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Show Freezing Your Summer Produce Freezing is one ot the simplest sim-plest and least time-consuming ways to preserve produce at home, said Joy Poulson, Brid-gerland Brid-gerland Vocational Center home economist, at a recent food preservation workshop at USU. FROZEN FRUITS and vegetables retain their natural color, fresh flavor and nutritive nutri-tive values, and because most of the preparation they need for the table is done before freezing, they are ready to serve on short notice. Some varieties of fruits and vegetables freeze better than others, said Mrs. Poulson. Those that do not freeze well include green onions, lettuce and other salad greens, radishes and tomatoes. IF YOU have any doubts as to how ell something will freeze, test freeze three or four packages and sample the food after freezing, she continued. Frozen foods should be properly packaged to keep from drying out and to preserve pre-serve food value ..flavor, color and a pleasing texture. ALL CONTAINERS should , be easy to seal and moisture-vapor-proof packaging materials. mate-rials. Care in sealing a freezer package is as important as using us-ing the right containers. Rigid containers are usually sealed either by pressing on or screwing screw-ing on the lid. Some rigid car-board car-board cartons need to have freezer tape or special wax applied ap-plied after sealing to make them airtight and leakproof. Glass jars must be sealed with alid containing composition rubber or with a lid and a rubber rub-ber ring. MOST PLASTIC bags used for packaging can be heat-sealed heat-sealed or sealed by twishing and folding back the top of the bag and securing it with a string, a good quality rubber or plastic band, or other sealing device valuable on the market. Plastic bags, however, are not moisture-vapor-proof, but moisture-vapor-resistant, and will not retain high quality in foods stored in the freezer for : extended periods of time. i HAVE FOOD cold before I packing into freezer contain-I contain-I ers. This speeds up freezing : and helps retain natural color, : flavor and texture of food. Also pack foods tightly to cut dow n on the amount of air in the package. Allow ance-for amply heads-pace heads-pace is needed between the packed food and the closure because food expands as it freezes. A container with a narrow top opening w ill need slightly more headspace than one with a w ide top opening. INCLUDE THE name of food, date it was packed and type of pack when labeling packages. Gummed labels, colored tape, crayons, pens and stamps are made especially especial-ly for labeling frozen food packages. Freeze fruits and vegetables soon after they are packed. Put ! them in the freezer a few packages pack-ages at a time as you hve them ready, or keep packages in the refrigerator until all are ready. Then transfer them to the home freezer or carry them in an inuslated box or bax to the plant freezer at 0 degrees F. or below. PUT NO more unfrozen foods into a home freezer than will freeze within 24 hours, warned Mrs. Poulson. Overloading Over-loading slows down the rate of freezing, and foods that freeze too slowly may lose quality or spoil. For quickest freezing, place packages against freezing freez-ing plates or coils and leave a little space between packages so air can circulate freely. After freezing, packages may be stored close together. Store them at 0 degree F. or below. At higher temperatures . foods lose quality much faster. MOST FRUITS and vegetables veget-ables maintain high quality for 8-12 months at 0 degree or below; be-low; citurs fruits and fruit juices for 4-6 months. Unsweetened Un-sweetened fruits lose quality faster than those packed in sugar or syrup. It's a good idea to post a list of frozen foods near the freezer freez-er and keep it up to date. List foods as you put them in the freezer; check foods off the list as you remove them, said Mrs. Poulson. |