Is it possible to put frozen potatoes in the freezer at home?

Can potatoes be frozen?

Can potatoes be frozen in the freezer? The answer is simple, like the question - yes, it is possible. When frozen, potatoes retain their structure and all the beneficial properties that were present when fresh. However, in order to avoid any troubles and unexpected turns in this matter, you need to know how to properly and well prepare a vegetable for freezing.

How to properly defrost and cook potatoes after freezing

The process for cooking frozen potatoes will depend on how you prepared and stored them:

Whole root vegetables that have been stored raw do not require thawing. They must be immediately placed in broth or in a frying pan with oil and cooked;
French fries must be removed from the storage chamber and immediately placed in hot oil;
Fried potatoes and mashed potatoes can be heated in the microwave for a few minutes and eaten immediately.

As you can see, freezing everyone's favorite vegetable is simple, without much hassle, but can save a lot of time. It’s always nice to take ready-made potatoes out of the freezer, quickly heat them up and use them right away.

Housewives, tell me, is it possible to freeze fried potatoes? What is the best way to store it - just in the refrigerator? Or can you even put it in the freezer? We fried it on a baking sheet, didn’t eat it, and tomorrow we are suddenly leaving for a week - I want to somehow try to save it before arriving. So the question is: can you freeze fried potatoes in the freezer? Thanks for the tips

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Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages

The main advantages when harvesting potatoes for the winter can be considered:

The vegetable retains all its beneficial properties and does not lose them over time when frozen.
The finished frozen product saves a lot of time, because such preparations do not require defrosting - they are immediately sent to the pan or in the microwave.

Flaws

Perhaps the only drawback may be the change in the taste of the vegetable after heating. But it is worth saying that this is only possible when the housewife did not take into account all the subtleties when preparing potatoes for further freezing.

How to tell if potatoes are frozen

If frosts hit sharply, and your balcony absolutely cannot cope with them, and you suspect that the potatoes stored there are frozen, you should check it. But how to do this? There are two scenarios for the development of events, the first when the potatoes are frozen, and the second when they just get frostbite.

The first option is very easy to check; you just need to bring the potatoes indoors for one to two hours, and then try cutting them. If everything went smoothly without any difficulties, and the potatoes remained their normal color in the middle, then everything is fine.

In order for the crop to be stored much longer, it must be stored in complete darkness.

If it was difficult to cut, then leave the potatoes to thaw for a longer period, about six hours. After this, take one potato, cut it into several parts and boil for half an hour. If it takes on a sweetish taste, then your potatoes are completely frozen.

How to choose raw materials?

In order to ultimately get a high-quality dish from frozen potatoes, you should carefully select the variety of vegetable and its tubers. It is recommended to prepare potato varieties with pink skin for the winter . These include:

As for the tubers, they must be mature, firm to the touch and have a smooth skin.

Preparatory work

Freezing potatoes in the freezer requires a lot of preparation. First, you need to figure out what equipment is useful for freezing food in the freezer. For this you will need:

Bowl;
pot;
tray;
colander;
containers or bags for storing frozen potatoes.

You should also understand the most suitable varieties for freezing. Quite often, potatoes, which contain small amounts of starch and sugar, are frozen for the winter. If there is too much starch in it, then at low temperatures it will begin to convert into sugar and because of this the potatoes will become too sweet. It is recommended to prepare Semiglazka and other varieties with pink skin for the winter.

How to properly stock up for the winter?

Inventory

Freezer bags (kitchen containers will work in a pinch).
Deep bowl.
Pot.
Colander.

Treatment before the procedure

The vegetable tubers are washed well; if necessary, this should be done with a special kitchen brush. After washing the potatoes, peel them and place them in a bowl of cold water for a while. This is necessary so that the vegetable does not turn black over time, and also to get rid of excess starch in the composition.

Carrying out the process at home

For fries

As you know, French fries look like straws . To ensure that the latter is of sufficient length, large potatoes are usually taken.

