We prefer to eat squash fresh - but frozen in soups, stews and most baked goods work fine for us. We’re still not at the “stomp the vines” stage with zucchini yet 😋 Take care and stay cool at your place.
We really like having squash in the freezer all winter. Glad to hear that you are having a good squash year. Last year we had an awful squash year, but we are making up for it this year! 😀 Have a great rest of the week!
Hey Ken, same number of hours in the day as always ... just how we use them changes. Oh, and sometimes we move more slowly! Steve from Digwell Greenfingers suggests salting squash and rinsing before freezing to reduce the moisture - we just pick them smaller, but we'll experiment with salting. Of course, we prefer solid squash to mashed. Hope all is going well for you. We're over 100 degrees AGAIN for about 10 days. Take care.
Very informative, Irene. We are going to try this. We have have way more squash than we can use, right now. We have in the past cooked, mashed and froze meal sandwich size bags to warm up for meals. It would be nice to have some loose to add to a stew... Nice to see you. I miss when there was more time in the day.... Take care, guys...
Ken's Maple Leaf Forge & Stuff time in the day? Yeah. I do remember that. Good luck with the squash! We use stirfrys and soups around here instead of fast food (none where we live). Being able to choose how much we want to use of an ingredient is a great thing for us. The next few days will be triple digit (F) temps here. It was 104 here yesterday, so we have lists, as always but we are also allowing ourselves a bit of “down time” in front of a fan with a cold drink. Not that we are goofing off; I am currently researching about ten things at once! Lol! Have a great week!
@@BrainStormAcres after they are done about a week or two... they go into the fridge so you need to have room ;) but i do pickle some too so they can be stored in the pantry I freze zuchini too but i don't use it too much that way but i do for baking zuchini muffins in the fall too
@@BrainStormAcres lol i added it too the cabbage but i made mine taste more like pickles We need to keep stuff healthy but how we could have it eaten too So listing to your family is number one but many ways to preserve food we just need to get it done :)
Thanks for sharing, Irene! I have never had those "flying saucer" types of veggie, the peti-pan (sp?). Interesting...and they looked very meaty. Have a good one!
Hey Deb. The patty pan is a very meaty squash especially if picked before the seeds mature. It’s worth trying them when you can figure Nd them. Take care and stay healthy.
Hi Henry and Irene, Well Irene another great video, 👍👍👍, You mentioned green beans, I have a problem with French green beans, we love them fresh but hate the frozen, How do you get over them being very soggy and mushy, Take care.
Hiya! The usual problem with most frozen veg is the home frozen food will lose its texture. This happens for a few reasons: the Blanching and cooling process and the speed of freezing. Assuming the blanch and cold water bath is timed right, the biggest issue is the speed with which the veg is frozen. We have a deep freeze unit which we keep around 15 below zero F -26c. We spread the veg from the ice water bath, pat them dry, and then sparsely place individual pieces on an aluminum 1/2 sheet pan and put the tray and veg in the freezer. It isn’t perfect, but it reduces the size of the ice crystals formed in the food. Bigger crystals means less texture, smaller means more texture is retained. Now, if you happen to have a flask of liquid nitrogen handy, pouring the liquid nitrogen over the veg would be pretty ideal! The trick with a home freezer is to freeze in small batches so the freezer compartment is not overloaded with warm food. Once the veg is thoroughly frozen we either vacuum seal in a bag, or load the pieces into a ziplock bag and press as much of the air out. Cooking the veg is best done in a microwave or placed in a pot of vigorously boiling water. Good luck!
Patty pan squash are my favs! And, on another topic. You have referred to the Ball Blue Book a lot. So today I went online to find one for myself. Wow, found everything from $6 to $500 (eek!). Is it important to have the most recently published iteration? I'm inclined to believe that knowledge and techniques have advanced since the first edition in, I think, 1974. I searched Abe books dot com, my go-to for books. Do you have another suggestion? Does Ball have its own website? Thanks for sharing your process with us. Stay well, be safe, take care.
Hiya! You don't need the most current book in our opinion. However, there were several important changes in recommended canning practices. For example, winter squash is no longer recommended for home canning. Instead their recommended preservation method is freezing. The new BB was something like $50 which we decided not to spend because the primary change is to the number of recipes included. The edition that we are using is ISBN 0-9727537-0-2 This edition was published in 2009. Amazon sellers have it for about $20. One of the major changes has to do with changes to what food is recommended for home canning. The change to freezing squash after many years of canning came about due to evidence that home canning certain foods is unreliable. Hope this helps! Take care.
