Freezing eggplant?

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I'm wanting to freeze eggplant but am having trouble doing so. I tried a batch the other day and could not keep it from turning brown. It turned brown before I even got just one peeled. Also, the Ball Blue book says to blanch it in water with lemon added to it, but that made it mushy and fall apart. Reckon I could slice it and freeze it without blanching? Anyone have success with freezing eggplant? I'm also seriously thinking about peeling the darn thing when they're submerged in water to keep them from turning brown! I'm having a time with them and I planted plenty of them to freeze........Help!!!!

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), July 13, 2002

Answers

annie, I have the same problem. Once you put them in a recipe you don't see how brown it is :>)

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), July 13, 2002.

Hey Diane, do you blanch the sliced eggplant? I had trouble with it falling apart. I'm wondering why I couldn't freeze it without the blanching? mmmmmmm

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), July 13, 2002.

I do not blanch mine. I slice it and put it on cookie sheets to freeze and then bag it so that I can take out just what I want for a recipe.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), July 14, 2002.

Last fall, I tried what Diane suggested with zucchini and yellow squash...huge success!!! This year I plan on trying it with egg- plant and am expecting no problems!!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), July 14, 2002.

Thanks! :)

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), July 15, 2002.


I never blanch any vegetables before I freeze them, and prefer them that way. I have always wondered why all the instructions in books on freezing say to blanch first?

-- Granny Hen (cluckin along@cs.com), July 15, 2002.

Granny, boy did I ever learn my lesson. The eggplant I blanched turned so soft I could hardly get it out of the water. Going to do the next batch the other way. Thanks for the tips everyone!

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), July 15, 2002.

From what I understand, blanching veggies before freezing stops deterioration of the product AND prevents vitamin loss over extended freezing time. Veggies not blanched will be fine for a month or so, but after that they "break down". Has anyone else heard of this?? I usually blanch everything except squashes, tomatoes and this year...eggplant!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), July 15, 2002.

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