After cutting the potatoes into strips, they are washed in cold water and allowed to dry a little on a paper towel.
After the straw has gotten rid of excess water, you should arrange a water bath for it by lowering a colander with potatoes over a pan of boiling water for 3-4 minutes.
The potatoes are then allowed to cool slightly, drizzled with sunflower or olive oil to taste and placed in the freezer until they are sufficiently frozen and firm.
Next, the frozen potato straws are placed in special bags or kitchen containers and sent to the freezer.

Whole peeled raw vegetable

Is it possible to freeze whole potatoes?

To freeze whole potatoes, first rinse the peeled potatoes well and place them on a paper towel.
Next, prepare two pans of water in advance: the first with cold water, the second with boiling water. To begin with, the whole vegetable is dipped into boiling water, where it is blanched for about 4-5 minutes, then removed with a slotted spoon and placed in cold water, preferably with ice cubes.
Then remove the potatoes and dry them again on a paper towel.
After the vegetable is completely dry, it should be placed in special bags.

What to freeze in?

Before you start freezing a product, you need to figure out what exactly is best to freeze it. There are two main ways to store ginger roots.

In the vegetable compartment

When using this method, the fresh plant is placed in tightly sealed bags, which are most often used to preserve food. After placing all the roots for freezing, they try to release the maximum amount of air from the bags for better preservation of the products.

If you don’t have special bags for storing vegetables at home, you will have to use regular paper bags instead. The roots are placed in paper bags so that there are no uncovered areas left on them.

In the freezer

When storing the root in the freezer, it is better to wrap it in special food grade film. It does not allow air to pass through, so the product is stored much longer. The shelf life in film placed in the freezer is 2-3 months. To keep the ginger root for several weeks longer, it is wrapped in food foil.

How to defrost?

Whether or not to defrost potatoes depends on how they were frozen.

You can defrost ready-made mashed potatoes on the refrigerator shelf or in the microwave using the “Defrost” mode. You can also defrost it in a frying pan with a little water.
Frozen French fries or potatoes cut into strips do not need to be thawed, as they can be started frozen if desired.
As for fried potatoes, you should do the same as with French fries or strips.

From your own experience, you can be convinced that frozen potatoes do not change their taste and structural qualities, and on the contrary, they are a necessary product in the kitchen of every housewife, significantly saving time when preparing any vegetable dish.

What vegetable mixtures can be frozen in the freezer to feed a baby for the winter?

If there is an infant in the family, or a new addition is expected, the young mother should consider preparing homemade vegetables for complementary feeding.

If this period falls in winter or spring, then frozen vegetables will become a lifesaver during the introduction of complementary foods.

To feed your baby you can freeze the following vegetables:

Cauliflower
Zucchini
Broccoli
Pumpkin

It is these vegetables that pediatricians recommend introducing first. You can freeze vegetables for complementary feeding in cubes or puree form.

After the baby begins to eat pureed vegetables, light vegetable soups can be introduced in small quantities. To do this, freeze in advance:

Potato
Onion
Carrot

Vitamins and naturalness are the most important advantages of freezing vegetables for complementary feeding. Provided that you are sure that the vegetables have not been treated with chemicals, or that you grew them in your own garden.

Vegetable puree for complementary feeding

Useful video

We invite you to watch a video about the technology of properly freezing potatoes:

If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl+Enter.

Making blanks for future use by freezing is an excellent solution. Most housewives prepare vegetables, fruits or herbs for the winter. Not many people know, but potatoes can also be frozen, which will significantly save time for preparing dishes. Frozen peeled product is prepared in various ways: whole, sliced, fried and even boiled. But certain conditions must be observed during the preliminary preparation of the vegetable so that it does not spoil.

How are French fries frozen in production?

Raw materials for semi-finished products

In order to produce a quality product, it is necessary to choose the right raw materials. First of all, intact and healthy tubers are chosen for French fries.

REFERENCE: Microorganisms can multiply in damaged potatoes and unnecessary biochemical processes can occur.

After such sorting, the production begins the calibration stage, at which the potatoes of the required size are selected. To produce frozen products, elongated oval potatoes with a diameter of at least 50 mm are used.

