Trick for freezing onions!

[suziquzie]

Doesn't your freezer end up stinking of onions?

[Katie E]

No. The onions are only in the freezer for a few hours. I've done two batches so far and there's no onion smell at all. Yeah!

[suziquzie]

Cool! I have a bag and a half I was just going to end up throwing away again!
Better put in my contact lenses and start chopping!
(For some reason they don't make me cry w/ the contacts. Glasses, ferget it!)

[Leolady]

I do the same thing with celery and green peppers as I do with onions.

I chop them up and put them in a freezer bag and freeze.

The frozen celery, etc. can't be used raw but are great in soups, stews, etc.

Although I must admit I have used frozen onions and celery in my tuna salad since it is for flavor and not texture.

[bethzaring]

Originally Posted by pacanis

I would love to be able to do this with veggies without taking the effort to blanch first.
Why do you suppose you can freeze onions raw and not other veggies?

It is my understanding that green (red, orange) peppers are the only vegetable that does not need to be blanched for long term (one month plus) freezer storage. I regularly halve or quarter and deseed fresh green peppers in the fall and freeze them.
And I blanch my celery also, it is very necessary to blanch celery for an acceptable product, I have tried it not blanching, NOT. And i blanch celery for the drying process too.

[Calya]

Thanks Katie. That's great because I always use onions for fried rice, noodles, soups, sandwiches. Almost everything! Freezing the onions will save me a lot of time and I won't be afraid to buy them next time they are $1 for 10 pounds! Yes, that's 10cents a pound.

[Leolady]

Originally Posted by bethzaring

It is my understanding that green (red, orange) peppers are the only vegetable that does not need to be blanched for long term (one month plus) freezer storage. I regularly halve or quarter and deseed fresh green peppers in the fall and freeze them.
And I blanch my celery also, it is very necessary to blanch celery for an acceptable product, I have tried it not blanching, NOT. And i blanch celery for the drying process too.

I have been freezing celery in small "stalks" for many years now without blanching.

I have never had any issues with it other than being a bit mushy, which is ok for cooked foods.

Try it, you will find out for yourself.

[mcnerd]

Originally Posted by Katie E

I don't have a way to flash-freeze, but I decided I'd give the process my best shot.

So...I chopped up a big bunch of onions and spread them on a rimmed baking sheet and put them in the freezer.

Hee hee! That's "Flash Freezing".

I do that often because I end up with tons of onions on the verge of starting their own garden. Even more so I will dehydrate the chopped onions and store them in ziploc bags. These can be further processed into minced and powdered form for the spice rack.

I think I'll try this with green peppers when my plants start bearing.

Yup! I've got my plants going too. I use my rectangular chopping gadget and end up with Handi-Vac bags of Red, Green, Yellow, Orange bell peppers ready for any recipe that needs them. I also dehydrate them so there is never a shortage.

[VaporTrail]

Alton Brown discussed this method in relation to freezing blueberries on one of the Good Eats episodes...

Basically flash freezing is just getting the product below freezing as quickly as possible. the thin layer and the metal pan help with heat transfer. If you happened to have a sub-zero freezer you could probably get them done quicker, but the quality would be about the same I'd think.

I dunno for sure, but you might experience some stickage with the bell peppers... might try to get them all skin side down. Or possibly a sheet of freezer paper or parchment under them.