To freeze zucchini for the winter is very simple. For two hours, the hostess, even without the help of someone from the household, will easily cope with all the procedures for preparing to freeze the zucchini for the whole winter.
The main thing is to have on hand a good quality vegetables and a freezer freezer.
The article describes the workpieces, the process of freezing zucchini for the winter at home and the other actions and nuances that you have to face.
Is it possible to freeze zucchini?
Many housewives and gardeners are very concerned about the question: Is it possible to freeze the zucchini for the winter in the freezer? We hurry to please you - of course you can, and even need. And the volume of the workpiece is limited by the capacity of the freezer compartment of the refrigerator cabinet.
If you live in a region where the frost comes early and lasts the whole winter without a thaw with a positive temperature, the processed zucchini can be stored in an unheated extension (on the balcony) - if there is a supply of vegetables lying whole from autumn.
Fundamental rules
For freezing zucchini for the winter are ideal vegetables with such characteristics:
- unripe fruit (desirable);
- no signs of rot, maximum with small, barely beginning signs of damage to the skin.
Before grinding zucchini:
- wash, free from the stem, the attachment of the flower;
- dry thoroughly;
- cleaned of seeds and adjacent pulp, if the fruits are overripe;
- in large fruits cut off the top layer of the skin, if it is dense, hard.
Preparation process
Algorithm for preparing zucchini for freezing:
- Thoroughly rinse a batch of vegetables scheduled for freezing.
- Dry each fruit.
- To clear large fruits from a peel, seeds and the chaff adjacent to them.
- Grind.
- To blanch (optional).
- Pre-heat: fry until cooked in circles, cook sauté, and caviar as desired.
- Squeeze the mass, if crushed with a grater or blanched.
- Slightly dry, spreading one mass of cubes, cubes, circles on one table, baking sheet, a large flat plate.
- Assemble into a package (vacuum, normal), spread out on a cutting board, the size of which is less than the parameters of the width and depth of the freezer.
- Put the packaged product in the chamber.
Cutting options
The shape of the individual fragments is determined by focusing on the dish in which the zucchini will be used frozen for the winter. So, types of cutting:
- rings (thickness 0, 7-10 mm) - for frying, use in complex sandwiches, pizza;
- cubes / wedges - for cooking stews, squash caviar diner;
- grinding with the help of a grater - for fritters, caviar, cooking cream soup, baby puree.
Blanching issue
After you have more or less dealt with the question of how to freeze zucchini for the winter, another equally important point emerges - blanching, is it necessary? It is done at will. Some housewives do not like the taste of the zucchini after freezing, if before sending the vegetable mass to the refrigerator it was not blanched.
A simple experience will help determine your own taste preferences.:
- First, freeze blanched and not blanched portion of zucchini.
- The next day, prepare the usual way both blanks.
- The most favorite result will help determine the method of preparation of zucchini for the winter.
What to put?
Prepared zucchini can be packaged:
- In plastic / metal food containers.
- In ordinary plastic bags.
- In packages with vacuum lock.
- On a flat board (suitable for preparing a pair of servings).
Temperature and storage time
Vegetables are perfectly frozen both in a conventional refrigerator freezer (-12 ° C; -18 ° C), and in a freezer with boxes for deep-freezing food (at a temperature: -24 ° C; -26 ° C). So how much is frozen zucchini stored? Up to 10 months (once melted zucchini mass is not recommended to re-freeze).
Ways to freeze
Squashes are frozen:
- crushed;
- without pre blanching;
- without pre-drying (chopped and immediately put in the freezer);
- boil in boiling water for about 2 minutes;
- mixed with chopped herbs, spices;
- combining with chopped vegetables, past / not past roasting (pepper, carrot, tomato, eggplant).
In freezer
Let's break it down what do we need to freeze zucchini in the freezer:
- Wash the vegetables.
- Remove moisture from the fruit by wiping it with a towel or leaving it to dry naturally.
- Prepare packing containers: plastic containers, plastic bags with or without vacuum clamps.
- Get a tool: cutting board, knife.
- Trim tails, remove scuffs, specks of damage, growths.
- Cut the large fruits into halves, release them from the rind, seeds, adjacent pulp.
- Grind zucchini.
- Slightly dry if there is no desire to blanch.
- Blanched briefly immersed in ice water, and then fold on a sieve, waiting for all the liquid to drain.
- Place the processed mass in containers, packages, on the board and put into the freezer for an hour.
- After half an hour to get the container, shake / mix the contents (so that the mass retains the flowability).
- Placed on a baking sheet, the board quickly collect and place the mugs in a container, placing each piece on the edge, or poured into a bag.
- Remove processed zucchini for storage.
In a refrigerator
Frozen zucchini can be stored only in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator. The processing algorithm of zucchini is the same as for the mass intended for storage in the freezer.
Eggplant storage
We now turn to the question of whether it is possible and how to freeze zucchini with eggplants for the winter? Answering the first question, we assure you that yes, you can.
Pre-need to remove from the eggplant excessive bitterness. How to do it? If not all hostesses blanch the zucchini before freezing, then almost every one exposes the eggplants to a little heat treatment to make their taste more pleasant.
You can also remove bitterness from eggplant in a dry way: hold the cups or eggplant slices sprinkled with salt for some time. Twenty minutes later, the salt-blue "therapy" is washed, dried with a towel and subjected to further processing using the method of preparing zucchini for freezing.
Grated zucchini
Zucchini chopped with the help of a grater is needed for making pancakes, mashed soups, dishes for baby food. The algorithm of freezing the mass of grated zucchini:
- The fruits are washed.
- Remove the stem and attachment of the flower.
- Ripe seeds are harvested from large vegetables, peeled.
- Rub the pieces on the grater (the size of the holes is chosen, focusing on the further use of the workpiece).
- A lot of squeezed, salt to taste, flavored with spices, placed in a plastic container, a plastic bag.
- The packaged mass is placed in the freezer.
Recipes
There are many variations on how to freeze zucchini for the winter for different dishes, below we look at the most popular and popular ones.
For a quick stew
Two squash 200 g each wash, peel, stem, receptacle. Then:
- grind zucchini;
- peel two onions, cut and fry (oil to taste);
- add a couple of grated carrots to golden onions, put the mass out almost to readiness;
- separately put out four red peppers on a small amount of oil;
- cool processed vegetables to cool and mix with zucchini mass;
- prefabricated place in the package, then give a flat look;
- put away the billet for a quick stew in the fridge.
With greens
In order not to keep zucchini and greens in separate packets, they can be mixed before being sent to the freezer. First, wash vegetables and parsley / dill, then free from excess water. Clean blanks are crushed (zucchini cubes, greens as usual), mixed, packed, sent for cooling in the freezer.
Using the capabilities of the freezer, you can cook typical summer dishes from zucchini not only in season, but also on Christmas, on any winter or spring day. The main thing is to prepare more frozen vegetables in time.