Freezing technology

Before freezing, potatoes are prepared for the procedure:

The tubers are processed in washing machines to remove dirt and possible toxic chemicals;
After this, the vegetables are cleaned. Cleaning can take place in special machines with a rubbing surface, as well as using steam treatment and the further use of washing and cleaning machines. There is another way to facilitate the cleaning process - treatment with hot alkalis and further cleaning in machines.
The next stage is the control of potato peeling, carried out manually by people.
Then the tubers are cut into strips in a special machine.
To maintain quality and taste after defrosting, you need to blanch the straws. In production there are special devices for this.
After blanching, the potatoes must be dried with hot dry air.
Before the freezing process itself, the potato strips are deep-fried and salted.

The freezing itself takes place in special devices. Unpacked potatoes are subjected to blast cooling at a temperature of -40 degrees.

There are several types of equipment for freezing food:

Spiral freezers;
Tunnel freezers.

Technological map of frozen fries

Composition and preparation technology:

Semi-finished frozen potatoes,
vegetable oil,
salt.

Without defrosting, French fries are placed in deep fat and fried until a crust forms, sprinkled with salt.

Serving, implementation and storage: eat as a side dish.

Storage conditions and shelf life: 18 hours at temperatures from 2°C to 6°C.

Appearance: slices, sticks, wedges, or shavings of fried potatoes

Consistency: crust is crispy and flesh is soft

Color: from light yellow to golden

Taste and smell: moderately salty, deep-fried aroma

Costing for frozen French fries

Costing for a dish is one of the time-consuming accounting tasks. The company produces the dish in compliance with all standards and technologies. To determine the price of a dish, calculation cards are assigned, which indicate the composition of the dish and the price of the ingredients, as well as their quantity. The calculation is based on 100 servings.

From the article we can conclude that you can make French fries either yourself or buy a frozen or ready-made product in the store to choose from, but the main thing is to choose the right raw materials, manufacturer and store the product correctly.

How to choose the right potato

For winter storage, choose young potatoes with a low content of starch and sugar. This is explained by the fact that during the freezing process, the starch contained in the tubers is converted into sugar, as a result of which the vegetable will change its taste. The potatoes will have an unpleasant sweet taste.

It is recommended to purchase varieties with pink peel or Sineglazka.

It is important to pay attention to the condition of the vegetables: the density of the surface, the absence of eyes and depressions caused by pests indicate that the vegetable will be perfectly preserved.

Choosing potatoes for freezing

Friends, it turns out that not all varieties are suitable for freezing. If you take potatoes with a high starch content, which when exposed to cold breaks down into sucrose and fructose, then such potatoes become too sweet after cooking.

What tubers do I choose:

Pink vegetable (not red): varieties Sineglazka, Zhukovsky early, Vesna, Vesnyanka or white: Temp, Leader, Pogorsky - these are the best varieties for freezing raw potatoes.
I take smooth tubers, without damage, with dense, uniform pulp.
Green ones are unsuitable for cooking and storage; they are poisonous.

Have you chosen potatoes for the freezer? Check out the ways to grow potatoes in an apartment to get the varieties of your favorite vegetable that you like.

How to freeze potatoes?

Taking into account home conditions, you can prepare potatoes for the winter not only whole, but also in finished form, for example, by freezing mashed potatoes. Below are some step-by-step instructions for freezing potatoes.

Entirely

To freeze whole potatoes, purchase small-sized tubers. Larger vegetables are cut in half or into four parts - depending on the size of the vegetable.

Washed and peeled raw potatoes are first blanched. To do this, you need to place two pans on the stove, bring water to a boil in one of them, and pour ice into the other.
First, the tubers are dipped in boiling water and blanched for 4-5 minutes. Then the vegetables are immediately transferred to a pan with cold liquid and left until completely cooled.
Place the cooled potatoes on a towel to dry. Paper towels will help speed up the drying process.

Important! Before putting the tubers in the freezer, they must be completely dried to avoid an ice crust during the freezing process.

Cooled and well-dried vegetables are placed in bags and placed in the freezer.

How to properly freeze fruits and berries in the freezer?

