Making your own frozen stir fry veggies

[WV Sawmiller]

   I asked in a sister thread but its not getting much attention I guess so I'll rephrase and post as a stand alone topic.

  Have any of you ever made your own stir fry mix of assorted fresh veggies? If so what items did you include and most importantly did you just freeze the assorted raw veggies or did you blanch them before freezing them?

  As I read up on blanching fresh veggies I came across assorted cook/blanch times for different veggies which look like it would complicate and make the process much more work. I understand unblanched, fresh frozen veggies may not retain as much color and flavor and may take a few minutes longer to cook but my thoughts are these are going straight from the freezer into the wok where they will be cooked till soft. Its not like they were going into a garden salad completely raw or anything.

  If you have ever done this and have any experience or suggestion please post your findings and opinions here. Thanks.

[WV Sawmiller]

Bump.

    I'm getting the impression nobody here has ever tried making their own frozen stir fry veggies.

[Erik A]

Maybe your problem is you are talking about vegetables! 

Probably should have added bacon somewhere in the thread

I would think you would need to blanch in batches anyway, so do each veg individually? I assume you blanch just a few minutes so it shouldn't take to much time.

Interesting thread, I hope some with more experience than I have will post!

It sounds like one to try! Please post your findings!

[rusticretreater]

After picking my veggies, I usually slice em up, vacuum seal them in pouches and immediately put them in the freezer.  I have never noticed color loss or loss of flavor.  I remember trying blanching one time but it didn't work out.  It is necessary if you are freezing potatoes otherwise the starch makes them turn a very ugly grey.  I put mine up in a cool cellar so I don't have to do the blanching.

[WV Sawmiller]

Erik,

   The problem with blanching is different cooking times. Usually the recipes I saw said drop in boiling water for 90 seconds or 2 minutes or such for different types of veggies then throw them on ice to quickly cool them back down. With a bunch of different kinds of veggies all with different processing times it seems too complicated and not worth the trouble.

Rustic,

   Your comments sound very reassuring. What kind of veggies are you freezing? I am thinking about a mix with things like:

Onion, green beans, snow peas (if I can find them), carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, bell peppers, and maybe even throw in some bean sprouts and sliced mushrooms and a hot pepper or two if I find some. I might even open a big can of water chestnuts or bamboo sprouts and throw some of them in the mix. I'm thinking of making a couple of gallons of the mix in a big pan and vacuum sealing and freezing them in quart sized packages for me and my wife's use. It is pretty hard to go wrong with what you add to a stir fry mix.

   Right now a 12 oz bag is about $1.80 at our local grocery. By the time I make my own mix it may cost me more than that but I could certainly have the variety and items I like in it. 

[taylorsmissbeehaven]

Howard,
    this probably would be too much work for the volume you are trying to do but I freeze a lot of garden veggies by spreading them out on cookie sheets (so they don't touch) and freeze overnight. In the morning I dump them all into a bag and put back in the freezer till I need them. They hold their color and don't get mushy like they did when I just froze in the bag all together. The only veggies I blanch are green beans. They come out of the ice bath and go directly into bags and into the freezer. I try to use all the frozen stuff up before the next years garden. Could be a bit tedious for your project but has worked well for me for years. 

[WV Sawmiller]

Taylor,

    That sounds like an excellent idea. I can lay them out, flash freeze them. thrown them in a big bag then add others till I have accumulated all I want then mix them well and bag in smaller, individual bags for final use. I used to do this will little meat pies my maid in Africa used to make. She moonlighted selling them after work and they were great. I'd buy them uncooked, freeze them as you described then take them out and cook a few when I wanted a snack. I don't know why I had not considered that. Basically I was trying to determine if I needed to blanch them first. I will try this and report how it works. Thanks again.

[stavebuyer]

I would just try blanching the whole mess at 2 minutes and call it good. I have tried skipping the blanching step on individual lots when pressed for time or short on ice for the ice bath and noticed a big difference. I also think that the soak in the ice water and freezing while dripping wet forms an ice coating that helps protect the veggies from freezer burn.

[21incher]

Trouble is the main ingredient we use in stir fry is bok choy and it doesn't  freeze well. The crispness and texture of a stir fry is from fast cooking and steaming fresh ingredients.  They are only good if fresh veggies  are used. Save the frozen stuff for things like stews and soups.
We blanch most veggies  that go in the freezer for best texture when cooking. Peppers are the only veggie we don't blanch but you have to grow varieties with tender skin for best results.