It happens that the gardener has grown an excellent crop of onions, but he does not have a cool place for long-term storage of vegetables. In this case, the onion can be frozen, and besides, it can be done very easily and quickly. In this article, we will look at how to freeze onions correctly for the winter.
Did you know? Onions are a rich source of vitamin C and beneficial minerals: manganese, potassium and phosphorus. The vegetable has an extremely low calorie content and a high content of dietary fiber.
Is it possible to freeze onions for the winter
Not all housewives know if onions are frozen for the winter. Like many other vegetables, turnip can be harvested for the future using low sub-zero temperatures (freezing). Before freezing onions, it is important to understand that staying at sub-zero temperatures changes the vegetable somewhat.
When frozen, crisp elasticity disappears, giving salads an interesting texture. What remains retains a fragrant smell and a specific taste, with which onions still enrich the dish, but after freezing it becomes soft.
Did you know? Chopped onions can be used to polish table silver and other metal objects to give them brightness and shine.
How to choose and prepare onions
To get high-quality frozen vegetables, you must adhere to several rules:
- Only fresh vegetables that have not lost their tissue density are selected. Bulbs should not have rot or signs of fungus inside the bulb itself (black coating on the white pulp). It's okay if the onion begins to sprout, in which case it is quite suitable for freezing. Sluggish or drying vegetables are not suitable.
- After a thorough inspection, the bulbs are distributed according to their purpose: large and partially damaged - for cutting, small - for whole freezing. If the work is scheduled for the next day, the bulbs are taken out to a cool room at night. This will make it easier to chop the cooked vegetable.
- Prior to slicing, turnip is peeled, leaving the bottom with roots intact and washed well in several waters. Washed onions are laid out for drying for a couple of hours, after which they proceed directly to grinding. The consistency of grinding depends on the method of freezing chosen by the cook.
Preparing a refrigerator or freezer before freezing
If the hostess's plans already include freezing vegetables for the winter, she needs to prepare a freezer a few days before the start of work:
- The freezer is disconnected from electricity, freed from food, and then washed well with detergents.
- If an extraneous smell is firmly established in the freezer, you can wash the shelves and walls of the freezer with water, to which baking soda (per liter of water 1 tbsp. Soda) or table vinegar (per liter of water 100 ml of vinegar) is added.
- The freezer is washed both inside and outside, after which the household appliances are dried with the door open in the off state. A dry freezer is included in the network a day before the start of freezing. During this time, the freezer will regain the desired temperature.
Important! If, after slicing, the onion smell is eaten in the palm of your hand, they are washed with warm water and any aromatic soap, after which they wipe the skin with a drop of lemon essential oil. In addition to the fact that this tool cleans the skin of odor, essential oil nourishes and moisturizes the nail plate.
How to freeze onions at home
Since large freezers appeared in the houses, the housewives have appreciated the vegetable preserves. Onions can be frozen both in the form of chopped rings or cubes, and in the form of mashed vegetables. After freezing, the vegetable does not lose its inherent aroma and taste, but irretrievably loses its elasticity.
In general form
You can freeze whole bulbs with or without blanching. Blanching is a culinary technique in which peeled vegetables are dipped for a short time in boiling water. For small bulbs, the blanching time is three minutes, for large ones - seven minutes. For proper freezing, blanching should warm the bulb to the very middle.
Shredded in bags
To freeze a vegetable, it needs to be chopped. You can chop the onions with the usual slicing with a knife or put vegetables in a food processor (blender). At the same time, the hostess needs to remember that the thawed onion loses its shape, therefore, after cutting in a food processor, a thawed product can resemble porridge. The cut is placed in plastic ZIP packages (with zippers) and distributed inside with a thin layer.
Did you know? Onions contain flavonoids, unique compounds that are very beneficial for human health. The vegetable contains the biologically active compound quercetin, which is a powerful antioxidant with anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects.
After freezing, the sliced bag will resemble a thick sheet of cardboard. If there are a lot of packages, they are stacked on top of each other (in a pile) in the freezer. You can also quickly freeze by placing the onion rings on a tray covered with parchment paper and putting it in the freezer. When the cut freezes, it is packed in freezing containers with lids or spare parts.
