Keen herb gardeners can freeze herbs for use in the winter months.
Freezing herbs is such an easy and almost full-proof way to have herbs to add to your cooking in the off season.
Drying herbs can be a little tricky and unsuccessful at times, but most people seem to be able to freeze herbs without too many problems.
Many hours are spent preparing and growing herbs and if you are keen to use herbs in your dishes then you most likely want to be able to use your herbs during the winter months as well.
As most herbs do not grow well in the winter months many herb gardeners will store their herbs in some way and freezing has become very popular.
The upside of freezing herbs is that they tend to keep more like fresh herbs, but this methods does tend to take a little room so it would not suit a limited freezing space situation.
Methods of freezing herbs.
Essentially there are two methods to freeze herbs, both of them very easy.
Free-flow freezing.
This method means that the leaves are spread out on trays and frozen separately.
When they are frozen they are tipped into a self-sealing bag or plastic container and kept frozen for use at a later date.
The free-flow method is used so that any amount of leaves can be plucked out of the container and used in the kitchen.
This method does not take up so much room in the freezer as the iceblock method does because you are only storing the leaves.
Do keep in mind that they will wilt when they are thawed and the juices are freed, so don't expect them to look like a fresh herb leaf that you would use in a salad but they are excellent for cooking.
This would be the preferable method if you planned on frying the herbs because they would not be coated in water.
Herb iceblocks.
This method is also popular for storing herbs over the off season.
To complete this method the herb leaves are chopped up and then ice cube trays are filled with the leaves and topped up with water.
They are then frozen.
At this stage take them out and put them in self-sealed bags or containers for storage in the freezer.
Herbs in kept in this fashion will have added water as they thaw and so this method is good for use in casseroles and other such dishes where there is going to be a sauce.
Using the wrong herbs.
Both methods work well but care does need to be taken to ensure that the bags and containers are labelled correctly otherwise you could end up with some strange tasting dishes! It never ceases to amaze me how you can freeze something being sure that you will know what it is when you want to use it, but once a certain amount of ice has formed around it, identifying it is almost impossible.
Isn't it great that we can freeze herbs and that we don't have to go without through the winter months.
Freezing herbs is such an easy and almost full-proof way to have herbs to add to your cooking in the off season.
Drying herbs can be a little tricky and unsuccessful at times, but most people seem to be able to freeze herbs without too many problems.
Many hours are spent preparing and growing herbs and if you are keen to use herbs in your dishes then you most likely want to be able to use your herbs during the winter months as well.
As most herbs do not grow well in the winter months many herb gardeners will store their herbs in some way and freezing has become very popular.
The upside of freezing herbs is that they tend to keep more like fresh herbs, but this methods does tend to take a little room so it would not suit a limited freezing space situation.
Methods of freezing herbs.
Essentially there are two methods to freeze herbs, both of them very easy.
Free-flow freezing.
This method means that the leaves are spread out on trays and frozen separately.
When they are frozen they are tipped into a self-sealing bag or plastic container and kept frozen for use at a later date.
The free-flow method is used so that any amount of leaves can be plucked out of the container and used in the kitchen.
This method does not take up so much room in the freezer as the iceblock method does because you are only storing the leaves.
Do keep in mind that they will wilt when they are thawed and the juices are freed, so don't expect them to look like a fresh herb leaf that you would use in a salad but they are excellent for cooking.
This would be the preferable method if you planned on frying the herbs because they would not be coated in water.
Herb iceblocks.
This method is also popular for storing herbs over the off season.
To complete this method the herb leaves are chopped up and then ice cube trays are filled with the leaves and topped up with water.
They are then frozen.
At this stage take them out and put them in self-sealed bags or containers for storage in the freezer.
Herbs in kept in this fashion will have added water as they thaw and so this method is good for use in casseroles and other such dishes where there is going to be a sauce.
Using the wrong herbs.
Both methods work well but care does need to be taken to ensure that the bags and containers are labelled correctly otherwise you could end up with some strange tasting dishes! It never ceases to amaze me how you can freeze something being sure that you will know what it is when you want to use it, but once a certain amount of ice has formed around it, identifying it is almost impossible.
Isn't it great that we can freeze herbs and that we don't have to go without through the winter months.
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