ISO home freezing help

[jnb206]

hi

can anyone help me please? to try and save time for me and my partner who work long hours im wanting to know if i can freeze these different ingredients when making my home made sauces ect.

red chillies
green chillies
fresh garlic
fresh basil
fresh corriander
fresh ginger
tinned tomatos
dried herbs
balsamic vinegar?

also anyone know how long i can freeze these?

thanks alot for anyone who takes the time to help

 

[CharlieD]

I could be wrong, but I think you can freeze pretty much anything fresh. The only question is how much flavor you are going to loose in the end.
What's tinned tomatoes, is it like canned tomatoes? Then you cannot freeze them.

 

[dave the baker]

Okay:
Ginger - peel it first, then freeze. Take out and grate what you need.
Dried Herbs - Why bother????????? They keep very well; cool and dark area.
Garlic - roast it first; keeps for a long time
Chillies - dry them. you could try freezing them (and Basil and Corriander) in water in freezer bags. I've done basil, but like CharlieD said, you'll sacrifice flavor, and texture.
Vinegar and Tinned tomatoes - Why freeze them in the first place? They are already preserved in the best way possible.

 

[Michael in FtW]

If you are talking about using those ingredients to make a cooked sauce and then freeze the sauce - the answer is yes.

If you're talking about freezing the items individually, then there are some things that you need to consider - mainly that fresh chillies and herbs lose texture when frozen (they can be used in making cooked dishes without a problem but are not good for using "raw"), it would make no sense to freeze balsamic vinegar, and freezing a tin (can) of tomatoes is not a good idea since the contents in the can will expand and will more than likely break the seal on one of the can seams. - it also would not be of any benefit.

You might want to refer to this site: National Center for Home Food Preservation and read the section on How do I? Freeze foods for more info.

 

[dave the baker]

Thanks, Michael

 

[archiduc]

hi

can anyone help me please? to try and save time for me and my partner who work long hours im wanting to know if i can freeze these different ingredients when making my home made sauces ect.

red chillies
green chillies
fresh garlic
fresh basil
fresh corriander
fresh ginger
tinned tomatos
dried herbs
balsamic vinegar?


also anyone know how long i can freeze these?

thanks alot for anyone who takes the time to help

Hi JNB,

* Red chilli/green chilli - wash thoroughly and dry carefully with kitchen paper, slice or dice, depending upon how you use it and freeze in small amounts - use ice cube trays OR thread with string and place in a well ventilated space and allow to dry and use as needed but reduce the quantity a little as drying out will intensify the heat.

* fresh garlic - you can freeze whole cloves or peel, dice/slice and freeze and again an ice cube tray is useful for portion control but I just put a whole bulbs into the freezer and then use as required.

* basil and coriander - wash, chop and freeze in ice cube trays for future use;

* ginger - freezes well and grates well from frozen;

* tinned tomatoes - as they are tinned they are a preserved product and just need to be stored - no need to freeze but id used in a tomato sauce then may be frozen after cooking;

* dried herbs - again a preserved product so store out of the sun in a cool dry place in a well sealed continer but if used in a sauce may be frozen;

* balsammic vinegar - lasts for years in a cupboard.

Hope this helps,
Archiduc

 

[jnb206]

sorry i should have been mores specific.

i mean using these ingredients in a sauce eg i make a big pot of chilli,spag bol,curry ect ect and then divide up the sauce to small containers to save cooking it everytime??

thanks for all who took time to answer

 

[mariners2010]

Okay:
Ginger - peel it first, then freeze. Take out and grate what you need.
Dried Herbs - Why bother????????? They keep very well; cool and dark area.
Garlic - roast it first; keeps for a long time
Chillies - dry them. you could try freezing them (and Basil and Corriander) in water in freezer bags. I've done basil, but like CharlieD said, you'll sacrifice flavor, and texture.
Vinegar and Tinned tomatoes - Why freeze them in the first place? They are already preserved in the best way possible.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[Michael in FtW]

About the only sauces you will have a problem freezing are cream based sauces made with some kind of dairy (yogurt, butter, cream, etc.). Sauces that use dairy to finsh them can be made up to the point where you add the dairy - frozen - and then when you are ready to use it you can thaw and heat it and add the dairy to finish it.

I make big pots of chili and tomato based sauces and freeze them all the time.