut them off that enzyme is no longer an issue once you blanch.

Blanch your radishes

Now it's time to blanch your radishes. Bring a large stock pot of water to a boil. Add all of your radish medallions to a colander small enough to fit into the pot.

Once your pot of water is at a rolling boil, gently lower the colander of radishes into the water. Set a timer for 2 - 3 minutes. While the radishes are boiling, prepare a large mixing bowl with cold water and ice.

Once the timer goes off, carefully remove the colander of radishes from the boiling water and put them into the ice water bath. This is to instantly cool the radishes and stop the cooking process. We cook for a short period of time to destroy the enzymes we mentioned earlier which will allow the radish to continue to age. This will stop that from happening.

Once cooled, take the radishes out of the ice bath and dry them off. They do not have to be completely dry, just free of excess water. Patting them dry with a paper towel should do just fine.

Time to freeze them

Depending on how many radishes you are freezing you will want to get the appropriate amount of freezer bags. Use a sharpie or a marker to label the freezer bag with the contents, quantity, and date.

A single serving of radish medallions is around 1 measured cup. Add a scoop or 2 to the freezer bag, label it appropriately, and stick in your freezer. It should only take a few hours for them to freeze completely.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the more common questions we came across while researching this topic.

Q1. How do you defrost frozen radishes?

Freezing radishes does no good if you don't know how to defrost them to use later. It's easy to thaw them though. Simply run them under cold water until you no longer see any ice crystals and they are flexible again.

Q2. How long will frozen radishes keep in the freezer?

Radishes will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 6 months. After that, they may still be edible but will begin to go through some flavor and textural changes. Additionally, they will start to lose some of their nutrients.

Q3. Will freezing ruin radishes?

Freezing will not ruin radishes. Freezing radishes is a great way to preserve their nutrients and flavor for an extended period of time. However, as we mentioned above, it is possible for them to change flavor, texture, and lose nutrients if frozen for too long.

Q4. Can you freeze without blanching?

It is not recommended to freeze radishes without blanching. Blanching removes the enzyme that causes the radish to age even after freezing. If frozen without blanching, your radishes will continue to age and rot, even in the freezer!

Q5. Can you freeze radish greens?

Let no part of your harvest go to waste! You can even freeze radish greens. Believe it or not, it's even easier than freezing radishes. All you need to do is blanch them for 10 seconds, dry them, bag them, and freeze them. Easy peasy!

Q6. What other ways can you preserve radishes?

If freezing isn't your thing, there are a few other ways to preserve radishes. You can pickle them, ferment them, and even dehydrate them. Each of these options requires there own process and each have their own freezer life.

Conclusion

Freezing radishes really is a simple food preservation technique. Now you know how to keep your radishes fresh and you can stay fully stocked in between gardening seasons.

Happy freezing!

You can freeze butternut squash to preserve its freshness. There are three popular methods to do this; flash freezing, puree, and the cook & blanch method. Each method is easy to do and will ensure that your butternut squash will last until you can grow some more.

Freezing butternut squash is the best way to preserve the flavor and important nutrients that this most loved type of winter squash contains. Follow these three different ways to freeze butternut squash. If you have wheel barrows full from your summer garden or you’ve just found a great deal at the grocery store you couldn’t pass up, this post is just what you need. 

Growing butternut squash, like growing yellow squash and growing zucchini, is by far one of the easiest crops to grow in my garden. I often grow a lot of squash great for fresh eating and freeze the rest for fall and winter. Some winter squash varieties are great for storing in your cold storage as well.

Butternut squash will keep for a month or more when stored in a dark cool place. 

If the squash is peeled, it should be covered and stored in the fridge for up to five days. The best way to preserve your squash for longer storage is by pickling it or freezing. In this post you’ll learn the three common ways to freeze butternut squash to preserve your fresh summer harvest.

Butternut squash is a great option for fresh eating or preserving for the fall and winter months by freezing. From roasting the squash and adding to a salad, as a side dish to a roast meal or better yet my favorite butternut squash soup with a dollop of sour cream the options for making meals with butternut squash are endless. 

