While the primary purpose of growing vegetables is to eat them soon after they’re picked fresh from the garden, many of us like to extend their flavors throughout the year by storing and preserving any excess.
Tomatoes that have been dried in a vegetable dehydrator have the same sweet, rich flavor as their traditional, sun-dried counterparts.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/Image Point
Some garden vegetables, like corn, peas and radishes, begin losing taste and texture from the moment they’re picked. There’s no substitute for eating them fresh. (Although drying peas maintains flavor.) Many others, including root and tuber vegetables, winter squash, pumpkins and cabbage or cucumbers, can be preserved in brine or pickled. Other popular means of storing and preserving vegetables are dehydration and drying. Finally, you can pressure-can some produce in glass jars; make jellies, jams and chutneys; or, with some preparation, blanch, pack and freeze it.
Storing fresh vegetables requires sorting them into groups, depending on the conditions they need. Choose a dark, warm, dry spot for gourds, potatoes, pumpkins and squash – at about 55-65 degrees F. Cool and dry is the best choice for sun-dried vegetables, including peas, beans, peppers and tomatoes, as well as for dried and dehydrated chives, garlic, leeks and onions – keep the temperature between 40-50 degrees F.
Your refrigerator’s vegetable keeper is the best spot for produce that needs cool and moist storage, including green beans, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, melons, okra and summer squash. Finally, store asparagus, beets, broccoli, cabbage, celery, lettuce, rhubarb, green onions, leeks, fresh peas and radishes in moist conditions, at temperatures from 34-38 degrees, as in a porous paper bag placed in the lower compartments of a home refrigerator.
Freezing has become the most popular preserving technique for most vegetables. Experts agree that deep-freezing at very low temperatures is the best way to store fresh vegetables for periods as long as 6 months. It helps retain the most nutrients than other storage methods, as well as holds that garden-fresh flavor.
Gone are the efforts associated with hot brines and syrups, pressure cookers and the extensive effort needed for home canning. Any firm-fleshed vegetable that can be cut into small pieces, mashed or pureed is suitable for freezing.
The secret to freezing is twofold: blanching and quick-freezing. Blanching – a prefreezing immersion in boiling water for 1-2 minutes – helps retain optimum flavor and texture. After draining, pack and quick-freeze them to 0 degrees F.
For best results, follow these simple steps.
Freezing Vegetables
Freezing Vegetables - Step 1
Chill fleshy vegetables after harvesting to avoid having their sugars turn to starch.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Freezing Vegetables - Step 2
Shuck legumes and prepare other vegetables for blanching by peeling and cutting. (Cutting them into pieces helps them freeze quickly.)
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Freezing Vegetables - Step 3
For processed vegetables, cook, mash or puree, then cool and strain, and package for freezing.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Freezing Vegetables - Step 4
For vegetables frozen whole or in slices, blanch them in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then immerse them immediately in an ice-water bath to stop the cooking process. When they’re cold, drain and pack for freezing.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Freezing Vegetables - Step 5
Pack vegetables tightly either in containers, resealable bags or special vacuum bags. Remove all excess moisture and air, then seal (or use a vacuum sealer to exhaust all air and then seal).
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Freezing Vegetables - Step 6
Quick-freeze in a deep freezer set to its lowest temperature, allowing air to circulate between the vegetable packages. (Quick-freezing avoids formation of ice crystals that rupture plant cell walls and affect texture.)
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Canning and Pickling
Home canning using mason jars with one-time-use lids and tight metal rings has faded from popularity. Unlike pickling, which relies on salt brine to preserve vegetables, or sweet condiment processes that produce jams and jellies and sterilize naturally because of their high sugar content, canning relies solely on high-heat processing and careful attention to prevent bacterial growth and health hazards.
To be successful, you need the right canning equipment and method: Canning jars and their contents all must be pre-sterilized by boiling, packed using clean tools while still hot, carefully sealed and placed into a pressure cooker for treatment at temperatures of as much as 230 degrees F for times that vary by the vegetable and the type of pressure cooker used.
By contrast, pickled cucumbers and sauerkraut need simple packing in boiling brine made of salt and vinegar. They’re sealed and boiled for 15-20 minutes in an open saucepan on a stove before cooling and storing. Fresh pickles and sauerkraut may be made by brining washed, raw cucumbers and shredded cabbage in a loosely covered crock stored in a cool, dark spot at 35-45 degrees F for 4-6 weeks, then packing them loosely into jars and setting them in a household refrigerator for use in 2-4 weeks.
Pickling
For crunchy dill pickles, pack pickling cucumbers into sterilized canning jars with cloves of garlic, fresh dill and pickling spices. Add boiling salt-and-vinegar brine and seal loosely. Put jars into boiling water for 15-20 minutes until the brine boils. Remove jars to cool and immediately tighten rings.
Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/Kyle Chesser
