THE BEST WAYS TO FREEZE GREEN PEAS FOR THE WINTER

Young green peas are often consumed fresh and have excellent taste. But let us figure out what to do, if we ate a big harvest, and it’s impossible to use everything at once. The most popular and easiest way to preserve the taste and the beautiful appearance is frost. Therefore, we consider the best ways to freeze green peas for the winter.

Which peas to choose for freezing

In order for the peas to tolerate the freezing process well, it is necessary to know which varieties to choose.

Did you know? In the XVII century in France and England, unripe young peas first began to be eaten immediately after the harvest, before it was consumed after full ripening in cooked form.

For the preparation of the product in a cleaned form suitable varieties with brain and smooth seeds. Such varieties are sweet and tender, but the preparation with the pods is not allowed, as they have a parchment structure, which excludes the possibility of their consumption in food. If you plan to harvest the product in the pods, then for this purpose, suitable "Snow" and "Sugar" grade. The variety of "Sugar" peas is distinguished by thick pods, and the "Snow" variety has flat, immature seeds.

The pod itself in these varieties is soft and can be eaten after cooking.

Find out the best ways to harvest apples, strawberries, apricots, pears, cherries, blueberries, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, green beans, white mushrooms, dill, cilantro, sorrel, parsley for the winter.

Pea Frost in Pods

Consider how to prepare green peas for the winter in the pods. Pea pods should be freshly picked and fairly young, bright green, free from damage, mold and black dots.

After the pods are sorted, they should be thoroughly washed under running water several times. Then remove the inedible parts of the pod by cutting off the edges. In order for the frozen product to retain its freshness, rich color and taste, the pods must be blanched. To do this, boil water in a large saucepan and pre-prepare ice water to cool the pods after blanching. The blanching process itself consists of the following steps:

A colander or cloth bag is immersed in boiling water. It must be remembered that snow peas blanch one minute, and sweet one and a half or two.
Then it is important to quickly place the blanched peas in ice water to stop the cooking process.

After the pods have cooled, they must be dried well. To do this, leave them in a colander for 5 minutes and then dry well with a paper towel.

After the measures taken should immediately begin to freeze the product so that it does not become tough due to the long stay in the air.

In order for the peas to retain their shape, it must be frozen in tight containers or reusable bags. If freezing occurs in reusable bags, the product must be tightly packed and pressed well to release the air that has accumulated in the bag.

Important! Since during freezing the bag may increase in volume, it is necessary to leave a small gap in the upper part of the bag, by 2-3 cm.

You can also freeze by placing the product on a baking sheet, which is pre-covered with baking paper, then wrapped in plastic and sent to the freezer. After freezing, the pods are packaged in bags or containers for further storage.

Ways to freeze peas

There are three common ways to freeze peas in a peeled form:

simple freeze;
with previous blanching;
in ice tins.

Simple

To freeze peas in a simple way, you need to clear it from the pods and review for the presence of spoiled and wormy seeds. After that, rinse the seeds well under running water and dry with paper towels. Then you can put the seeds on a baking sheet, pre-laid baking paper in a single layer, and, covered with a plastic bag, send in the freezer for freezing. After the manipulations, fold the product into a plastic bag or container. The product can be frozen immediately in plastic bags, without using a baking sheet, but you need to be prepared for the fact that the seeds can stick together a bit.

Important! If the peas are a little overripe, then you can’t freeze them in a simple way, but you must blanch them beforehand to make them softer.

With previous blanching

Before blanching, seeds cleared of pods should be well washed under running water. In a large saucepan, boil water and in small portions, using a colander, place the peas in the saucepan for 3 minutes. Blanching is used to ensure that the seeds do not change color and become softer. After that, you need to cool the seeds by placing in ice water. Next, dry them well with a paper towel, put into bags or containers and place in the freezer.

In ice tins

There is also an interesting way to freeze pea seeds in ice tins. In order to freeze the seeds in this way, it is necessary to remove the damaged parts, clean the pods and rinse well with water. Seeds are placed in ice molds and poured with broth or water. It must be remembered that the liquid may expand when it freezes, so it is not necessary to fill the molds completely.

Shapers are sent to the freezer for 12 hours. Then they are taken out and frozen cubes are placed in containers or packages, sending them in the freezer for storage.

Green Pea Storage Time

When freezing such a product, it must be remembered that it is stored for no more than 8-9 months, therefore it is recommended to indicate the date of freezing on the package. It is better to store the product at a temperature not higher than -18 degrees.

What dishes can be added

Peeled pea seeds can be thawed and consumed without heat treatment, as well as added to salads. Peas in pods are recommended for cooking soups, side dishes and warm salads.

Did you know? There is a world record for eating green peas. It was installed by Janet Harris in 1984. A record is made in eating peas with chopsticks for a while: the girl ate 7175 seeds in 1 minute.