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jutsfl

Vacuum-sealing and freezing vs. Plain storage bags

jutsFL
9 years ago

This is more of a preemptive post for me. I was looking at my plants earlier and had the realization that there will be no possible way I can use all the peppers in a reasonable amount of time. I will dehydrate many of them, but I really like to freeze a bunch - it saves the fresh pepper taste for hot sauces. I have had no problems simply freezing in ziplock bags in the past, but this year (if all keeps going well - fingers crossed) I will have many more than I'm accustomed to. I was wondering if a vacuum sealer makes much of a difference for peppers that are frozen for longer periods of time. Any thoughts from ya'll are much appreciated.

Jay

Comments (15)

  • stoneys_fatali
    9 years ago

    I imagine for very long term, vacuum sealing might be a better way to go.

    I have a bunch of serranos in the freezer but they are in freezer zip lock bags.

  • seysonn
    9 years ago

    By vacuuming you get the air out and with that the bacteria that exist in the air. What makes food item to go bad is mostly the bacteria that produce spore. So in freezing, the bacteria are either destroyed oy they can neither multiply nor produce spores. Therefore vacuum sealing has no advantage over regular sealing (like zip lock) when you freeze. JMO

  • jutsFL
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Seysonn, I agree completely. But, what about in terms of freshness - eg: freezer burn. Wondering if a vacuum pack really adds that much benefit to it?

    Jay

  • judo_and_peppers
    9 years ago

    what I do is toss peppers into a blender, with a little bit of vinegar (like 4oz for 50 peppers) and blend them up. a gallon of peppers reduces down to a 20oz jar that can go in the fridge. it is fully preserved, and is wonderful for use in hot sauces.

    scorpion_john took the idea a step further and canned them, so he didn't even need to refrigerate.

  • jutsFL
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I rather like that idea. I'm thinking I could use the same approach and freeze small batches of the mash - for use in sauces later. The small batches could be made to proper size for said future sauces, and stored with much less space than whole peppers - and that would eliminate the freezer burn aspect!

    Great idea, and I will be using this one... But I would still like some more weigh-in on the vacuum sealers. There are just those times when you need the whole pods for recipes and such.

    Jay

  • woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
    9 years ago

    I disagree about the bacteria. Growth is halted at 0 degrees.

    What deteriorates veggies when freezing is water crystals and enzymes. So, Yes... Vacuum sealing would definitely help over just plain throwing in a bag because of the removal of air for ice crystals to form But you want to blanch and shock first(to inhibit enzyme action). Boil for 3 mins and then an ice bath, Drain and pat dry. It's probably better to thinly layer the peppers in the bags to freeze them as fast as possible.

    Peppers, by nature, don't freeze very well because of the mushiness. But, for soups, chili, sauces, soups, etc., frozen peppers are fine. I've even heard of people pureeing them first, then freezing. But, don't ever expect crunchiness out of frozen peppers. It's just not going to happen

    Yep, vinegar is essentially pickling them, so they'll keep refrigerated or canned for months or years that way.

    For sauces, I recommend a fermented mash. Made a couple gallons last year and used up tons of peppers. Still have over a half gallon in the fridge and it's as good as the day I finished it. Awesome sauce without the overwhelming vinegar taste like some sauces. And it's totally simple to make!

    Kevin

    Here is a link that might be useful: Fermenting Peppers 101

  • ottawapepper
    9 years ago

    I agree 100% with what Keven said, up to the fermenting stuff - I've yet to try my hand at it.

    For longer term freezer storage (> 3 months), vacuum sealing is the way to go. I've just recently used the last of my frozen 2011 harvest, a small bag of DeArbols I found buried under my 2012 bags.

    If you're looking for a consumer grade dehydrator I highly recommend Food Saver. They are more expensive than other brands you'll find out there but they are worth it. They'll consistently seal better and out live the others. As an added bonus (if you get the right model with a hose port) you can pick up mason jar sealer attachment. I vac seal my powders and dried pods in mason jars for longer term storage.

    If you do get one I have found the place linked below has compatible bags and rolls equal in quality to the brand name Food Saver ones but at a more reasonable price.

    FWIW,

    Bill

    Here is a link that might be useful: Vac Bag source

  • zzackey
    9 years ago

    We used Seal-a Meal back in the 80's. No frostbite with it.

  • DMForcier
    9 years ago

    Last year I did the pepper mash thing. In a food processor a whole bunch of raw pods (stemmed but seeding is optional). Add about 1/3 c vinegar and a tablespoon of salt. Run the FP for a minute or so. Pour into a kettle over heat and bring to a boil briefly. Pour into *clean* (preferably boiled) mason jars leaving about 1/4" headspace. Close lightly with a ring and fresh cap. (You're not looking to seal the jar - vacuum will do that.) Cool. Check that the cap is indented.

