Freezing Sugar Snap Peas
Freezing Sugar Snap Peas
I like to take the lazy easy road when it comes to processing foods for the freezer or canning. So last year I gave freezing the sugar snap peas without any processing at all a try. The first few packages we used were just fine but the longer they sat in the freezer the more white spots they developed. They tasted the same, they were just a little weird-looking. So this year I decided to go ahead and process them for the freezer instead of taking the easy road.
To process the sugar snap peas really isn’t hard at all. It just takes a few containers, some boiling water and a cool bath to stop the processing. I like to package my sugar snap peas into small zipper sandwich baggies and then seal them into a vacuum sealing bag. It makes them easier to store. By packaging them all together it also makes the easier to find since they are all together in one spot. The bigger bag is easier to find in the inch thick ice that forms on the shelves when I don’t defrost every year but that is another post altogether.
Here’s how I process my bounty of sugar snap peas,
Place the peas in a colander and rinse them well.
Snap off each end of the pea making sure to remove the string with each end. Boil a large pot of water and add the peas to the boiling water. Boil or blanch them for 2 minutes.
Remove from hot water and plunge into a cool water bath. A cool water bath is just a large bowl with water and ice cubes in it.
Then drain, drip dry and package them into baggies. I use sandwich bags for the peas and then I place all the sandwich baggies into a larger vacuum sealer bag.
Seal and label for the freezer.
That’s all there is to preparing sugar snap peas for the freezer. Have you ever tried to take short cuts in processing foods for the freezer before? Were you successful?Â
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Sometimes I will stick something in the freezer without wrapping it up really well, because I think I’m going to use it in a short time and that it won’t have time to develop freezer burn. Usually, I forget about it, and then it ends up with those white spots when I eventually pull it out to use. This is a great reminder to process things first before you freeze them.
When I defrosted my freezer recently I had to throw out a few items because they weren’t wrapped properly or I didn’t label them so I had no idea what they were. What I thought was peaches turned out to be pumpkin puree. I don’t even remember making the pumpkin puree that is how long it was in there. 🙂
Thanks for sharing this post, Shelly! I have a confession to make. I received a vacuum sealer for my birthday (or what it Christmas) a loooong time ago, and I’ve never used it. I guess meat would always come to mind when I thought about using it, and we don’t buy a lot of meat, so there isn’t a need for it. Not that I see how you use yours…I might have to find mine someday. I know it’s either in the garage or way up high in a kitchen cabinet…
I found that using the vacuum sealer squished the sugar peas to much. I will blanch then freeze in plastic bags but not use the sealer.
Linda, yes the vacuum sealer can squish the peas. On my vacuum sealer I can seal at any time which make it nice to adjust for each item. But regular freezer bags work well too.
Freeze them first then vacume pack while frozen.
Pennie, thanks for sharing that tip.