@@BrainStormAcres It did help, thank you! I have just ordered a book from Amazon - wow, there were lots to choose from. And, yes, it was about $20. It is supposed to arrive here next Tuesday, maybe just in time for the figs, peaches and pears to be ready to pick. Oh wait, the figs are already there. Want some figs? I already have a fair amount of them. Take care, stay well, practice safe six ;-)
Hi Steve, Irene here. I suppose that we could salt the squash for stir fry. I would definitely have to be careful about either rinsing off the salt, or triple tasting everything in order to not have an over salted dish. We usually get low sodium soy sauce, but a bunch of the seasonings are still a bit salty. We have had very good luck with just barely reheating the squash, but it is definitely something to think about. Have a good weekend!
@@BrainStormAcres I find that salting the summer squash/zucchini for one hour or winter squash for 12 hours leaves no salt in the veg after a good double rinse but they are a lot crunchier in pickles etc - so I guess more firm in stir fries. Have a great weened guys!!
We have found that picking the squash small, so that they have less pulp and large seeds has made a huge difference in how crunchy things stay. Once in a rare while a squash will get away from us, but I usually harvest every morning, between 5:30 and 7AM, before breakfast. Have a great weekend!
We don’t peel squash before either cooking to eat or freezing. It’s possible to get tough skins if the squash are allowed to grow too long and get tough. If you have ideal growing conditions with plenty of water, zucchini is particular can get really large without the skin becoming thick and tough. We generally pick squash smaller so the skin doesn’t get tough and the seeds don’t mature and become woody. Thanks for asking. Take care.
Smart advice, thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for showing us how you put up your squash. We freeze a lot of them our self. Stay safe my friends and have a great day!
We prefer to eat squash fresh - but frozen in soups, stews and most baked goods work fine for us. We’re still not at the “stomp the vines” stage with zucchini yet 😋 Take care and stay cool at your place.
My wife & I are gonna try this. We have lots of squash this year and would hate to waste it! Cheers 🍻 from Prairie Sunset Ranch ☀️
We really like having squash in the freezer all winter. Glad to hear that you are having a good squash year. Last year we had an awful squash year, but we are making up for it this year! 😀 Have a great rest of the week!
BrainStormAcres , Thank you my friend!🍻
Hey Ken, same number of hours in the day as always ... just how we use them changes. Oh, and sometimes we move more slowly! Steve from Digwell Greenfingers suggests salting squash and rinsing before freezing to reduce the moisture - we just pick them smaller, but we'll experiment with salting. Of course, we prefer solid squash to mashed. Hope all is going well for you. We're over 100 degrees AGAIN for about 10 days. Take care.
Very informative, Irene. We are going to try this. We have have way more squash than we can use, right now. We have in the past cooked, mashed and froze meal sandwich size bags to warm up for meals. It would be nice to have some loose to add to a stew... Nice to see you. I miss when there was more time in the day.... Take care, guys...
Ken's Maple Leaf Forge & Stuff time in the day? Yeah. I do remember that. Good luck with the squash! We use stirfrys and soups around here instead of fast food (none where we live). Being able to choose how much we want to use of an ingredient is a great thing for us. The next few days will be triple digit (F) temps here. It was 104 here yesterday, so we have lists, as always but we are also allowing ourselves a bit of “down time” in front of a fan with a cold drink. Not that we are goofing off; I am currently researching about ten things at once! Lol! Have a great week!
Thank you!!! I always wondered how to keep my veggies preserved!
Glad we could help!
I have done quite a bit of freezing, myself. Thank you for sharing the process with us. I blanch almost everything before freezing. Thank you!
We definitely Blanche most veggies. Stay nice we can’t be sure of when we’ll use them, we want to have a good shot at having quality food. Take care.
Im fermenting my patty pans and zuchini they are soo yummy
Hi Wild Edibles. That’s awesome. Where do you keep them and how long are they lasting for you?
@@BrainStormAcres after they are done about a week or two... they go into the fridge so you need to have room ;) but i do pickle some too so they can be stored in the pantry
I freze zuchini too but i don't use it too much that way but i do for baking zuchini muffins in the fall too
Wild Edibles thanks! Sadly only one of us eats most pickles - sauerkraut is the exception. Have a great weekend .
@@BrainStormAcres lol i added it too the cabbage but i made mine taste more like pickles
We need to keep stuff healthy but how we could have it eaten too
So listing to your family is number one but many ways to preserve food we just need to get it done :)
Wild Edibles 👍
Thanks for sharing, Irene! I have never had those "flying saucer" types of veggie, the peti-pan (sp?). Interesting...and they looked very meaty. Have a good one!
