Freezing Carrots & Onions

[Rosemary]

Can carrots be frozen without blanching them first? Last time I froze broad beans and peas but blanched them first and it took me hours the hardest part was cooling them down enough to go in the freezer.

Do onions need to be cooked first before freezing or can I just slice them and put the onion slices straight in the freezer?

[cajary]

Hi, Roemary.
I freeze all my "hard" veg without blanching, now. Not sure about onions, there's a lot of fluid in them. Can't you dry them?
"Love grows where my Rosemary goes" by Eddison Lighthouse, I believe.
Brings back too many memories, for an old man.

[Rosemary]

What do you mean "old" ??????????????

Cajary how on earth do you dry onions?

[cajary]

Old, means should know better but never managed it.
Technically, you should pull the onions up, let them lay on the soil and they will produce thin skins on the outside while the sun(Ha Bxxxxy Ha) dries them. Then you should hang them in a dry, airy place and use them when you want to. This actually works given proper weather. In practice, I pull them and then hang them in a dry airy place. They should last for the winter. Actually I expected a bit more "pro" advice from allotment holders, sorry, you've just got me!

[john9159]

Can carrots be frozen without blanching them first? Last time I froze broad beans and peas but blanched them first and it took me hours the hardest part was cooling them down enough to go in the freezer.

The quick method is to boil water first, electric kettle is quickest, pour into large pan, immerse the veg, peas, carrots, broadbeans, French beans or whatever you have, and wait two minutes.

The veg is not supposed to be cooked, just heated enough to kill the enzymes which cause food to go off.

Drain the veg(*), pour in cold water and add ice cubes to speed up cooling, stir to cool quicker, drain well after a few minutes (no real need to dry on kitchen paper), spread out on a tray or plastic sheet in the freezer and occasionally move around so they don't set into a frozen block; this method is called open freezing.

(*)You could keep the boiled water in the pan if you have more veg to do and just transfer the veg into another pan.

Been doing it this way for years.

Bye

[paul]

I've heard of my fellow allotmenteers storing their carrots in sand. ??
Anyone heard of this method ??

[babcock]

Ther should be no need to freeze onions. Mine normally last through until March stored in a cool place. I use a lot of onions and they would take up space in the freezer better used for other things.