Freezing bell peppers for the winter

The idea of selling frozen food appeared in America in the early 20th century, and it wasn't until the 1950s, with the advent of refrigerators in most households, that frozen food became commonplace. Now, in addition to salting and pickling vegetables, every housewife can save any vegetables.

In this article, we will tell you in detail how to freeze bell peppers for the winter.

Is it possible to freeze bell peppers for the winter

You can buy a vegetable in a supermarket in winter, but its price is exorbitant. Therefore, many housewives are thinking about how to prepare pepper for the winter. It can be canned, dried, salted and pickled. Recently, the most popular method of preserving the workpiece is freezing. During processing, the vegetable does not lose its nutrients and vitamins. The bright color and taste of the vegetable is preserved.

It is not only possible to freeze a sweet vegetable, but also necessary. Use frozen vegetables to make omelets, soups, salads, stews, baked goods, and so on.

General information

Unfortunately, in our country it is impossible to grow vegetables, berries and fruits all year round. That is why many summer residents are trying to preserve their crops by conservation or conventional freezing. It should be noted that the two presented storage methods are significantly different. After all, salted or, for example, pickled vegetables are suitable for use only as a snack or some kind of addition to the main dish. But frozen ingredients can not only be consumed after complete thawing, but also used to prepare side dishes, goulashes, soups, and even baked goods. In this regard, a huge number of people are interested in the question of how to freeze bell peppers. Indeed, in winter, it will be possible to make various second and first courses from it.

Choosing and preparing a vegetable before starting the process

For harvesting, it is necessary to select ripe, fresh fruits, without visible damage. Both sweet and hot peppers will do. Cut off the dented and damaged parts. Juicy and thick-skinned specimens are suitable for freezing, because they contain a maximum of useful substances.

The priority is given to the fruits that are grown in their personal plot. Supermarket vegetables are chemically processed for long-term preservation. If there are none, then vegetables are purchased on the market. It is important to ask the seller where they were collected. To be sure, check the fruit with a dosimeter.

Selected vegetables are thoroughly washed under running water. It is better to wash each copy separately, pay attention to the area near the tails, where the greatest amount of dirt accumulates.

Next comes the cleaning process. Cleaning is carried out depending on the method of freezing. If the peppers freeze in pieces, then cut each fruit in half and remove the tail, partitions and seeds.

For better cleaning of seeds, you can rinse the pieces in water.

Spread out on a towel, cut sides down and drain and dry. The procedure takes over an hour.

Next, you need to cut into pieces of the desired size.

After preparation, the freezing process itself takes place. Put a towel or napkin in the freezer and pour it in one layer. Cover the top with another cloth to protect it from warm air that gets in when you open the camera.

If you freeze them whole, then it is better to put them one into one, from larger to smaller. Keep in the freezer for two days. If there is a quick freeze function, less can be.

In a similar way, you can save bitter and green peppers.

Ingredient processing

In order to make your own frozen assortment for stews, you should purchase all the above ingredients and wash them thoroughly. Next, you need to fulfill the following requirements.

Bulgarian pepper needs to be washed, peeled from the stalks and internal seeds, and then cut into rings.
Young eggplants must be peeled and chopped into 1 centimeter thick circles.
The tomatoes should be washed and cut into slices. At the same time, there is no need to peel them.
Green peas need to be sorted out and washed in a colander.
Young zucchini must be peeled and cut into thin slices.

Preparing the refrigerator

Freezers and refrigerators must be prepared before the freezing season for vegetables. Review the remaining last year's stocks and throw away the excess.

Cooking frozen platter stew

To make such a dish, you should boil any meat product in a saucepan using a small amount of water. Next, you need to put frozen assorted vegetables in the dishes, season it with spices and simmer over low heat for about an hour. Finally, add mayonnaise, herbs and grated garlic to it. As a result of such actions, you will get a fragrant and very tasty stew, which can be served to the table as a hearty and healthy dish. By the way, if you wish, you should additionally put onion rings in it, as well as circles of carrots and potato tubers.