Freezing strawberries

The berries lose a little taste, so many people freeze them in sugar. First, spread the product in a thin layer, and after freezing, put it in bags or plastic containers. If you need to make strawberries not in bulk, but with sugar, take 350 grams of sand or powdered sugar per kilogram of product. Place clean berries in a plastic bowl, sprinkling each layer with sugar. After keeping for a couple of hours at above-zero temperatures in the refrigerator, the berries will give juice, then place the berries tightly in any container and pour the juice, they will be tasty and sweet, as they are in syrup. Strawberries also keep well in puree form. To do this, the berries need to be mashed or passed through a blender. When the pureed contents of the container are defrosted, then sugar is added.

Freezing plums in the freezer

The tightest ripe fruits are selected for freezing. When you prepare the filling, you will have to remove the seeds. First, you need to keep the fruits spread out on a horizontal surface for several hours, then you can put them away for storage in any container. Plums do not need to be thawed before use. For example, put frozen pieces in compote or pie filling.

Preparing and storing apples in the freezer

To prepare apple slices, you need to cut out the stem and seeds, although this is not necessary. Place the cut fruits on a cutting board in one layer, place in the freezer for 2 hours, then place in a tightly closed plastic container or bags for further storage. You can also prepare the fruits in sweet syrup, their shelf life will be longer. First, prepare a syrup consisting of 1500 mg of ascorbic acid, 750 g of water, 450 g of sugar. Soak in cold syrup for a day, then pour boiling water over it or blanch, and then freeze. In addition, you can make a puree-like mass by boiling chopped apples without sugar for up to 20 minutes, then passing them through a blender and freezing. If desired, place the apples in the freezer whole. Before this, it is advisable to soak the fruits for several minutes in a solution consisting of 50 g of water and 1500 g of ascorbic acid.

Storing grapes in the freezer

Wash and dry the grape tassels with a towel; they do not produce juice, which is different from raspberries and strawberries. First, freeze each brush separately, then they can be combined and stored in containers or bags. You can also prepare individual berries, they are also laid out on the surface, you can put them on plates, when they are a little frozen, put them in bags and tie them tightly.

Preparing cherries for the winter in the refrigerator

Freeze cherries with pits if you need to make jelly, compote, desserts, or jelly from them. If you need seedless berries, for example, for filling pies, you will have to remove them before freezing. The cherries are not defrosted; they are immediately put into pies. Freshly picked berries are used for storing in the freezer; one serving of berries is 500 grams. The fruits must be washed and dried. Berries are stored in plastic boxes or sealed bags. First, the cherries are frozen in one layer, then the hard berries are transferred to a container, otherwise they may stick together. It’s good to have a berry assortment of cherries, blackberries, currants and raspberries in the freezer, but all berries should be barely ripe, so they are better stored. Storing food in the freezer: properly prepared vegetables, fruits, berries, mushrooms, herbs are useful supplies for the winter

Defrosting rules

Tubers stored in the form of cubes, straws, halves or whole are not defrosted. It is enough to take a bag of frozen food out of the freezer and immediately place it in a boiling broth, fry it in a frying pan or place it on a baking sheet and bake it in the oven, after mixing the potatoes with spices, salt and oil.

The only difference between cooking raw potatoes and frozen ones is the cooking time. Products from the freezer require 5-10 minutes more time to be fully cooked.

It is recommended to defrost a tray of mashed potatoes either in the refrigerator or in the microwave using the “Defrost” mode. If there is no microwave oven, the dish can easily be thawed on the stove by adding a small amount of water to the pan.

Using the freezing method, you can prepare a large number of different products for future use, both plant and animal origin. And there is nothing strange in the fact that housewives decide to freeze potatoes. This way you can significantly save time when preparing food every day. But in order for this product to retain its taste and beneficial qualities, it must be properly prepared. Further from the article we will learn how to freeze potatoes for the winter at home.

Vegetable seasonings for soups, salad, pasta, main courses: recipes for the winter

Wash and dry the greens thoroughly beforehand.
Then finely chop it.
First, freeze the greens in bulk, that is, spread them in a thin layer on the surface and freeze.
Once the greens are frozen, place them in a tightly sealed bag.

