Do they freeze pumpkin for the winter. How to freeze a pumpkin for the winter at home - various methods and duration of storage. Freezing raw pumpkin

Pumpkin is not only eaten, but often used at holidays and in decoration. For example, without the pumpkin, there would be no international holiday Halloween.

But today we will talk about freezing as one of the ways to store pumpkin for a long time.

Preparatory stage

After harvesting pumpkins, you should choose the fruits that you want to eat in winter. Preferably free of stains or damage. Cut the pumpkin into 2 parts, and completely clean out the seeds.

For further freezing in the form of pieces, it is highly desirable to first cut off the dense peel, also removing the upper and lower parts of the fruit (roots, tails).

After that, if desired, you can blanch for 10-15 minutes.

How to cut a pumpkin?

The cutting method depends on the size of the pumpkin.. For small (small) pumpkins, cutting can be done in quarters. For large ones, cut into slices of three to four centimeters. After that, divide the slices into pieces, squares.

When freezing in pieces, we pre-place the chopped pumpkin in one layer on a flat surface (baking tray, cutting board, or polyethylene, laid directly in the freezer) so that the parts do not touch each other, otherwise they will stick together. After a couple of hours, when the cubes freeze well, you can pour them into a container for further storage (plastic container, plastic bag).

Before sealing the container, leave some empty space in it. This is necessary to avoid damage to the packaging (may burst). The reason - after freezing, the pumpkin swells, increases in size.

How to pack?

How to freeze pumpkin for storage? Usually improvised containers are used:

• plastic containers(special containers, containers for yogurt, sour cream, etc.).
• Plastic bags, regular or special with latch.

If we pack mashed potatoes, then it is very convenient to place the package in some container with rigid sides (for example, a plastic bucket) before filling, and then transfer (or pour) the pumpkin puree into the bag that has thus received the shape with a spoon. The bucket securely supports the shapeless bag and it becomes much more convenient to place flowing puree in it.

Next, we release air from the bag, leaving some space for the possible expansion of the pumpkin, we tie, take it out of our form and give the tied bag a flat shape. So its contents will freeze faster and be stored more compactly.

Cooked and cooled pumpkin puree is also pre-frozen in:

• freezing molds ice cubes orsilicone for baking.

After solidification, the resulting frozen portions are placed in a large bag or container for long-term storage;

• plastic cups. After freezing, their contents can be removed and put into a common large container or bag. Or cover each cup with foil and store as such.

Prepared packages are signed for convenience, indicating the name of the product and the date of packaging. And then placed in the freezer and stored until use. Is it possible to store pumpkin in the freezer for a long time? Pumpkin frozen at -18°C and below can be stored in the freezer for up to 10-12 months.

Freezing Recipes

Pumpkin is frozen raw (quarters, slices, cubes, grated) or pre-heat-treated (stewed, blanched or boiled), most often crushed to a puree state.

Freezing pumpkin puree:

• We cut the vegetable in half, and then into slices, which we bake in the oven at 180-200 ° C for about an hour. Scoop out the baked flesh with a metal spoon and chop.
• Sugar, salt and other spices are not added. When the pumpkin has cooled, spoon it into a freezer dish.

Freezing in pieces (cubes):

• Lay the pumpkin cut into pieces of the same size on a flat surface in one layer so that the parts do not touch each other.
• We put it in the freezer for a couple of hours.
• Frozen to a solid state, vegetable cubes are poured into prepared plastic bags.

Freezing grated pumpkin:

• We clean the vegetable, cut into large bars, and then grind them on a grater.
• We pack with a spoon in portioned packages. This pumpkin is especially suitable for baking.

1. Dishes served in a pumpkin look very impressive.
2. To get rid of excess moisture during frying, you can pre-salt the prepared pieces of pumpkin and leave for a couple of hours, and then blot with a paper towel.
3. It is useful to add milk and butter to pumpkin dishes, which contribute to better absorption of fat-soluble beta-carotene, which pumpkin is rich in.
4. Pumpkin is beautiful, tasty and healthy. Great for baby and diet food. In Russia, this vegetable imported from America has been known since the 16th century, 300 years earlier than potatoes.