Three Ways to Freeze Butternut Squash 

There are three popular ways to freeze butternut squash for eating within 6 months to a year. The quickest and easiest method is flash freezing, the second is by blanching and finally making butternut squash puree. 

All three methods actually work for most winter squashes including freezing spaghetti squash and acorn squash.

Depending on what your meal and baking plans are for the fall and winter months will depend on the methods you consider. Flash freezing and blanching are great options for roasted squash, chilli,  stews and casseroles where as squash puree is lovely for pureed soups.

Flash Freezing

Flash freezing is a perfect method for freezing fresh fruits and vegetables in individual bite size pieces to make measuring and cooking much easier later on. 

The flash freezing method is popular for freezing berries for baking or chopped vegetables for soups and stews. To flash freeze butternut squash you’ll need a few tools:

• potato peeler or knife
• cookie sheet or baking pan
• parchment paper
• freezer bags

The steps to flash freeze are also pretty simple:

• Peel the squash using a potato peeler 
• Cut the squash into 2 inch size cubes
• Place in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
• Place cookie sheet flat in the freezer for a day or two or until pieces are fully frozen. 
• Fill freezer bags with frozen pieces of squash

The best way to enjoy your frozen butternut squash chunks is by roasting them with roasted vegetables come the winter. It’s a quick and easy side dish for any roast meal and with a little butter and herbs they taste delicious. 

When using this method, be sure to cook and eat within 4 months due to the fact that it is not pre-cooked it will continue to age in the freezer and will go bad eventually. Freezing just slows the process down.

If you want to store it longer, follow the baking instructions in the puree section or skip to the blanching method below.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Butternut squash puree

This is a popular method of freezing squash for pies, soups, and baby food. 

The first thing to do when making butternut squash puree is to wash the outside of the squash well. Then, simply slice the squash in half length wise and scoop out any seeds for later roasting or seed saving for next years garden. 

Once squash are prepared, line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper and bake the butternut squash halves flesh down for approximately 45 minutes or until quite tender. 

After the squash has baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool. The skins will peel away from the squash easily then transfer to a large stock pot. 

Puree the butternut squash using an immersion blender or food processor to puree the squash. 

The immersion blender makes manual mashing or using a food processor a thing of the past. In just a matter of minutes the job is complete and super easy and quick to clean up. 

It’s quite easy to freeze butternut squash puree. Simply fill medium sized freezer bags with 2 cups of pureed squash to easily use for recipes later on. Label the bag with the amount and the date. 

Use your squash within 6 months to a year.

Lay bags flat between cookie sheets until frozen then stand in freezer drawers for ultimate storage. 

Pureed butternut squash can be used for baking, adding to soups, chilli, casserole or even pasta sauces. 

Blanched

Blanching is a popular method of preserving flavor and vitamins and minerals in fruits and vegetables before freezing.

It’s also a guick and easy method to stop the ripening process of the squash and to easily remove skins. 

Most cooks suggest blanching for three to five minutes then cooling in ice water followed immediately with freezing. The reason we blanch is it kills enzymes that continue the aging process thus retaining vital nutrients and a palatable texture.

Isn’t it exciting that you know how to easily and quickly freeze butternut squash? I mean nothing feels better than making the most of what you have and getting a good deal. You’re future self will thank you when you’re tired and needing to whip up a healthy meal for your family. 

What do you plan to use your frozen butternut squash for? Comment below and inspire more great content from MrAnimal Farm. 

An added plus is you’ll be prepared and you don’t have to worry about wasting a good crop or a great deal at the store. 

Thanks to Diana Bouchard for this tutorial contribution.

Diana Bouchard at Wandering Hoof Ranch helps others plan to lead a homegrown healthier lifestyle without the overwhelm and burn out. People often ask her how do you grow and raise your own food and stay sane? Day by day, one thing at a time with the help of the Happy Homestead Planning System.