Greens can be frozen in a combination of several types. For example:

Dill + parsley for soups
Dill+sorrel+onion feathers for green borscht
Cilantro+parsley+basil for salads

Sorrel for the winter: how to freeze The following vegetable mixture is suitable for soups:

Green peas, carrots, onions, potatoes
Carrots, onions, potatoes, cauliflower
Cauliflower, corn, potatoes, carrots, onions
Sweet peppers, carrots, potatoes, onions

The same mixtures can be added to other dishes, such as risotto, stews, and vegetable casseroles.

Preparing for freezing

First, you should fill the tubers with water for a while. Then, when the surface of the potato gets a little wet, you can easily wash it using a brush for this purpose.

Next, you need to peel the tubers and then place them in cold water. This is necessary so that the product does not darken, and also to remove part of the starch that will go into the water.

Preparing the vegetable

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

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

For these purposes, it is better to select potato varieties with pink (not red) skin, such as Sineglazka, Vesna, Vesnyanka, Zhukovsky early. Low level of starch content in tubers of such varieties as Leader, Pogarsky, Red Scarlet, Temp.

Important! To freeze for a long time, potatoes in their entire raw form must have an even structure, dense and without obvious signs of damage to the skin. If the peel is damaged, such a vegetable will quickly deteriorate during long-term storage and lose its taste.

When preparing tubers, you must first soak them in water for some time. After 1-2 hours, rinse them thoroughly and peel them, then soak them again in cold water. By soaking peeled potatoes, you remove excess starch from them and prevent further darkening of the vegetables.

For freezing, the best type of potato is one that contains a small amount of sugar and starch. The fact is that when frozen, starch will be converted into sugar, and the potato will change its taste to unpleasantly sweet. The Semiglazka variety is perfect for freezing, as well as other varieties with pink skin.

First, you should fill the tubers with water for a while. Then, when the surface of the potato gets a little wet, you can easily wash it using a brush for this purpose.

Next, you need to peel the tubers and then place them in cold water. This is necessary so that the product does not darken, and also to remove part of the starch that will go into the water.

Blue-eyed potatoes and potatoes with pink skin also withstand freezing well. The potatoes need to be peeled and all the eyes cut out. and cut into cubes. Place the chopped potatoes in a saucepan with water and rinse them in several waters. You need to wash out the starch and sugar as much as possible.

Next step: blanching. Pour water into a saucepan and put on fire; when the water boils, pour the prepared potatoes into boiling water. Let it boil, but no more than 3 minutes. Next you need to cool the potatoes. Drain the boiling water from the saucepan and add very cold water.

It's cooled down, it's time to dry the potatoes. Place the potato cubes on a towel and dry with paper towels.

For winter storage, choose young potatoes with a low content of starch and sugar. This is explained by the fact that during the freezing process, the starch contained in the tubers is converted into sugar, as a result of which the vegetable will change its taste. The potatoes will have an unpleasant sweet taste.

It is recommended to purchase varieties with pink peel or Sineglazka.

Preparation begins by cleaning the potatoes from dirt. To do this, you need to place the tubers in water so that they get wet. After this, using a brush, the vegetables are washed well.

Then, having removed the skin from the product, you need to immediately place it in cold water. This procedure prevents the darkening of the tubers and also helps reduce the starch content (it goes into the water).

Methods for freezing potatoes: step-by-step instructions

Today, experienced housewives not only freeze whole potatoes, but also prepare unique semi-finished products, for example, for fries. We offer step-by-step instructions on how to freeze potatoes at home.

Entirely

To freeze whole potatoes, it is better to select small-sized tubers. If you only have large ones on hand, you can cut them.

First of all, you need to blanch the washed and peeled tubers. To do this, you should prepare two pans. One should be put on fire, and the second should be filled with as cold water as possible, to which, if possible, you can add pieces of ice.
Place the potatoes in boiling water and blanch for no more than 5 minutes. Then remove and immediately plunge into chilled water.
After the product has cooled, place it on a towel and dry. You can blot the tubers with paper napkins or a towel. It is very important that the potatoes are dry, otherwise after freezing the product will become covered with a crust of ice.
Thoroughly dried tubers can be placed in bags and placed in the freezer.

