First year growing beans, and they’ve been doing really good. I’ve blanched them for about 2 minutes, followed by an ice bath. Dried and then put in bags to freeze. First batch I don’t think I fully dried before freezing and had a lot of ice crystals in the bag. Second batch was much more dry after blanching, but still had a bunch of ice crystals. Wondering if thats normal, or will reduce how long they stay good?

  • iocase@lemmy.zipEnglish
    13·
    2 months ago

    Freezer burn happens while your freezer runs a defrost cycle and then kicks back on. It’s essentially the same process as freeze drying just incomplete and at the surface only.

    Water coating the outside of your food helps protect it by providing a sacrificial layer of water to freeze dry from instead of your food itself. Using a deep freezer also helps since they rarely defrost compared to your fridge freezer.

    What I originally said, supported by the sources I linked earlier especially the seafood one. Also, you’re telling me any time you buy frozen berries or fruit brand-new from the store it always has the exact same amount of water crystals on the outside from freezer damage?

    • SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.worldEnglish
      31·
      2 months ago

      Uhhh… That’s just wrong from the start.

      Freezer burn is from contact with unconditioned air, every time you open the door, any small leak, etc. all lead to it. Stocking the shelves, moving it from the truck to truck in distribution centers, etc.

      A defrost cycle is just one of the very many things that cause it.

      This is the “reading a brochure” and not comprehending how it actually works.

      And that’s not how water coating works, it’s just one reasoning, it also helps set it off faster since it’s a starting point. That food may last 6 months instead of 12 with the water coating. The main reason for water coating is to add weight for purchasing. Same reasoning chicken breasts are injected with saline before freezing. It’s to “protect it” but try freezing breasts without the saline, it lasts longer.

      The water coating is to maintain its “presentability” for it to sell by the time that reaches its best before time, it doesn’t mean it’s the best practice for freezing stuff longer term. It’s purely for looks and money.

    • plantfanatic@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      11·
      2 months ago

      buy frozen berries or fruit brand-new from the store it always has the exact same amount of water crystals on the outside from freezer damage?

      If they are consistent with their process yeah, you can always tell when it’s someone different if you regularly buy it, you can also tell which ones were in the middle and protected by the others, since there’s basically no crystals in those ones.

      The ones that are bad you can tell by just feeling them, since they’re all frozen together instead of individual pieces like they should be. Or the crystals are flaking off.

      And I don’t know about you, but my brand new store berries aren’t frozen, that’s why you buy them, since they’re fresh and non frozen.