In fried
Before freezing, finely chopped onions can be fried until they are rosy, that is, they can be caramelized before freezing. Toasting is carried out over moderate heat in olive or fresh butter. The finished frying is cooled and packaged in a mold for freezing ice. This type of vegetable freeze adds new notes of taste to cooked food.
In ice molds
If the onion sprouts and becomes soft, it is wiped in a blender or food processor with a small amount of olive (refined sunflower) oil. The resulting vegetable puree is laid out in a mold for making ice cubes. When the onion cubes are frozen, they are stored in a container with a lid or in a bag with a zipper. They are used as seasoning for soup or sauce.
Important! The method of freezing vegetables in a bottle is also suitable for cutting feathers of green onions.
In a plastic bottle
Onions can also be frozen in liter plastic bottles. In addition to cheapness, such a container is very convenient, since its neck acts as a dispenser and at the same time it closes tightly and tightly. For freezing in a bottle, only finely chopped slices are suitable, the cut fraction should pass freely through the neck. In no case should vegetables be shredded in a blender or food processor in a bottle.
The consistency of such grinding is more like mashed potatoes, and under the influence of low temperatures in the bottle an ice monolith will be obtained, which can be removed only completely and only after cutting the container. Freshly chopped onions cannot be immediately poured into a bottle and put in the freezer for freezing. Pre-cutting is laid out on a tray with a thin layer and slightly frozen (until flowability). After that, vegetable slices are poured into the neck of the bottle.
Important! After any vegetables have been frozen, they will no longer fully correspond to their fresh counterparts. After freezing, their tissues will be soft, because the water inside the cells, when frozen, expands and destroys them.
In order to make it more convenient to fill frozen vegetables inside a bottle container, in the area of the neck the bottle is wrapped with foil in the form of a funnel with a wide diameter. Cutting is falling asleep into this funnel. When filling between the lid and vegetables, several centimeters of free space are left, after which the bottle is tightly closed with a lid and placed in the freezer.
Video: how to freeze onions
Frozen storage periods
Frozen onions should be used within six months after the day of freezing, during which period it has the best taste.
How to defrost and use onions
When it's time to use vegetable freezing, you just need to break off part of the ice cream layer and, if desired, defrost it. Frozen onions are easily thawed in the microwave or without it for several minutes.
Many chefs are convinced that frozen vegetables absolutely do not need to be specially thawed before being added to any dish. The cook just adds frozen cubes or pours the right portion of frozen onions directly into the cooking food.
Young housewives may not know what can be cooked from it later. Onion freezing is best used for cooking the first and second hot dishes, various sauces, gravy, marinades. Such a product is absolutely not suitable for adding to salads from fresh vegetables or for frying.
Useful Tips
How to facilitate the work of a cook to freeze onions:
- In order not to cry, preparing the onion slices for freezing, it is advisable to cool the vegetable for 30 minutes before cutting. Cleaning from the husks begins with the neck of the bulb, while not cutting the root, but leaving it whole. The root system will keep the onion from decaying into slices during manual slicing. Sulfur compounds in onions, the ejection of which occurs during the destruction of cells (slicing), are concentrated in the zone of the bottom of the bulb, at the roots.
- You can also carry out all the work on grinding caustic vegetables in the open air so that the overloaded gray fumes of onions are neutralized with fresh air.
- Some chefs claim that a lighted candle placed next to an onion cutting board, whose flame absorbs sulfuric fumes, helps them avoid tears. No need to throw out the bottoms of already cut onions. At the end of work, roots are cut from them and the remaining pulp is used to prepare a fragrant dish.
- Regardless of how the onions are frozen, they must be stored in an airtight container to avoid the appearance of onion odors in the freezer. When packing cuts into containers with lids, leave a couple of centimeters of free space. The layers of vegetable freezing in spare parts are stacked in one or more common thick plastic bags for long-term storage in the freezer. This technique will help to avoid the appearance of everywhere penetrating onion smell.
Any of the above methods are suitable for freezing onions. Freezing vegetables for future use will help an experienced housewife maintain her harvest and reduce cooking time, which is important for working women.
