I'd sure try an experiment first, before doing a whole bunch. If the peppers are blanched first, that may help. We routinely freeze roasted chili. I dunno how the cheese would react, they vary.

I've done it. They worked fine on the grill. I did try to bread them and that was a bit more challenging.

I'm flying on faith here.
I mixed cream cheese and Habanero Gold (mine is called Jalapeno Heaven....no Habs for me!) together and piped into cored jalapenos, then froze. Hopefully they will ohold up and taste good!

I haven't taken any out of the freezer yet........

Deanna

Deanna,

I'm sure they will be just fine. If they were bell peppers I would be a little concerned.

The metal Cajon Injector is what I use for jals. Remove the needle assembly and you get a 5/16" opening. Just barely adequate & could be a lot better.

My last batch is so hot that I can't eat but one or two at a sitting.

jt

I don't know if Linda Lou ever posted this one here, but I know she posted it on Recipelink.com. This might answer the question. It sounds awfully good and there are directions for freezing. Too bad my peppers this year are so crummy. Last year I got gorgeous red corked ones.

Jalapeno Poppers with Pepper Jack

12 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cups shredded Pepper Jack cheese
25 jalapeno peppers, seeded, cut in half
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups dried packaged breadcrumbs
Oil for deep frying

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and pepper jack cheese; blend well.
In a pot of barely simmering water, blanch the pepper halves for 2 minutes, drain and dry thoroughly with paper towels.

Spoon the cream cheese mixture into jalapeno pepper halves

Place milk and flour into two separate shallow bowls. Dip the stuffed jalapenos first into the milk then into the flour, making sure they are thoroughly coated. Place the coated jalapenos on wire racks and let dry for about 10 minutes.

Dip the jalapenos in milk again and then roll them in breadcrumbs to coat. Let coated peppers dry, repeating the dipping in milk and rolling in breadcrumbs if necessary.

In large skillet, heat the oil to 365 degrees F. Deep fry the filled and coated jalapeno peppers 2 to 3 minutes each, until golden brown. Remove and let drain on a paper towel.

To freeze, DO NOT FRY PEPPERS. Place on cookie sheet and freeze until hard, then package in single layer in plastic freezer containers.

To eat, place on cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 20-23 minutes until hot all the way through, golden brown, and crisp.

Makes 25 appetizers

Posted by Linda Lou; re-posted by Carol

I mixed my cream cheese and Hab Gold and put into a ziploc, cut off one small corner, then piped it in. Worked pretty good. The extra, I left in the fridge for a bit until more jals were appropriately sized.

Pipes onto crackers pretty good too! LOL

jt:
What do you think about a quick broil right from the freezer? I am worried about all the cheese bubbling out. Not sure how I'm going to get the peppers nicely roasted without losing their stuffing! I don't necessarily care to bread them, but maybe that would help keep the cheese in??!?!?

Deanna

I'm pretty sure I picked these tips up from the forum (because I wouldn't have thought of it on my own). I did quite a few gallon bags a couple of seasons ago when my pepper plants exploded with bounty.

I froze mine without breading. The cream cheese holds up fine. I actually pulled out some from 2 seasons ago and they were same as the day they were frozen. I cut the tops off, scooped out the seeds & stuffed. I only cut the really small ones down the side.

I was told breading was easier after freezing, but I haven't had much luck with it not sliding off.

For grilling (again, I'm sure I got this from someone here), stand the peppers tip end down in foil. Or in the oven put them end up in a dish with high sides. This holds in all of the stuffing in nicely.

Why concerns with freezing green peppers?

I'm really anxious to try the breading. Thanks Carol/Linda Lou! One of the tricks I use for making breading stick on fish filets etc is to dredge with flour and put in the fridge for 30 min or longer before dipping in the egg wash and then breading mix.

Deanna,

Don't know abt the broil straight from freezer. I would probably bake for a time and finish up with the broil to brown the tops.

