Just a Pea-Pickin' Minute!!! (How to Freeze)greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread |
Okay, I have just spent an hour picking peas and now I am shelling them. I want to freeze them but it has been awhile since I did it. Do I just blanch them for about three minutes and then put them in ice water and then freeze or is the blanching time longer or shorter? Appreciate someone refreshing my memory.
-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), June 12, 2001
Colleen, My book says to blanc for 1 minute, cool and drain. Open-freeze on trays until hard, then pack into freezer bags ( or containers ), seal and freeze. This is the way I do it. Happy Eating!! Kitty in FL
-- Kitty in FL (Kwheate1@aol.com), June 12, 2001.
Accourding to the Kerr canning and freezing book, the blanching time is 2 to 3 minutes. I blanch for 2 minutes because the peas don't shrivel as fast when cooked. Sounds like your memory is fine. My peas are just podding and just looked at the potatoes today and see that we will have potatoes about golf ball size to cook with the new peas when they are ready. Isn't gardening great? Jean
-- Jean (kjean@i-rule.net), June 12, 2001.
Colleen, I hope you really enjoy those peas. Ours were just coming up good when the neighbor kid left my chicken door open and the chickens ate them right down to the ground. They probably would have been the best peas I ever ate, too. Enjoy!
-- Dianne in Mass (dianne.bone@usa.net), June 12, 2001.
Thanks all for your help. The peas are all now sitting on cookie sheets in the freezer. Hubby helped shell so it went quickly. Sure beats freezing corn!! Diane I can relate to your plight. I have woodchucks in my garden who ate my pea plants when they were about four inches high. These peas came from my neighbor. (I explained it in an earlier thread called "It pays to be a good neighbor.") I am sure glad I got these peas. It will be an addition I otherwise wouldn't have had. There is about one quarter amount again left still to pick tomorrow or whenever they plump out and then that will be it on that patch. I sure wish they could get peas to produce more pods per plant. The pickin's always seem to be inadequate for the amount of plant. But at least they are really tasty.
-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), June 12, 2001.
Colleen, If you would like more peas, I suggest you try snap peas next year. The whole pod is edible and you let them grow until the pea is formed. Make sure you pick them before they are overripe or they will be stringy. I like them because when you pick a bushel of them, you have a bushel for the freezer. Make sure you get a stringless variety. I think I order my from Johnny's Seeds.
-- gretchen weaver (villacrestfarm@yahoo.com), June 14, 2001.
Ditto to what Gretchen said. We've been planting sugar snap peas for 15 yrs. and they are excellent! Very sweet and entirely edible, great for stir-frying and eating fresh with a dip also. Make sure you use pea wire as they will grow to 6 ft. or more!!
-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), June 14, 2001.