Freezing Vegetables & Fruit

Freezing vegetables and fruit is an easy way to preserve the fresh taste of garden food. Learn how to freeze vegetables and fruit with these simple, step-by-step picture book instructions.

The advantage of freezing food is that it's quick and easy. The processing time of canning and dehydrating is eliminated.

The downside to freezing your fruit and vegetables is the expense of buying and maintaining a freezer. If your electricity goes out, there goes all your food.

Diversify your food preservation between canning, dehydrating, root cellaring, and freezing vegetables and fruit.

Also see How to Blanch Vegetables. Learn how to freeze vegetables or fruit by

Clicking on the Picture Links

Freezer Bags

A Note About Freezer Bags: I use regular (high quality) storage bags for freezing because they are cheaper. I’ve used both freezer bags and storage bags for freezing and both of them sometimes leak when the food is thawing. The remedy for this is to put your bag of food in a bowl or on a plate to thaw when you take the bag out of the freezer. I haven’t had any problems with the storage bags ripping while the food is still frozen. If you don't mind spending the extra money, buy freezer bags. They are tougher and stronger.

Chest Freezers versus Upright Freezers

I personally like chest freezers because I can fill the freezer to the top and nothing falls out on me when I open the door. Restacking frozen food is a pain.

The downside to a chest freezer is your food getting lost at the bottom of the freezer never to be seen again. If you choose to use a chest freezer, I suggest that you put your food in crates or boxes. This way the food stays organized and you can easily get to the food. Also, make a list of what you have in the freezer so that food doesn’t get forgotten and lost.

Getting to and seeing your food is easier with an upright Freezer. But you can’t fill the upright freezer to the top without having food fall out when you open the door to take out something.

Make sure you have a generator backup if you plan to store your food in a freezer. In an emergency, eat your freezer food first. The generator will only last so long. Make sure you also store canned and dehydrated food in your long-term food storage.

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