Freezing red peppers

[kevin20422]

To make it simpler when freezing red peppers why could I not just clean the pepper and freeze it whole.  The site I saw said to cut into strips and freeze on sheet overnight.

I suppose there are many methods but to get the job done quick and easy why not clean one whole pop in bag and freeze.  To much air space?  Just crush that baby it wont hurt anything.

A stroke of brilliance or more stinkin' thinkin'?

 

[chefedb]

Kevin , when you freeze it whole then defrost it will get soft and soggy and it will be hard to cut. Commercial frozen diced and pepper strips are first subject to slight steaming or blanching in order to kill bacteria. You can freeze in bags after cutting in dice or strips and when frozen just bang on a counter and it will separate, Mushrooms and dice onions same thing, Freezing on pan first insures IQF. make sure everything dry before freezing.

 

[kyheirloomer]

Let make sure we understand the difference between IQF and quality issues.

Prepping and pre-freezing, as Ed points out, is a method of portion control. By laying out, in this case, strips of pepper, and freezing them individually you can then grab as few or as many later on as you wish.

Blanching, btw, serves several functions. It minimizes the presense of bacteria. And, at least as important, it stops enzymatic activity, which helps maintain quality.

That said, there are few raw veggies that do not suffer from freezing in a home freezer. Reason: Even a zero degree freezer is slow. The slower it takes to freeze something the larger the individual ice crystals are. Large ice crystals serve as daggers, which puncture cell walls. As the food defrosts, liquid then leaks from those punctured cells. The result is soft, mushy food.

Won't matter, Kevin, whether you do whole peppers or strips, they'll come out the same. All this means is that they're ok for cooking, but you won't want to use them either raw, or even in some cooked applications where the texture is important.

 

[kevin20422]

Mr. Buchanan and Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. Heirloomer (pardon my lack of knowledge as to the proper salutation) I must once again offer my gratitude for your selfless response to my inquiry.

This is for a new favorite of ours:  Scallops over Red Peppers and Corn, you add basil to the Scallops and Cilantro to the Corn right before serving but last night I mixed the two herbs up and put the basil with the corn.

This meal is fast fun and easy.

 

[dc sunshine]

With peppers, I've got to admit when I've had a glut of them I clean them up (seed & core etc), cut into cheeks and then into freezer.  Haven't suffered from it at all, but yes, as mentioned above, only good for cooking with.

Blanching would be preferable, then into icy water till cool then drain.  Does not take long at all, when I have the time it's blanching  only a minute max.

 

[chefedb]

Kevin, Try making a corn cake, scallops on top and peppers on top. Also no need for the Mr.. Ed is fine.

 

[amazingrace]

Also no need for the Mr.. Ed is fine.

Right.  "MR. Ed" would require a different avatar.  /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif   ....a horse is a horse, of course, of course....  Just kidding, Ed.  I know you have a sense of humor. 

 

[kyheirloomer]

I happen to be male, Kevin. But when you say "Mr." I turn around to see if my father is standing behind me.  "Hey, you," does fine for me.

 

[chefedb]

I think there were horses on the ships ,at least they ate like them!!!!!     Mr.Ed starred Alan Young, that was my era.

 

[robertwhite]

HI..!!

I've frozen them chopped for using in stir fries and other cooked things (perfectly already prepped if you use them in taco filling/spaghetti sauce/whatever).
They get a little less crisp when they got from frozen to thawed. So, they might not work for salads.
They're also great for omelettes. We often chop several peppers and onions all at once and then freeze them in ziploc bags.

 

[siduri]

Right.  "MR. Ed" would require a different avatar.  /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif   ....a horse is a horse, of course, of course....  Just kidding, Ed.  I know you have a sense of humor. 

I thought I would be the only one to remember that, amazing grace and ed.  For some reason that song was running through my head the other day all through the whole stanza  - why is it that the most annoying songs stick? Even after 40 years!!! 

I wanted to say about the peppers, that I've always frozen them whole. I may be confabulating here, but I have the feeling that by cutting them first you're making them even more susceptible to deterioration by freezer, but maybe there's no basis for that  belief.  In any case, for cooking they are a little more tender, probably not great for crispy stir fry, but fine for cooking with sausages, say. 

I also wanted to say that blanched peppers (I'm not talking about frozen, but blanching before cooking)  completely changes the taste, in my opinion.  My mother used to blanch them before stuffing, to make it take less time to cook.  The result was horrible.  There's a different taste completely even if roasted later.  Maybe someone knows why? So i wouldn't blanch them.

Anyway, I would not advise blanching them first unless you;re going to use them in some preparation that uses boiled peppers, because they do well without any treatment whatsoever.  The only reason i don;t often freeze them is that I have a small freezer and they wouldn;t fit.  But I used to do it when my mother in law used to bring them from her home town Pontecorvo (where they just tasted way better than any others I've ever had) and there were too many to eat at once.  They were fine for frying, roasting and even stuffing.