Pumpkin for baby puree and nutrition

Pumpkin has a pleasant sweet taste and therefore children like it. It is well absorbed and is especially useful in the treatment and prevention of constipation. Contains B vitamins, magnesium, beta-carotene, iron, as well as phosphorus, silicon, vitamin C, carotene, glucose, and of course, vitamin D, which prevents the appearance of rickets. How to freeze pumpkin for feeding?

Pumpkin for feeding can be frozen both separately and as part of a vegetable mixture by adding diced zucchini, broccoli, carrots (we cut it smaller than the rest of the ingredients, as it takes a little longer to cook). Having defrosted, it will be possible to prepare mashed potatoes from such a mixture, and then, when the child grows up, vegetable stew with the addition of meat and fish.

Roasted pumpkin can be mashed right away and frozen in individual portions. This is especially convenient in order to save time, as no further processing of the product after defrosting is required. Frozen pumpkin for the winter is an excellent addition to cereals, especially oatmeal, millet, rice and even semolina (pumpkin cubes are added during cooking without defrosting, and mashed potatoes are put at the very end of cooking), a good baking component (pies, muffins, pancakes, cookies, various fillings).

Grated pumpkin is good to add to casseroles and stews, soups, borscht, meatballs. Kissel is also made from pumpkin. To prevent pumpkin slices from becoming too watery and flabby after defrosting, you need to let them dry a little in the open air before freezing, or even better, dry them in the oven. In this case, they will become sweeter.

The most compact storage option for pumpkin is mashed potatoes, frozen in layers in bags. In addition, this product, after defrosting, will no longer require processing.

How to eat frozen pumpkin (defrosting frozen pumpkin)

Before eating pumpkin frozen in pieces, it is not recommended to defrost the vegetable. It must be dipped in boiling water, broth or milk and boiled until tender. This will keep it useful material and taste qualities.

Pumpkin puree can be thawed in the microwave or in the refrigerator.. Since the baked pumpkin is almost a ready-made dish, it is added to porridge or another dish at the end of cooking. For baby food, a frozen plate of puree can be added to boiling milk or dissolved in hot porridge.

Video "We freeze the pumpkin correctly"

Several ways to freeze pumpkin for the winter

Pumpkin is one of those large fruit crops that you cannot eat in one sitting, even if everyone in the family, without exception, is a fan of cereals, casseroles and other dishes from this product. An easy way to deal with leftover pumpkins is to freeze them. At right approach you will receive a healthy, fresh, always ready-to-eat product.

About the benefits of pumpkin

Pumpkin is a large and colorful vegetable, which many people associate with fertility and autumn harvest. Growing it on the site is as easy as shelling pears, but later the question often arises: what to do with it? The main thing you need to understand is that pumpkin is very useful, it is definitely worth eating. Grown in your garden, which means it is 100% environmentally friendly, it contains a variety of vitamins - A, C, D, E, B vitamins, the rarest vitamin T, which helps digestion and fights obesity, vitamin K, which is responsible for health blood and bone tissue, and in other vegetables is simply absent. It contains microelements, sugars, and carotene with pectins. So the pumpkin will strengthen the immune system, and give vigor, and fight cholesterol, and regulate the metabolism.

Pumpkin pulp contains a complex of essential vitamins, in particular A, C, D, E, B, T

You can use it in the form of juices and jams, cereals and casseroles, pies and pancakes, mashed soups and much more. It all depends on your imagination. For some cooking methods, only fresh pumpkin will do, but frozen pumpkin will do for most. The useful properties of the vegetable are preserved during freezing and baking, so such a semi-finished product will not yield to a fresh product in any way, but it will significantly save time and facilitate the cooking process.

