Potato freezing is a great way to save some money and cook potato dishes in the cold winter. There are several ways to preserve potatoes at low temperatures, and this article will discuss in detail about each of them.

Basic rules for freezing potatoes

At first glance, it might seem that there is nothing easier than storing potatoes in the freezer. The storage process itself will not require any effort from you, but you need to pack the vegetable correctly, choose the optimal freezer and adjust it to the desired parameters.

Sealed packaging is an important rule for long-term storage. It is best to pick up tight, sealed plastic bags for these purposes that will not tear when dragging them around the freezer. However, in this case, you need to consider: before laying potatoes for storage, you need to release all the air from the bag.

Excess oxygen will significantly reduce the shelf life of the root crop, and it can also spoil its taste and visual characteristics.Foil will also be an excellent option for packing potatoes. But it should be thick, as the foil for baking is thin and tears without much effort.

Did you know? There are varieties of potatoes whose flesh is blue by nature. One of these varieties is Linzer Blaue.

Another important rule of conservation at low temperatures: re-freezing is extremely undesirable. It is better to cook and thaw a product immediately. Experts recommend storing potatoes at a temperature not exceeding -18 ° C. In addition, it is important to ensure that temperature differences do not occur.

For these purposes, it is recommended to purchase an uninterruptible power supply together with a freezer.

What kind of kitchen equipment is needed

For each individual case of freezing, different equipment may be required, but we are talking about items that are likely to be in every kitchen.

In general, when preparing potatoes you will need:

• pan;
• pan;
• a bowl;
• colander;
• tray;
• knife;
• tanks for storing vegetables.

Selection and preparation of potatoes for freezing

For storage at low temperatures, it is necessary to choose potato varieties with a low content of starch and glucose. The fact is that starch, in the process of prolonged exposure to negative temperatures, breaks down from polysaccharide into disaccharides and monosaccharides (in fact, into ordinary sugar - sucrose and fructose).

As a result, such potatoes when eaten will seem to you excessively sweet.

For these purposes, it is better to select varieties of potatoes with a pink (not red) peel, such as Sineglazka, Spring, Vesnyanka, Zhukovsky early. Low levels of starch in tubers of varieties such as Leader, Pogarsky, Red Scarlet, Temp.

Important! For freezing for a long time, in general, the raw form of the potato should be of a smooth structure, dense and without obvious signs of skin damage. If there is damage on the peel, such a vegetable will deteriorate quickly during long-term storage and lose its taste.

When preparing tubers, it is first necessary to soak them in water for a while. After 1-2 hours, thoroughly rinse and peel them, then soak them again in cold water. Soaking peeled potatoes, you remove excess starch from it and prevent further darkening of vegetables.

Ways to freeze potatoes at home

In today's world, where every minute of free time is valued, people began to look for instant food. That is why there was a fashion for freezing french fries, boiled and even fried tubers.

Whole

Take two large pots and pour hot water into one of them and cold water into the second. Place a container with hot water on a burner with a medium-intensity flame, and add ice cubes to a container with cold water.All this is necessary for blanching, but first prepare the vegetables: peel them and wash them well, discard the spoiled ones, and divide too many into several parts.

The step-by-step blanching step is as follows:

1. Peeled potatoes are placed in boiling water for five minutes.
2. After that, they are instantly transferred to cold water with ice.
3. When the potatoes have cooled, they are laid out on a towel and dried well. You can use a paper towel that absorbs all the moisture from the tubers. It is important not to leave excess water on the surface, because when exposed to low temperatures, vegetables will be covered with a thin crust of ice.

Dry potatoes can be packed in bags and sent to the freezer. However, if you want to avoid clumping of tubers, you can do the following trick: put all the tubers on a tray and place them in a negative temperature chamber for 30 minutes, then take them out, put them in small packets and send them for long-term storage.

After this procedure, frozen potatoes will not stick together.

For fries

A great way to have a snack product at home. It’s worth it just once to spend a little time in order to save it further.Here is a step-by-step preparation guide for freezing french fries:

1. Peel the tubers and cut them into strips. For these purposes, you need to pick medium-sized potatoes so that the straw has a natural look.
2. Rinse the chopped straws in several waters. Such a procedure will help remove excess starch from it.
3. Arrange a steam bath for potatoes: boil water in a large pan, pour the straws into a colander, place it above the water (so that the bottom of the colander does not come into contact with water) and cover everything with a lid.
4. After 3-4 minutes, remove the straw and sprinkle it with sunflower oil.
5. Put the prepared potatoes on a special tray and send them to the freezer. After 30-40 minutes, remove it, pack it in bags and put it for long-term storage at low temperature.

Such a product is very useful for you when you need to quickly have a meal, but there is nothing suitable at hand.

Mashed potatoes

To freeze mashed potatoes, you must first cook it. And it is prepared in the same way as you do it in everyday life: peel and cook the potatoes, then knead it and let it cool. If desired, you can add a little greens and even sour cream or milk to the finished puree (dairy products can be added, but still it is better to do this when you are defrosting the products).When the puree has cooled, it should be laid out in bags and the excess air released from them. It is important to ensure that the bags remain airtight after closing.

Important! Before freezing, the mashed potatoes should be completely cooled, otherwise the rest of the steam will turn into an ice crust.

Sauteed

Delicious fried potatoes can be prepared in large quantities and on busy days, feast on this dish without spending long hours in the kitchen. The first step in the preparation will be the cleaning of the tubers. After that, they must be thoroughly washed and cut into small pieces.Fry in the usual manner for you with the addition of salt, pepper, onions and other spices.

After frying, the potatoes should cool to room temperature. It is important to remove excess fat that is not needed in the freezer - it is best to use a paper towel for this. Then, you can put the fried dry potatoes in bags and send them for storage at low temperatures.

Boiled

Boiled potatoes can be frozen both in the peel and without it. For starters, tubers need to be thoroughly washed and boiled with salt and other spices (optional). Further, root crops should dry out and completely get rid of excess steam. Wet potatoes are recommended to wipe with a paper towel.After drying, boiled root crops are packaged in reliable bags or trays and sent to the freezer.

Terms and features of storage

There are some subtleties of storing root crops at low temperatures, knowing which, you can extend their shelf life:

• if you do not remove excess starch from potatoes, then during storage it will get a blackish tint;
• if raw potatoes are not soaked in several waters, they will have some friability;
• so that the potatoes do not stick together, you need to use the step-by-step freezing rule (first freeze a portion, and then pack and send it to a permanent storage place), and also store the product in batches;
• frozen tubers are a specific taste product that not everyone will like. Therefore, to begin with, you should prepare a small portion of potatoes and decide for yourself whether such a product is suitable for you or not.

Did you know? The most expensive potato in the world is grown on the island of Noirmoutier. La Bonnotte is distinguished by a sweet and very delicate pulp. The price of 1 kg of this root crop is 500 euros.

It is necessary to keep root crops at a temperature of no higher than -18 ° C, otherwise their shelf life will be significantly reduced. Raw prepared potatoes can be stored for about 5 months, boiled or fried - up to 6 months.

How to defrost and cook potatoes after freezing

The process of preparing frozen potatoes will depend on how you prepared and stored it:

• whole root crops, which were stored raw, do not require defrosting. They must immediately be put in the broth or in a pan with oil, and cook;
• French fries need to be taken out of the storage chamber and immediately lowered into hot oil;
• fried potatoes and mashed potatoes can be heated in the microwave for several minutes and immediately eat.

As you can see, freezing a favorite vegetable by everyone is simple, without much trouble, but it can save a lot of time. It is always nice to get ready-made potatoes from the freezer, quickly warm them up and eat right there.