The Preserver's Year

Justamum

ampersand wrote: »

Merci Justamum - I peel them first and go into cerebral numbdom while I snip it all. I
wondered if the peel stayed peel-y, rather than falling apart?
I have orange peels frozen similarly, ready for Choc Orange Candied strips, but haven't thawed any to know how they behave.
Any further tips, please?

I thawed two lemons out yesterday to make a lemon pudding. I had to be careful when grating the peel not to press too hard, but it grated fine. I have frozen orange peel separately before now and when thawed you can't really tell the difference from before it was frozen. I think the difference with freezing the fruit whole is the volume of juice which makes it feel slightly precarious grating the peel.

ampersand

Excellent reply - thankyou.

Well_Preserved

Justamum, do you think that would work if you froze lemons that had gone too soft to zest? If it does it could help me to avoid waste as I make lemon curd quite often!

Justamum

Well_Preserved wrote: »

Justamum, do you think that would work if you froze lemons that had gone too soft to zest? If it does it could help me to avoid waste as I make lemon curd quite often!

I would imagine if they are too soft to zest before freezing they will be impossible to zest afterwards! Freezing does seem to make them a bit softer. Or you could juice them then zest the skins afterwards - you can get a better grip on them then and press a bit harder on the grater.

ampersand

I would say zest them from frozen - if they collapse as they thaw, whiz and sieve.
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Apologies Justamum - cross-posted.

Well_Preserved

Mmm I see what you mean! I now have mental images of me with frostbite trying to grate frozen lemons! Lol!

Well_Preserved

Looks like I need to experiment!

Justamum

ampersand wrote: »

I would say zest them from frozen - if they collapse as they thaw, whiz and sieve.
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Apologies Justamum - cross-posted.

I've tried zesting them frozen before now and it didn't work. But whizzing and sieving would work

[Deleted User]

I was thinking that it would be good, now that we are in november, to set the ball rolling about successes, failures and uses of our preserved foods

Frozen produce is easy and pretty good. The broad beans are lovely and at the moment we are using unblanched, which appears to have had no adverse effect on the beans, so that will be easier next year. The frozen french and runner beans have lost a little `bite` but are still good, although quite a jump down from the beautiful crispy fresh beans. I`ll still freeze them next year as it was easy

The simply brined small tomatoes are cooking as I write and taste lovely. So incredibly easy to prepare and a must do next year. They had a bit of growth on top but that was due to the jar not being airtight. The bloom was easily picked off and was only on the brine as the tomatoes were submerged. Next year I will only use kilner jars

I have only used the dehydrated herbs and onions to date but the rest will come into their own when I have no fresh roots roots left. Did I dehydrate too much? maybe but I`ll know by spring

[Deleted User]

It`s the end of the season and I have just had a massive sort out of my freezer and have had to come to some conclusions about preserving and what is most useful to me and what is not

My freezer drawers were full to the top and a complete jumble, so I didn`t really know what was in there. I have labelled all the drawers eg fruit and ice cream, beef, etc and I have decided that next year I will be more structured re what I buy or cook for the freezer. 7 out of 9 drawers are now sorted and 2 still contain all sorts. Next year I am going to bottle and brine and pickle, rather than freeze as allotment produce takes up so much room. I didn`t realise how much cooked red cabbage I have and how many sauteed onions and they take up so much precious room. My allotment is only 10 x 100 feet and only 2/3 veg but still provided enough from may to now and beyond, my first year and started from grass and weeds

Bottling and brining are very successful and so was making chutney and jams but I have far far too many jams and chutneys now so will have to rein myself in next year but will do a lot more brining and bottling. Sauerkraut production will be doubled even this winter as the end product is so nice and nutritious and we have 12 large firm cabbages still to pick

My home grown potatoes are looking fine in store but some are showing tiny sprouts. I don`t know how to preserve them other than roasting and making boats and freezing. I already have the dehydrated spuds so need no more. I have not an inch of room in the freezer and stuffing it with produce was my worst mistake

re the lemons above, I vac packed 6 in canisters and they are keeping for weeks in the fridge.