Freezing methods

Puree

This method will take a little longer than the others, but it's worth the effort. First, you will get rid of the snowiness and wateriness of the pumpkin by pre-baking. Secondly, such a frozen semi-finished product without additional processing will allow you to cook soup puree, casserole, porridge or pie in a matter of minutes. You just take out the finished puree and add it to the desired dish. Thirdly, mashed potatoes are much more compact compared to pieces, which means it will take up much less space in the freezer.

Pumpkins have a tough, tough skin, so get a large knife and cutting board ready.

Cooking method:

Pumpkin puree preserves beneficial features when frozen

Choose the size of the mold depending on the dishes that you are going to cook later. Ideally, the form should be portioned. For example, a 200 ml container is enough to make one pumpkin muffin.

Important: do not forget that the puree expands when frozen, so leave some free space and do not stuff the puree tightly under the lid.

Options for preparing pumpkin for puree:

• cleaned in the oven. Carefully get rid of the peel, cut the pulp into 3x3 cm cubes. Arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and place in an oven preheated to 140 ° for 1 hour. Check the pumpkin for softness (it should knead well with a fork), if necessary, hold it in the oven for some more time;
• uncleaned in the oven. Cut the unpeeled pumpkin into 3 cm thick slices. Arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil in a single layer. Bake in a hot oven until the pulp is tender (about 1 hour). Cool the pumpkin and peel off the peel, it should easily lag behind the pulp;
• in the microwave. Clean and cut the pumpkin into slices. Place in a microwave bowl and pour in some water. Put in the microwave at maximum power for 10-15 minutes. Repeat the procedure several times until the pumpkin becomes soft;
• boiled. Peel the pumpkin, cut into cubes, dip in boiled water and boil until soft. Ready pumpkin should be easily pierced with a fork;
• for a couple. Put the peeled pumpkin cut into small cubes in a steam basket and place in a double boiler with boiling water for 30-40 minutes. You can use a pressure cooker, a multicooker with a steam function.

Pumpkin frozen in the form of puree will be a convenient and healthy option for baby foods. Keep in mind that the baked product has a concentrated taste and texture, so it is preferable to use boiled or steamed raw materials for feeding a child (especially a baby).

Cooking pumpkin puree (gallery)

Spread the cut pumpkin on a baking sheet and send it to the preheated oven

Place in freezer container

Make a puree

Bake until soft

cut into cubes

Cut the pumpkin, remove seeds and peel

Raw pieces

Pumpkin in the form of mashed potatoes is not suitable for all dishes. If you need pumpkin cubes or slices, freeze them without cooking them first.

Pieces frozen in this way will not stick together.

In a mashed state

For the preparation of pumpkin fritters and pies, grated pumpkin will come in handy. Grate the peeled vegetable on a medium or large grater, place it in a bag, let the air out of it, close it tightly and send it to the freezer.

Frozen grated pumpkin is suitable for making pancakes

Healthy! When freezing vegetables, make markings on the storage container with the date of freezing and the name of the product. Indicate the purpose (for soup, for baking, etc.).

Frozen pumpkin puree (video)

Most winter varieties of pumpkin are safely stored until spring. But when you open a fruit weighing 5 kilograms, you won’t be able to eat it quickly. Then freezing tips come to the rescue. Prepared semi-finished products will retain vitamins and freshness of a healthy vegetable and will come in handy when preparing various dishes.

Pumpkin freezes well if done right.

How to prepare pumpkin for freezing

You can freeze any kind of pumpkin. The main thing is that the pumpkin is ripe, but not overripe. For freezing, you need to take a whole pumpkin, and not the cut off piece that lay on the counter or in the refrigerator for some time (even cut off by the hostess herself). Pumpkin should be without damage, spoiled barrels or rotten (even slightly) tail.

• First, the pumpkin is thoroughly washed.
• Then cut in half and scrape out the inner soft part along with the seeds, leaving only the hard pulp.

How to freeze raw pumpkin

The pumpkin is frozen, cut into pieces that will be needed during the cooking process. For example, if a pumpkin is frozen for manti, then it is cut into small cubes. And if the pumpkin is needed for cooking and further grinding, then it is cut into larger pieces.