Hey Deb. The patty pan is a very meaty squash especially if picked before the seeds mature. It’s worth trying them when you can figure Nd them. Take care and stay healthy.
Hi Henry and Irene, Well Irene another great video, 👍👍👍, You mentioned green beans, I have a problem with French green beans, we love them fresh but hate the frozen, How do you get over them being very soggy and mushy, Take care.
Hiya! The usual problem with most frozen veg is the home frozen food will lose its texture. This happens for a few reasons: the Blanching and cooling process and the speed of freezing. Assuming the blanch and cold water bath is timed right, the biggest issue is the speed with which the veg is frozen. We have a deep freeze unit which we keep around 15 below zero F -26c. We spread the veg from the ice water bath, pat them dry, and then sparsely place individual pieces on an aluminum 1/2 sheet pan and put the tray and veg in the freezer. It isn’t perfect, but it reduces the size of the ice crystals formed in the food. Bigger crystals means less texture, smaller means more texture is retained. Now, if you happen to have a flask of liquid nitrogen handy, pouring the liquid nitrogen over the veg would be pretty ideal! The trick with a home freezer is to freeze in small batches so the freezer compartment is not overloaded with warm food. Once the veg is thoroughly frozen we either vacuum seal in a bag, or load the pieces into a ziplock bag and press as much of the air out. Cooking the veg is best done in a microwave or placed in a pot of vigorously boiling water. Good luck!
@@BrainStormAcres Thank you, Take care.
Ronald Shaw - Car Park Growing Area good luck!
Patty pan squash are my favs! And, on another topic. You have referred to the Ball Blue Book a lot. So today I went online to find one for myself. Wow, found everything from $6 to $500 (eek!). Is it important to have the most recently published iteration? I'm inclined to believe that knowledge and techniques have advanced since the first edition in, I think, 1974. I searched Abe books dot com, my go-to for books. Do you have another suggestion? Does Ball have its own website? Thanks for sharing your process with us. Stay well, be safe, take care.
Hiya! You don't need the most current book in our opinion. However, there were several important changes in recommended canning practices. For example, winter squash is no longer recommended for home canning. Instead their recommended preservation method is freezing. The new BB was something like $50 which we decided not to spend because the primary change is to the number of recipes included. The edition that we are using is ISBN 0-9727537-0-2 This edition was published in 2009. Amazon sellers have it for about $20. One of the major changes has to do with changes to what food is recommended for home canning. The change to freezing squash after many years of canning came about due to evidence that home canning certain foods is unreliable. Hope this helps! Take care.
@@BrainStormAcres It did help, thank you! I have just ordered a book from Amazon - wow, there were lots to choose from. And, yes, it was about $20. It is supposed to arrive here next Tuesday, maybe just in time for the figs, peaches and pears to be ready to pick. Oh wait, the figs are already there. Want some figs? I already have a fair amount of them. Take care, stay well, practice safe six ;-)
Glad the info helped. Figs? YES! We still want to come down - just working out our logistics and schedules. Take care and stay healthy.
Nice one Irene - exactly as I do it. How about salting some to draw the water out before blanching, just for stir fry?
Hi Steve - don’t know what happened to my comment, but I’ll get Irene to answer this morning. Time for a run to the water station. - Henry.
Hi Steve, Irene here. I suppose that we could salt the squash for stir fry. I would definitely have to be careful about either rinsing off the salt, or triple tasting everything in order to not have an over salted dish. We usually get low sodium soy sauce, but a bunch of the seasonings are still a bit salty. We have had very good luck with just barely reheating the squash, but it is definitely something to think about. Have a good weekend!
@@BrainStormAcres I find that salting the summer squash/zucchini for one hour or winter squash for 12 hours leaves no salt in the veg after a good double rinse but they are a lot crunchier in pickles etc - so I guess more firm in stir fries.
Have a great weened guys!!
We have found that picking the squash small, so that they have less pulp and large seeds has made a huge difference in how crunchy things stay. Once in a rare while a squash will get away from us, but I usually harvest every morning, between 5:30 and 7AM, before breakfast. Have a great weekend!
@@BrainStormAcres Whaaaat? There is a 5:30 in the day, I thought it started ate 6:30 LOL
Did u not peel them first? I have the large white pattypan.
We don’t peel squash before either cooking to eat or freezing. It’s possible to get tough skins if the squash are allowed to grow too long and get tough. If you have ideal growing conditions with plenty of water, zucchini is particular can get really large without the skin becoming thick and tough. We generally pick squash smaller so the skin doesn’t get tough and the seeds don’t mature and become woody. Thanks for asking. Take care.