Hello reader!
In a previous post I mentioned that I’d try out some ways of storing our crops. Well, I tried freezing our potatoes. Both small pieces (for soups and stews), and wedges to grill in the oven. Now we’ve had the chance to try the different kinds, and I’m pleasantly surprised!
Most of us have probably been told that potatoes don’t freeze well. In general, that is absolutely true. Freezing raw, or completely cooked, potatoes will usually end up in a watery, slimey, and grainy mess. But what if you blanch them before freezing?
As it turns out: not bad!
I started by prepping all the potatoes. We had to harvest a whole lot of them at the same time, so I put the cut and prepped pieces in cold water to make sure that they stayed fresh and nice looking until it was time for blanching.
I then brought a big pot of water to a boil, and added the potatoes sorted by shape. After 3-5 minutes of boiling (or slightly less for very small pieces), I removed them from the boiling water and instantly cooled them down with cold water. It’s important to stop the cooking process as quickly as possible.
I dried them lightly with some towels and paper, before freezing them. I made sure to store them in well separated layers, so that the pieces wouldn’t stick together. The next day I put them all in plastic bags. Freezing them this way will allow you to only use the amounts of pieces that you want later on, instead of having to use the entire bag and/or batch.
And now, when we’ve tried soup, mashed potatoes and the wedges in the oven, I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised. Sure, they are a little bit different than using fresh potatoes. But it’s not bad at all!
And if you don’t have any other good way of storing them, this could absolutely be the solution. All you have to do is cook them as usual, but just a shorter amount of time. No need to thaw them before or anything, just use them straight from the freezer.
Do you have any great tips on how to handle and store the crops? 🙂
Until next time,
Food & baking, Hobbies, lifestyle 
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