What utensils do you need

You can freeze in the following containers:

A dense polyethylene bag is the most versatile option. Fruits are perfectly stored in the bag, both in pieces and as a whole.
Plastic containers with lids. It is advisable to use a rectangular shape that can be put one on one and thereby save space.
Plastic bottles are also suitable for peppers. Pay attention to containers with a large neck.
Glass and metal containers are not suitable for freezing. These materials are very sensitive to temperature changes.

The best ways to freeze peppers at home

There are many ways to freeze. You can try two types of freezing at once and compare the result in winter.

Entirely in the freezer

Fruits can be frozen both fresh and after preliminary blanching.

For preparation, you will need medium, fleshy specimens. It is important that the peppers are fresh and of the correct shape.

Wash each fruit and cut the stem in a circle. Remove seeds and partitions with your hands. Rinse the peppercorns in the middle and put them on a towel. The specimens should dry out.
Fold the peppers into one another in the form of a pyramid and place in a plastic bag.
In the middle of the pepper, you can put grated carrots, which will be needed when stuffing it.

Some housewives blanch the vegetable before freezing, so that it softens. Peel the peppers as above and place in a saucepan of boiling water. Blanch for 5 minutes. Throw in a colander or sieve. Allow time to dry and fold into a bag or container.

Halves

This blank is used for the preparation of stuffed peppers. Pick up meaty large specimens. Rinse and dry. Cut in half and clean out seeds and partitions. Fold in plastic bags in each other. To freeze.

In pieces

For soups, salads and pastries, you can prepare them in pieces, which are convenient to use and easy to store in the future. Many housewives, in view of saving space, do not use the above methods.

Cooking method:

For cooking, you will need a vegetable of any shape, it is possible with defects.
Rinse, dry and peel vegetables.
The next step is cutting vegetables. Depending on where it will be used, cut into suitable pieces. If for stews and soups, then in pieces. For pizza, side dishes and gravy - half rings.
You can immediately spread the pepper into containers or bags and freeze. And you can first freeze it on a platter, and then pour it into a bag and send it to the back of the chamber.

Assorted stew

The platter is frozen in the same way as described above. For stews, you can cut the peppers into large pieces. For a spectacular look, you need to take peppers of different colors - yellow, red, green.

Cut and mix the prepared fruits. You can add green peas, corn, or other vegetables. Divide into bags and freeze.

Freezing baked sweet peppers

This method involves baking the vegetable in the oven.

Freezing stuffed peppers

This method involves the preparation of pepper already filled with minced meat. You can stuff a vegetable raw and boiled in salted water. Pre-blanching allows the pepper to soften and is easier to fill with minced meat.

Put the prepared blanks on a dish and keep for 24 hours.

Then put it compactly in a bag and put in the freezer. A great idea for dinner, just take out the pepper and stew it.

With dill and parsley

You can freeze peppers with herbs - dill and parsley. Such a vegetable mixture will remind you of summer in both its appearance and smell. Yellow and red peppers with herbs look good.

Finely chop all ingredients, sprinkle on a platter and send to the quick-freeze chamber. Then pour into containers or zip-bags and send for storage. In winter add to vegetable soups and salads.

Are we defrosting or not? How is it correct?

Fruit cubes and stripes no need to defrost. They put them in soup, borscht, stews, immediately taking them out of the refrigerator.
For pizza and omelet the rings and pieces should be kept at room temperature for a little while to get rid of excess moisture.
Pepper for stuffing you also need to defrost a little so that it is more convenient to place the filling in it. Stuff frozen peppers with a semi-prepared filling, as frozen vegetables cook faster than fresh ones.
Frozen stuffed peppers cooking is pretty simple.In principle, it only needs to be heat treated, since all the preliminary stages have already been passed. To cook frozen stuffed peppers, you need to place it in a saucepan without defrosting it, add quite a bit of water or tomato juice and put it on low heat. During the cooking process, it will defrost and "give" its own juice, which will be enough for a complete stewing. Ready-made stuffed peppers can also be perfectly stewed in a slow cooker. In this case, you do not need to add water to the bowl at all.

Stewing and boiling frozen peppers takes a little less time than fresh ones.