My frozen peppers have too much water in them when thawed

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by Vectoris

Thank you for this! I can't tell you how much I've wasted. I had no idea you could freeze it - do you keep the roots on? Here they're always sold with the roots. I suppose it wouldn't matter...

I was in a freezing mood one day, chopping and freezing, and I thought I'd experiment with a bunch of cilantro. I just wrapped it up tight just as it came from the store, even with the wire band still around it, in the plastic bag it came in from the grocery store and stuck it in the freezer. I didn't chop it up or anything, or even put it in a good freezer bag. I just cut off the ends while it's still frozen. It kind of crumbles apart.

Then I've just sprinkled it frozen on burritos that i then stick in the microwave, or put it into the soup pot or straight into the omelette as it's cooking. So far, it's cooked up great! A lucky experiment!

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by no kudzu

Soome really good advice here. Thanks.

Of course I never expected my frozen peppers to be crunchy and used in a salad. I use them mostly for marinara sauces and cooking with meats and veggies- sometimes just for color.

I have been defrosting them on the counter then blotting away all that excess moisture before adding them to my recipes. Am I throwing away good nutrition or just water? Would it be better to just add the frozen peppers to my recipes and let the water incorporate with my dish?

Also how do you store your dehydrated veggies?

I wouldn't worry about losing vitamins. Life is too short :-) If you're cooking something that won't be ruined with extra moisture, then just throw them in. But, if you're going to throw them into an omelette or something that would get weird with too much moisture, I'd blot the moisture as you've been doing, and not worry about vitamins. Since you grew them yourself, you're way ahead of the nutrition game as it is.

I used to dry veggies & fruit, too, in my gardening hippy days. I stored mine in gallon glass jars, because i had mouse problems in the country. If I was to store them now in my apartment, I think I'd use paper bags, as you can end up with moisture problems in a plastic or glass container.

[Almrausch]

Kudzu if I see a sale on Bell Peppers, I buy a lot,cut them up and put them in Ziploc bags and freeze them. Great for use in stews and soups year round.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

I used to dry veggies & fruit, too, in my gardening hippy days. I stored mine in gallon glass jars, because i had mouse problems in the country. If I was to store them now in my apartment, I think I'd use paper bags, as you can end up with moisture problems in a plastic or glass container.

I keep all my thoroughly dried staples in airtight plastic or glass containers, because the humidity is high here in my corner of Hawai'i, and bugs are a constant. For dried veggies and herbs that still have some water content that I want to keep critters out of I use canning jars and rings with cheesecloth in place of a solid lid, or the lids with a screen or seive like top that fit wide mouth canning jars and are sold for seed sprouting. Works like a champ.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by OpenD

I keep all my thoroughly dried staples in airtight plastic or glass containers, because the humidity is high here in my corner of Hawai'i, and bugs are a constant. For dried veggies and herbs that still have some water content that I want to keep critters out of I use canning jars and rings with cheesecloth in place of a solid lid, or the lids with a screen or seive like top that fit wide mouth canning jars and are sold for seed sprouting. Works like a champ.

Brilliant! I used to use those for sprouting my own alfalfa sprouts...a canning jar with cheesecloth and then screw the ring on. Never thought of using that to keep things drier. Thanks! Great tip!