For fries

To prepare a semi-finished product that can later be used for deep-frying, you need to perform a number of steps:

The purified product must be cut into cubes. To do this, you can use a special slicing knife with rectangular holes, a grater, or a regular knife.
Next, the sliced product needs to be salted, which will help prevent the product from blanching in the freezer.
Now you need to pour wheat flour into a separate bowl and put the potatoes there. Flour will help ensure that fried French fries have a golden crust. You need to mix the ingredients thoroughly so that each slice is coated with flour. The process must be carried out quickly, otherwise the flour will get wet and begin to stick together, resulting in the formation of a large flour lump.
Now you need to place the semi-finished product on a tray in one layer and send it to the freezer for freezing. After the product is completely frozen, you need to collect it, put it in containers and put it back in the freezer for storage.

Particularly creative housewives are interested in whether it is possible to freeze mashed potatoes. It is worth answering that it is possible, since many are already actively using this method.

You need to peel and cook the potatoes until tender, as usual.
Then grind the product into puree. If desired, you can add butter or milk to it.
After this, you need to let the potatoes cool completely, pack them in a bag and place them in the freezer.

Roasted

Fried potatoes can also be frozen:

First you need to peel the product and cut it into pieces.
Then the potatoes are fried in a frying pan as usual. You can add salt and your favorite spices during the process.
After the potatoes are completely cooked, you need to cool them.
Next, use a paper towel to remove excess fat from the product.
All that remains is to pack the fried potatoes into portioned bags and put them in the freezer.

Methods for freezing potatoes at home

In the modern world, where every minute of free time is valued, people have begun to look for instant food products. That is why there has been a fashion for freezing French fries, boiled and even fried tubers.

Entirely

Take two large saucepans and fill one with hot water and the other with cold water. 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 needed for blanching, but first prepare the vegetables: peel them and wash them thoroughly, discard spoiled ones, and divide those that are too large into several parts.

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

Peeled potatoes are placed in boiling water for five minutes. After this, they are immediately transferred to cold water with ice. When the potatoes have cooled, place them on a towel and dry well. You can use a paper towel to absorb all the moisture from the tubers

It is important not to leave excess water on the surface, as when exposed to low temperatures, the vegetables will become covered with a thin crust of ice.

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

After this procedure, frozen potatoes will not stick together.

For fries

A great way to have an instant snack at home. You only need to spend a little time once in order to save it in the future.

Here are step-by-step instructions for preparing French fries for freezing:

Peel the tubers and cut them into strips. For these purposes, you need to select medium-length potatoes so that the straws have a natural appearance.
Rinse the cut straws in several waters. This procedure will help remove excess starch from it.
Set up a steam bath for the potatoes: boil water in a large saucepan, pour the straws into a colander, place it over the water (so that the bottom of the colander does not come into contact with the water) and cover everything with a lid.
After 3-4 minutes, take out the straw and sprinkle it with sunflower oil.
Place the prepared potatoes on a special tray and place in the freezer. After 30–40 minutes, take it out, package it in bags and put it in long-term storage at low temperature.

Shelf life

There is no need to defrost the potatoes before cooking. You should immediately put it in a frying pan or lower it into the broth. The product can be stored in this form for quite a long time. Fried potatoes and mashed potatoes will retain their quality for several weeks, and tubers frozen whole can be stored for about 2.5-3 months.

As you can see, this procedure for preparing products does not take much time. At the same time, it helps to significantly save it in the future, when you need to quickly prepare a delicious dish.

Author: Maria Sukhorukikh
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Is it possible to freeze potatoes in the freezer?

Inventory

I calmly ask my husband in the evening to peel the amount of potatoes I need, I don’t like them and peel them slowly. He peels it then I put the dry potatoes in a bag and in the freezer. I take it out when necessary - make potato pancakes, fry it or boil it for puree.

Taste? It's not getting any worse. You can’t defrost it, but you need to immediately put it on the fire, boil or fry, grate it – it doesn’t matter. Prepare immediately. Convenient and fast, saving time.

In principle, it is possible, but at the same time the taste of the potatoes changes - they become sweetish. However, it cannot be defrosted, but must be boiled or fried immediately while frozen. If you defrost it first, it will become fermented and lose its juice, taste and nutritional value. That is, everything is the same as with frozen dumplings.