• After the pumpkin is cleaned of the inner inedible part, the thick skin is cut off from it.
• Then the pumpkin is cut into slices, and those, in turn, are cut into cubes.
• The cut pumpkin is laid out on the table and allowed to dry a little.
• Then packaged in sachets - "once" - and cleaned in the freezer.

But this method is not as popular as freezing blanched pumpkin.

How to Freeze Blanched Pumpkin

• Prepared pumpkin cut into cubes.
• A small portion of the cut is placed in a colander and dipped in a pot of boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Then the colander is immediately transferred to the pan with cold water for the same time.
• After that, the pumpkin is laid out on a towel and dried well.
• So that the pumpkin pieces do not stick together into one large lump during freezing, they can be frozen in two steps. First, the blanched pumpkin slices are laid out on a tray in a single layer and placed in the freezer for pre-freezing.
• When the pumpkin freezes, it is packaged in small bags, the air is released and sealed. Packages with pumpkins are put into the freezer, not forgetting to sign them beforehand, since pumpkins can be easily confused with carrots.

How to freeze grated pumpkin

Such a pumpkin is well suited for making pancakes or various fillings.

• The washed pumpkin is peeled, cut in half and the seeds are removed along with the pulp that surrounds them.
• Then the dense part is cut into pieces, each of which is rubbed on a medium grater.
• Grated pumpkin is packaged in bags. Each bag contains as much as it is supposed to be used in cooking.
• The bags are tightly closed, flattened so that they freeze faster, and put into the freezer.

How to freeze baked pumpkin puree

This puree will appeal not only to children, but also to adults. It can be used for baby food, as well as for making all kinds of dough products, such as muffins or pumpkin buns.

• Pumpkin for baking is washed, cut in half and the soft inside is removed along with the seeds.
• Cut the pumpkin directly with the peel into wide slices (like a watermelon) and spread it on a baking sheet with the peel down.
• Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about an hour at a temperature of 180-200 ° C. During this time, the pumpkin will become soft.
• Remove from the oven and, after cooling slightly, remove the peel.
• The resulting pulp is ground in a blender to a puree state.
• Puree is laid out in small containers (glasses of yogurt, sour cream) or in molds for freezing ice.
• Put in the freezer and freeze.
• When the puree is frozen, it can be removed from the molds and transferred to tight plastic bags, tied well and put back in the freezer.

Recipe for the occasion::

In the same way, mashed potatoes can be prepared from boiled pumpkin. But baked pumpkin puree is much tastier.

Pumpkin in terms of its nutritional and vitamin components can give odds to most expensive vegetables and fruits. At the same time, it can be stored in its raw, unrefined form for a long time (up to six months) and fully retain all its useful properties. And these are vitamins A and B, C, D and E. Pumpkin is also rich in microelements such as potassium, magnesium and iron. In addition, it is a low-allergenic product, which makes it indispensable when introducing the first complementary foods for babies.

In general, not a product, but a fairy tale! But why know how to freeze a pumpkin for the winter, if, it turns out, it is already perfectly preserved? Firstly, it should be noted that when frozen, it takes up much less space in the freezer (because it is cleaned and chopped) than whole somewhere on the balcony. Secondly, no matter how long the pumpkin is kept fresh, until April-May, for example, it still “will not live”, and the new crop will not come until August-September. Thirdly, peeling and cutting a pumpkin is a troublesome business, which creates certain obstacles to cooking dishes from it. It is much easier to get blanks from the freezer, defrost in the microwave and immediately start creating various goodies.

Is it possible to freeze a pumpkin for the winter unpeeled? Definitely not. Before freezing, all vegetables and fruits should be thoroughly washed and peeled, core, seeds, leaving only the precious pulp. Thinking about how to properly freeze a pumpkin, you need to decide what you will cook from it. If these are delicious pancakes, then it is better to immediately grate it and freeze it in this form in a plastic bag. Moreover, in each of them you need to put pumpkins as much as is required for a one-time preparation of a dish. The product must not be subjected to secondary freezing.