    So far the closed jars stored at room temperature look just like they did when they were poured. In other words, the canning was "successful" in that no spoilage has occurred.

    I didn't segregate most of the peppers by variety or group but used roughly equal amounts of super-hots and milder like jalapenos. Still massively hot anyway! I did do a separate batch of yellow mash with the lemon drops and devils tongue.

    You could use a blender but the food processor produces a coarser texture so that the mash holds its texture better on boiling.

    Gave a jar to a large Mexican family of chile-heads who were mightily impressed and made me an honorary Mexican! So now you know what the M in my initials might stand for...

    DMexicanF

  • 2ajsmama
    9 years ago

    DMForcier - depending on how many peppers you're using (by weight) you may be risking botulism only using 1/3C of vinegar. University of GA did salsa acidification studies, including onions only and peppers only for comparison. Study concentrated on lemon and lime juice since they are more acidic and result in a more authentic salsa flavor, but it's worth noting that 1/4C of lemon or lime juice safely acidified up to 1 full pint (or app 300g by weight) of peppers (1/4" dice). I wouldn't go over the 300g weight for under 1/4C (60ml) lemon/lime juice. VINEGAR REQUIRES APP. TWICE AS MUCH (3/8C) TO GIVE THE SAME RESULTS (they were shooting for a pH below 4.0). 1/4C of vinegar only brought the salsa (with tomatoes which are more acidic than peppers) to 4.23, 1/8C to 4.48 which is on the hairy edge. They did not test vinegar in onion-only or pepper-only cases but I'd say 3/8C (90ml) for 300g would give a pH of under 4.0 that could be tested with litmus paper, less than that and you'd have to use a pH meter according to the FDA since pH would be over 4.0, 1/3C per 300g may be safe around 4.4 - 4.5 but you'd have to use a pH meter (a good one, properly calibrated) to measure it.

    They also processed the jars in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes to aid in acidification, make a stronger seal, and less chance of mold (which also can raise pH to an unsafe level over time).

    There are many pickled pepper recipes available on the UGA/NCHFP website. You can skip the sugar, spices, etc. if all you want is acidified peppers to drain (or not) and blend up later for a sauce. But the ratio of peppers (and size if going by volume not weight) to vinegar is crucial.

    Please don't vacuum seal (even a weak vacuum by what you are doing, called open kettle canning, or using a Foodsaver jar attachment) peppers or other low-acid foods without proper acidification unless you are freezing them.

    Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP Salsa Acidification study

  • DMForcier
    9 years ago

    Interesting to know. The 1/3c figure was just an estimate. I probably used more like 1/2c. Hmm maybe more. I actually went through about a half gallon of white vinegar while putting up a little less than 2 gal of mash.

    Now, if I understand botulism correctly, if infected the vacuum-sealed top will pop up?

  • 2ajsmama
    9 years ago

    But how many peppers did you use? It's the proportions that matter.

    And no, the button won't pop, there won't be an off color or odor, no sign of botulism toxin if the spores were on the peppers and they were not properly acidified (below 4.6). That's what makes it so dangerous - no way to detect it, and a tiny taste can paralyze and even kill you, you can start showing symptoms within hours, or it could take days so often can be challenging to find the source of an outbreak. Symptoms can also be mistaken for food poisoning, stroke, or other conditions.

    Sorry for the hijack, but thought this was important

    Here is a link that might be useful: Botulism Blog

  • TNKS
    9 years ago

    now that the F E A R commercial has ended . . . :rolleyes

    Vacuum sealing has been my "go to" for over 20 yrs
    Abit pricy for some folks budgets but well worth their weight here.
    Fresh game meat and fish,even veggies weather freezer time much better the the zipper"freezer burn" bags

  • thirsty_dirt_77
    9 years ago

    I've never frozen peppers but I have just about every other vegetable you can think of.... and I only vaccum seal them before freezing. The trick to keeping a fresh taste and good texture is to blanch them first.

    I've blanched, vac sealed and frozen veggies like beans and peas for over a year and they still taste like they were picked that day. :)

  • kclost
    9 years ago

    Vacuum Sealing is awesome. I have done that several years on Carribean Reds that I used for sauces and it works great. You keep the freshness and color of the ripe pepper compared to a dried one. Also prevents the freezer burn and the bad taste that comes with it compared to not vacuum sealing and freezing for long periods of time.

    All you need to make sure of is that the vacuum sealed bag does not get a hole poked in it. If you shove other items in the freezer or move the bag around in a rough manner and accidently do that, your freezer burn protection is over. Get a new bag and seal again while they are still frozen. Wet stuff doesn't work as well in the vacuum process.

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