You can freeze potatoes, but you don't need to defrost them in advance. It is best to start cooking directly from frozen. In order to fry potatoes, you need to store them already cut. It’s best to cut into strips and freeze on a baking sheet, then pour into a bag and store in the freezer. Everything is done according to the principle of dumplings - so that they don’t stick to one another.

Potatoes, cut into strips and frozen, were constantly cooked in the oven. It also turns out well in the microwave, but there is no crust. It comes out crispy in the oven.

Is it possible to freeze potatoes in the freezer?

How to choose raw materials?

As for the tubers, they must be mature, firm to the touch and have a smooth skin.

Inventory

Freezer bags (kitchen containers will work in a pinch).
Deep bowl.
Pot.
Colander.

Treatment before the procedure

Whole peeled raw vegetable

Is it possible to freeze whole potatoes?

To freeze whole potatoes, first rinse the peeled potatoes well and place them on a paper towel.
Next, prepare two pans of water in advance: the first with cold water, the second with boiling water. To begin with, the whole vegetable is dipped into boiling water, where it is blanched for about 4-5 minutes, then removed with a slotted spoon and placed in cold water, preferably with ice cubes.
Then remove the potatoes and dry them again on a paper towel.
After the vegetable is completely dry, it should be placed in special bags.

Freezing methods

There are several ways to help freeze new potatoes.

Many housewives are interested in the question of whether it is possible to freeze potatoes as a whole. Of course it is possible and many people use this particular preparation method. To do this, it is recommended to choose varieties that have small tubers.

However, you can also use very large potatoes, but in this case you will have to cut them.

To begin, thoroughly wash and clean the prepared tubers. Then, water is poured into several saucepans. One of them is placed on a gas stove, and a little ice is added to the second. Potatoes are placed in a container of hot water and cooked for 5 minutes. Then it should be taken out and immediately placed in cold water.

After this, the tubers are dried and placed into bags or containers for freezing. Very often, during freezing, vegetables begin to stick together. To avoid this, the bags should not contain raw potatoes, but already frozen ones.

Sometimes potatoes are prepared so that they can later be deep-fried. First, the tubers must be peeled and cut. To do this, potatoes are cut into small pieces using an ordinary knife.

Then it is poured into a bowl and sprinkled with a small amount of salt. Wheat flour is poured into a separate container.

After this, peeled and chopped potatoes are added to it, which should be thoroughly mixed with flour.

Read also: Selection of early ripening tomato varieties

This is done so that when deep-frying, the potatoes can be covered with a golden crust.

After this, the prepared semi-finished product is laid out on a tray and placed in the freezer for further freezing. After a few hours, the tray is taken out and the potatoes are placed in special containers for further storage in the freezer.

How to defrost?

Whether or not to defrost potatoes depends on how they were frozen.

You can defrost ready-made mashed potatoes on the refrigerator shelf or in the microwave using the “Defrost” mode. You can also defrost it in a frying pan with a little water.
Frozen French fries or potatoes cut into strips do not need to be thawed, as they can be started frozen if desired.
As for fried potatoes, you should do the same as with French fries or strips.

We invite you to watch a video about the technology of properly freezing potatoes:

Source: https://KinzaRostov.ru/recepty/mozhno-li-zamorozit-varenuyu-kartoshku.html

How to tell if potatoes are frozen or not

Let's find out how to determine if potatoes are frozen.

In case it was difficult to cut a vegetable, the potatoes were frozen, left warm for several hours, then cut into several parts and boiled, they would be a little sweet.

Like water, potatoes freeze when the thermometer needle drops below zero degrees. The most optimal temperature for storing vegetables is 2-3 degrees above zero.

When storing potatoes in the basement, there is often a danger of vegetables freezing. The condition of the tubers depends on the air temperature in the storage:

At temperatures from +2 to +5 ° C, potatoes retain their taste; at higher temperatures, they germinate prematurely and begin to disappear.
From 0 to +1 ° C, short-term drops to -1 ° C, starch begins to break down, and a sweet taste develops over time. They asked, at what temperature do potatoes freeze? Consider that you have the answer.
Potatoes freeze at -1.7°C or below and develop a distinctly sweet flavor. As the temperature rises, frozen tubers intended for planting begin to rot - they lose their germination.