I've been saving mine because I read you should blanch it. I have like 10 monsters in the fridge right now (all from one plant)!

I plan to get about 20 then blanch and freeze all at once. Should take us through the winter. Squash rocks!

Jo

Jo,
Do you just slice it then blanch and freeze? Does it get mushy when you thaw it out?

I never blanch but, yes, they turn to mush. I use frozen for baking. If I want firm, fresh-like squash for later, I dehydrate them. It's not exactly like fresh but pretty close when you toss them in soups and stirfry.

Diane

Diane,
Thanks, I hadnt thought about dehydrating them. I'll try that with a few of them.
Kathy

I don't do either one, but I love to have yellow squash relish to use in the winter. It gives me that good summertime flavor and I don't have to deal with mush-y squash. You can google and find a zillion recipes, but I have used the same one for years, but I like less sugar, and I hot pack mine and then process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. I use yellow squash, green zukes, zucchetta, or just what I have excess of. I made five jars week before last when I had too many squash all at once.

I usually blanch it if I freeze it. I like to cut summer squash into slices that I can thaw out later and cook either on top of the stove as boiled squash or in the oven in a squash casserole.

I pick it, wash it, slice it, blanch it for 3 minutes, cool it, pack it into bags and freeze it. I try to process it within a couple of hours of picking it so that its quality does not deteriorate.

A lot of people like to skip the blanching step, but it is an important one. Blanching not only slows down the enzymes that destroy the fruit or veggies flavors, but also cleans off microorganisms that might be lurking on the surface of your squash (freezing doesn't kill all microorganisms), helps the veggie maintain its bright color, and helps the veggie maintain its high vitamin content. Without blanching, the veggies dull in color and flavor after only about 4 weeks, their vitamin content drops and they get mushier. (However, with regards to mushiness, all veggies have some mushiness after freezing because of their high water content.) So, while you don't "have to" blanch, I almost always do. Since one reason I am growing veggies and fruits is because I want tasty, high-quality produce, it makes sense to me to process it quickly and correctly so it maintains its quality.

Sometimes I dry some like Diane does, but usually I'm so busy dehydrating tomatoes that I freeze the squash instead.

I handle zucchini differently by the way. I shred it for future use in zucchini bread, zucchini-chocolate cake and zucchini-chocolate cookies. All of them are a great way to "sneak" a vegetable into everyone's diet.

In addition to freezing or dehydrating squash, you can pickle it either as pickles or in relish.

Oops Dawn, Looks like we were posting at the same time again. LOL

Dawn, I'd read something a couple of years back saying they'd found the, for home preservation, blanching didn't really make that much of a difference with regards to nutrient retention, if properly packaged and frozen. Even if that weren't true, I'd still not blanch all of the time because I'm just plain lazy. LOL I think the scientists get bored and just reverse findings every few years to amuse themselves as they watch us all change how we do things.

Diane