Many young mothers are interested in whether it is possible to freeze pumpkin for the winter in the form of mashed potatoes? As mentioned above, this vegetable is ideal for use as a first food for babies. give kids just like that, add it to rice, semolina and corn porridge. Before in this form, it should be boiled in pieces for a couple or in water, and then chopped, for example, in a blender. Pumpkin puree can be sent to the freezer in disposable plastic cups or in the same portioned plastic bags.

Most often, when answering the question of whether it is possible to freeze a pumpkin for the winter, experienced housewives advise sending this vegetable to the freezer, cut into small pieces. By preserving the product in this form, you leave yourself a huge field for creativity in the direction of dishes that can be prepared from it. If you want mashed potatoes - make it after defrosting, you need to bake a pumpkin with other vegetables - cut it into small pieces, etc. In general, you can create as many different dishes from a product frozen in this form as from fresh.

Now that the reader knows whether it is possible to freeze a pumpkin for the winter, it is worth mentioning how to properly defrost it. This must be done either in the microwave on a special mode, or in the refrigerator. In the latter case, this process will drag on for ten to twelve hours.

If you have a lot of raw pumpkins and want to use these vegetables later, you can freeze them! You can blanch and freeze both pumpkins and zucchini. Blanching a pumpkin helps preserve flavor, color, and even vitamins. Pumpkins can also be frozen raw to be added to baked goods and soups. Freeze pumpkins so you can enjoy them all year round!

Steps

Freezing winter squash raw

Remove the skin from the pumpkin with a potato peeler or knife. Lay the pumpkin on a cutting board and cut off the rounded ends on each side. Then take the pumpkin in your non-primary hand and the potato peeler in your primary hand and cut the peel into strips (while moving away from you). If you are using a knife, place the pumpkin on a cutting board and cut the skin from top to bottom.

• After you cut the skin from one section, turn the pumpkin in your non-dominant hand and peel the other side.
• If you are using a knife, cut the peel thinly on one side. After that, unfold the pumpkin and move on until you cut a strip from the entire surface. Continue cutting the skin into long strips around the entire circumference until you have peeled the entire pumpkin.

1. Cut the pumpkin into cubes about 2-3 centimeters in size. Take a serrated knife and cut the pumpkin into roughly equal sized cubes. You can cut the pumpkin into any size you want, but a plastic bag is more convenient for storing 2-3 cm cubes if that's the right size for you.

   • Always use a cutting board when cutting vegetables.

2. Freeze pumpkin on a baking sheet for 2 hours. Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and arrange the pumpkin slices on it in a single layer so that they do not touch each other. Put the baking sheet in the freezer and keep it there for about 2 hours until the pumpkin hardens.

   • If you freeze pumpkin slices this way, you will reduce the risk of them sticking together when stored in the freezer for a long time.

3. Transfer the pumpkin to a container suitable for the freezer. Remove the pumpkin pieces one at a time from the baking sheet and transfer them to a freezer-friendly plastic container or bag. Make sure to leave about 1.5 centimeters on top free space before closing the container.

   • Food containers or plastic bags work well.
   • If you are using a plastic bag, try to get as much air out of it as possible before sealing.

4. Store raw frozen pumpkin for up to 12 months. Place the pumpkin containers in the freezer and keep them there until you are ready to use them. Mark the freeze date on bags or containers.

   Defrost pumpkin or add it to some soups and sauces while frozen. When you decide to use pumpkin slices, they can be put into hot sauce or thawed beforehand to add to other dishes. To thaw the pumpkin, transfer the bag from the freezer to the refrigerator overnight or leave it on the kitchen counter for 3-4 hours.

   • Butternut squash can be fried directly in a frozen form without prior defrosting.

   Freezing cooked winter squash

   1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Before freezing, the pumpkin should be baked in the oven. Set the baking mode and temperature to 200 ° C. You can also microwave the pumpkin if you like, in which case you don't have to preheat it.

      Take a sharp serrated knife and cut the pumpkin in half. Place the pumpkin on a cutting board and hold it firmly with one hand. Cut the pumpkin in half lengthwise with a knife. Lay the halves on a cutting board, flesh side up.

