Saturday, July 21, 2012

Preserving Peppers

We've had a bumper crop of peppers this year!  I love to just eat them raw, but the extras need to be saved.  Here they are in my big colander.  First, I washed them:

 Then, I cut out the stem end.  If you like raw peppers as much as I do, you can nip off all of those nice "petals" before discarding the stem:
 
 Cut them in half and scooped out the seeds and membranes:
 Here they are, all ready to dice:
 Cut into strips:
 Then dice!
 Spread on trays or cookie sheets and place them in the freezer:
 When completely frozen, remove from freezer and using a metal spatula, scrape them off of the tray:
 And put them in labeled freezer containers and quickly return them to the freezer!
I will use these during the winter for soups, stir-fries, pizza, and omelets.  :D

Any sort of fresh peppers may be saved this way.  On Monday, I'll do the Jalepenos.

10 comments:

  1. hi I first have to tell you I LOVE reading your blog you have given me so many wonderful homesteading suggestion THANK YOU! I was wondering though would it be ok to do this with peppers from the grocery store..sometimes the store has them really cheap and I use them in everything so if I could this it would greatly help my grocery bill. Thanks a lot! have a great day!

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    1. Francine, you made my day! Yes, you certainly can freeze peppers from the store.

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  2. Will they come out crisp when thawed or will they be limp or soggy...I tried this last year, but I froze them directly in the freezer bag.

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    1. They will not be crisp, as the freezing bursts the cell membranes, but I only use them in things I cook, so they would get soft anyway.

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  3. This is something I have done for years and works great! I use this for corn, peppers and most all my fruits and veggies!

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    1. That 's really nice! Do you blanch your corn before freezing?

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  4. OR, you could follow these same steps and pop in a dryer (or oven) till properly dried.

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  5. This was my day yesterday - cutting up and freezing peppers. One of the farmers at our market had an amazing deal on them (3/$1 and they were huge), and even though I had already frozen a bunch from the garden, I couldn't pass it up. I love to sautee some to mix in with scrambled eggs.

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    Replies
    1. That is a great deal! And a good menu suggestion too. :D

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