Canning Frozen Food Question

Fire-Man · #1 08/15/13, 08:04 PM

I posted this on the Preserving Forum with no responce. Thought I would try it here. Thanks!!

We have had a glass top stove every since my Wife and I got Together 6 years ago and we did no Canning----because I have a big All American Canner and heard "stories" about why I should not, etc. Thats Not important now because I bought her a "regular Stove" a couple months ago and we want to free up some freezer space. We have LOTS of vegetables that we put in the freezer earlier this season---they have been blanched. I have canned MANY jars of food but have never taken something out the freezer, thawed to can it. What would be the best way----meaning do I need to bring it to a boil and put them in hot jars or can I cold pack? I do not want to heat/boil these vegetables to death. Thanks!!

MOgal · #2 08/15/13, 08:48 PM

I have dehydrated frozen food, both commercial and from our freezer with good results but once food is frozen, the cells break down. The heat/time needed to safely can nonacid vegetables left them with an unappealing texture--way too soft and mushy. Then when you boiled before eating as recommended, it just gets worse.

Wendy · #3 08/15/13, 10:13 PM

I would just thaw, put in jars, cover with hot water & process. I have taken canned veggies & made vegetable soup where they got re-canned in the soup & they were not mushy.

calliemoonbeam · #4 08/16/13, 01:44 PM

I vote for dehydrating if you have one, or making some into soup like Wendy said and then can. Otherwise, they do come out way over-processed and really mushy and yucky. They seem to do okay in something like soup, but otherwise ick.

Dehydrating, however, works great (don't even need to thaw most first) and then you can just throw them into something while cooking or rehydrate as needed. They take up a lot less room when dehydrated also. Good luck!

http://www.dehydrate2store.com/videos/?id=45 (part 1)
http://www.dehydrate2store.com/videos/?id=46 (part 2)

Then you can start using your canner to do everything from now on. I do both, depending on what it is and how I plan to use it.

mare · #5 08/16/13, 02:08 PM

i have read these posts about canning or dehydrating frozen food and i am wondering how much nutrition is lost in the process. not trying to be snarky i am genuinely curious. in my mind everytime something gets processed it loses nutrition. and to unthaw and reprocess doesnt sound like a good idea to me, does any body have any info on how much nutrition is lost by doing this?

calliemoonbeam · #6 08/16/13, 05:07 PM

Mare, I don't know how much, but I've heard that too, besides just making them unpalatable, lol. I know canning them at such a high heat for such a long time surely does change the look and texture, found out from experience.

However, they say that frozen is the next best thing to fresh, and if you dehydrate them directly from frozen then it seems like that would be the least damaging reprocessing approach. I know they look and taste better that way, but not sure about the lost nutrition.

I've heard it discussed on several dehydrating sites, and the general consensus is that they don't think they lose much this way, but that's not very scientific, lol.

Yvonne's hubby · #7 08/16/13, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire-Man

I posted this on the Preserving Forum with no responce. Thought I would try it here. Thanks!!

We have had a glass top stove every since my Wife and I got Together 6 years ago and we did no Canning----because I have a big All American Canner and heard "stories" about why I should not, etc. Thats Not important now because I bought her a "regular Stove" a couple months ago and we want to free up some freezer space. We have LOTS of vegetables that we put in the freezer earlier this season---they have been blanched. I have canned MANY jars of food but have never taken something out the freezer, thawed to can it. What would be the best way----meaning do I need to bring it to a boil and put them in hot jars or can I cold pack? I do not want to heat/boil these vegetables to death. Thanks!!

I do a lot of canning of frozen veggies. I just pull them out of the freezer, let them thaw and can them just like the fresh veggies. The only time I hot pack is when I am canning up sauces that I have had to simmer to get the excess water out of, salsa, spaghetti sauce, things of that nature. With raw or frozen/thawed veggies, I cold pack, and pressure can for the appropriate time and pressure.

PackerBacker · #8 08/16/13, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MOgal

Then when you boiled before eating as recommended.

That is no longer the recommendation.

Fire-Man · #9 08/17/13, 12:23 AM

The ones of you that dehydrate alot------a question---If I take a frozen bag of beans and dehydrate them-----How would be the BEST way to store them after drying? I have read that some dehydrated vegetables only have weeks/months of shelf life---is this true? I have dehydrated alot of things but have not stored them for long periods of time. I have about 10 dehydrators so dehydrating would not be a problem----I just would not want to take the vegetables out the freezer that my Wife worked hard to get in it and mess them up. BUT we have Got to make some freezer space-----we have 4 freezers full at this time----hate to buy another one-----I had rather put things up by canning or dehydrating to free some freezer space. Thanks

katydidagain · #10 08/17/13, 01:12 AM

I keep my dried things in the freezer but they take up MUCH less space. I just don't trust shelf storage but that's me.

MOgal · #11 08/17/13, 06:29 AM

Thanks for the update, PackerBacker. I've never liked having to cook things a third time! I have several editions of the Blue Book to keep current on recipes and techniques for actually canning but never took time to read the serving info.

puddlejumper007 · #12 08/17/13, 07:01 AM

food dried correctly will last for years , not months. i put mine in canning jars, and use foodsaver with attachment to take air out of jars, have dried hamburger that is still good after four years. used some and it was good.

chickenista · #13 08/17/13, 07:53 AM

I don't know how it is in SC, but I am right over the border in NC.
My friends and I have talked a lot this summer about how impossible it is to dehydrate anything in this humidity.
Whether it is just the air itself, which is ridiculously wet, or that the herbs and veggies are so water laden that they just can't dry, but it ain't happening here.

Even inside, even with AC and with different types of dehydrators, it is happening.

So I would suggest trying a small bit of something before you try a whole bag of food.

Heck.. another friends dining room table and chairs broke in mold this week.

calliemoonbeam · #14 08/17/13, 10:39 PM

We've had a cooler, wetter summer than usual here too, but I haven't had any trouble dehydrating. But then I do have an Excalibur and do it inside an air conditioned home, kept at about 75, so that may be part of it. If I tried to do it in an un-airconditioned garage or something, they'd probably never dry here either due to the humidity.

Fire-Man, after I dehydrate foods I either use my Food Saver to vacuum seal stuff I want to keep a really long time, or I use mason jars and a Pump 'n Seal http://www.pump-n-seal.com/ to seal the jars I plan to use out of on a regular basis. You could do the same thing as the Pump 'N Seal by putting an oxygen absorber in the jar, but I'd go with smaller jars because they'll lose their ability to remove the oxygen after 2-3 openings.

I've never had any dehydrated food go bad, and I have some sealed in Food Saver Bags, in 5-gallon buckets, that are 5 years old. I've tried to get away from freezers as much as possibe due to frequent power outages, not to mention freezer burn, etc. Good luck, whatever you decide!

P.S. There are articles and videos on people who made their own pump sealer, if you're interested in that, but it seemed easier and just as cost effective to me to just buy one, lol. There's also information on making your own seals much cheaper, you can Google that.