      • If you are dealing with a large pumpkin, such as nutmeg, proceed carefully and slowly. The knife may slip off the gourd if it rolls. A small pumpkin, such as a pepo pumpkin, is easier to hold in place.

   2. Choose fibrous veins from pumpkin. Use a spoon or your hands to scoop out the pulp and seeds from the middle of the pumpkin and discard them. To do this, it is convenient to use a melon spoon, if you have one. A serrated grapefruit spoon will also work.

      • Put the extracted pulp with seeds into the compost or discard it.
      • A regular spoon has blunt edges and does not cut through the gourd fibers as well as a melon spoon.

   3. Place the pumpkin, flesh side up, on a baking sheet. If you want to enhance the flavor, add some salt and pepper. You can also add about 1 tablespoon (20 grams) of honey and 1 tablespoon (14 grams) of brown sugar at this point.

      • If you are going to fry the frozen pumpkin afterwards, it is helpful to add the butter and brown sugar at this step. Otherwise, it is better to bake the pumpkin without any additives - this way it will be better preserved.

   4. Roast the pumpkin for 25 minutes or until the flesh is tender. Place the baking sheet in an oven preheated to 200°C and bake the pumpkin for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, remove the baking sheet and use a fork to check if your pumpkin has become soft enough (the fork should easily go into the pulp).

      Pick out the pulp with a spoon. When the pumpkin is cool enough, take a metal spoon and scoop out the flesh from the outer shell. Transfer it to a separate bowl, and discard the remaining peel.

      • To make it easier to bite into the pulp, you can use a spoon with serrated edges.

   5. Make a puree from the pulp. Winter squash puree can be stored in the freezer for many months. Grind the pulp in a blender or food processor so that there are no lumps left in it. Once baked, it's pretty easy.

      • You can also crush the pulp with a masher or even a metal fork.

   6. Divide the pulp into small portions and freeze them. Wait for the puree to cool, then divide it into ½ cup (about 140 grams) portions and spread them out on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet or place in an ice or baking dish. Place the baking sheet or mold in the freezer for at least 4 hours to firm up the puree.

      • Pumpkin puree will freeze better if divided into small portions, but if you are in a hurry, you can skip this step and immediately store the puree in the freezer.

   7. Store frozen pumpkin puree for up to 3 months. When small portions of puree are frozen and hardened, transfer them to suitable plastic containers or bags and leave in the freezer until ready to use.

      • If you are using plastic bags, squeeze as much air out of them as possible before sealing them.

   8. Defrost puree before cooking. To do this, transfer the puree to the refrigerator overnight or hold it on the kitchen table for 3-4 hours. You can then puree it in the microwave or reheat it on the stove and add to warm dishes. Puree can be added to soups and sauces without prior defrosting.

      • Winter squash puree is great for sauces, soups, gravies, lasagna, stuffing and baking.

   Blanching and freezing zucchini

   1. Cut the zucchini into slices about 0.5 cm thick. Take a sharp kitchen knife, trim the zucchini from both ends and cut it into thin circles about 0.5 centimeters thick. Move along the zucchini.

      • If you want to freeze the zucchini and then add it to the bread, you need to grind it. Take a four-sided grater and grate the zucchini into a bowl.
      • In this method, it is not necessary to peel the zucchini as you will be blanching it afterwards.

   2. Boil water at the rate of 4 liters per 500 grams of zucchini. Pour water into a large saucepan, place over high heat and bring to a boil. Place a wire steaming basket or colander over the pot. In this case, the basket should sink into the water so that the zucchini is completely immersed in boiling water.

      • In this method, the zucchini is not steamed. The basket is needed in order to quickly get the zucchini out of the water as soon as they are ready.

   3. Place the sliced ​​zucchini in the basket and blanch them for 3-4 minutes. Do not put more than 500 grams of zucchini in boiling water at a time. Boil them for about 3 minutes. Then take the basket of zucchini out of the pan.