Thanks for all the responses. I think I'll try a batch stuffed with herb cream cheese and freeze them. I made some fresh last night, and grilled them with one of those holders for the grill- works great! One out of the whole batch was super hot. The rest were just right. I'm curious as to which have more heat- young green ones, mature green ones with the little lines all over (I thought those were hottest), or when they turn red (I know their sweeter, but hotter?). I tried to sample pieces of each stage, but it seemed to vary. They SHOULD be all the same variety.
Also I had some biker billy's for the first time this year- haven't used them yet, so I'm yet to find out the heat in those.

I'm also interested in that condensed cheese- I'll have to look at the store

It's the smooth skin of the peppers that makes them hard to bread. I've tried a few different ways (egg, flour, milk & honey), and it slides off every time. A few places I've read say that the peppers should be skinned before stuffing & freezing. I'm not sure what the secret is.

Carol writes: >Dip the stuffed jalapenos first into the milk then into the flour, making sure they are thoroughly coated. Place the coated jalapenos on wire racks and let dry for about 10 minutes.

suzyq2,

The above step should solve your problem. I do similar except put in the fridge for 30 min or so.

flatlander2,

Pods get hotter as they mature to final ripe color. The little white lines (corking) are very desireable in Mexico, but not so much in the USA because don't look as pretty. The hotter (and better) varieties are ones that usually cork. My Biker Billy cork. What throws off comparing is that individual pods on the same plant, on the same branch and seemingly the same stage of maturity can be very different in heat levels.

jt

I don't remember where but I actually saw a rack online that held stuffed jalapenos upright for grilling them... kinda like an egg rack with smaller holes and made of metal.

this might keep the filling in the jalapeno. might also work in the oven

kathy

Here is a link that might be useful: cabelas hot pepper roaster

That's it! But they are expensive... I'll try making one.

I just used my muffin tin to hold the jals while stuffing. Pop 2 or 3 in each cavity and they stand up! Should work for baking too.

Deanna

Hahahaha! That's an idea! I have the 24-count mini-muffin pan! That should be enough poppers for me...

Hi! I loved reading all of your ideas. I decided to give freezing stuffed jalapeño peppers a try. A few weeks ago I picked several jalapeños from my garden. I cut them in half, cleaned them out (as usual), stuffed them with a cream cheese / cheddar jack cheese mix, and froze them. Yesterday I took several out of the freezer and let them thaw slightly, (not all the way). I placed them on foil and put them on the grill. They turned out great - I was very pleasantly surprised! I plan to make more this week. This time I am going to make a small change, I am going to cook several pieces of bacon about half way, chop it up, and "sprinkle" it over the tops of the jalapeños before I freeze them. I think the bacon will crisp nicely in the grilling process, add bacon flavor, but not add so much grease to the cream cheese!!

I made a batch of Linda Lou's Jalapeno Popper recipe over the weekend. For a twist, I added 3 fully cooked crisp pieces of finely chopped bacon to the cheese mix. I froze them all in vacuum sealer bags so can't tell you how they taste yet.

One note: the cheese mix only fills up 48 jalapeno halves rather than 50 ;-)

I didn't even think of this but will be trying ASAP!

If you want even more of a "kick," try adding some finely minced habaneros to the cream cheese mixture. I also like to add just a dash of a BBQ rub for a little more flavor too (along with shredded cheese). YUM!

I am going to roast a few in the oven this weekend to try out and see if they need something else. I am a wimp so habs are probably out unless I can find some of the mild habs just for the hab flavor. Being in Kansas City of course I have a multitude of BBQ rubs on hand but which one to use is the question.

I freeze jalapenos cut in half and deseeded. So long as I am working with them while still frozen, they are easy to stuff with the cheese mixture, then I do the egg and batter thing, before cooking.

drmbear - do you have any problem with the breading sticking to the frozen peppers?

I haven't had any trouble. I do the stages, though. Once filled with cheese mixture, I put them in milk, then flour, then egg, then corn meal & flour mixture, seasoned of course. Works well for me.