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Freezing fresh beets

magothyrivergirl

11 years ago

I got a few bags of fresh beets from My DH's farmer uncle yesterday.

More beets than I can eat. Will they freeze well without getting mushy? What do you recommend? I do not can, so freezing is the solution.

I love beets - even the crummy store brand in a can - and I hardly ever buy or cook veggies in a can.

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Comments (7)

donna_in_sask
11 years ago
I personally don't like the texture change with frozen beets - they are rubbery. Used in borscht and frozen is alright though. I like them better pickled if I can't eat them fresh.
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lindac
11 years ago
I agree with donna....cook them and pickle them......they will keep a while...like a couple of months in the refrigerator, if pickled.
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LOL! But FOAS, mousse is this year's discussion! There was a mid-20th C. dish that was (it pains me to say) popular (I only know about it because it was something my father's parents fed to my mother when she first met them, and she still talks about it). It was canned beets prepared with butter. I'm sure there must be some kind of delicious, fresh food, fine dining version of buttered beets, but there's no better way to conserve and highlight the can flavor than heating it in butter! I've had canned julienned beets served to me in salads, and they're fine. I'm not a total can snob, and I use canned tomato products and corn. But there are some vile things that come out of cans too. There's a good reason why a lot of Americans are scared of beets. :)
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Vieja, I'm not surprised. Maybe you could try sleevendog's method of roasting fresh beets and then freezing, although I seldom roast beets. sleevendog, I also store beets in the fall in the root cellar and they will last for quite some time. I've not tried freezing roasted beets because.....well.....I just don't like them very well roasted. If I leave them whole, so they are easy to peel, they don't get done enough for my liking. I do not want them "crisp tender", I want them done all the way through, soft enough to mash. Yeah, I know, it's politically uncorrect but that's the way I like them. I do love beets, though. I've tried blanching and freezing beets and freezing canned beets, but both methods resulted in a final product that was unacceptable to me. Annie
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annie1992
11 years ago
I can pickled beets and I make borscht and I love them both, like nearly anything with beets.

However, I agree with Donna, beets don't freeze well, it affects the texture negatively. Since I have such an issue with textures, I don't like them frozen.

Yum, too many beets. Somehow I don't feel all that sympathetic right now, LOL.

Annie
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laceyvail 6A, WV
11 years ago
Fresh beets will keep for months and months in your fridge. It's where I store my carrots, Asian radishes and a few beets over the winter.
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magothyrivergirl
Original Author
11 years ago
I was afraid the texture would be yukky if I did freeze them.
I will eat alot in the coming weeks, pickle some, and put them in the spare frig. Thanks!

Yes, Annie~I feel lucky -I also got alot of garlic, 2 kinds of onions, green peppers, cabbage and some green tomatoes. And of course, they sent us home with leftovers.......I love visiting them -- a born and raised Farmer - you would love him!
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annie1992
11 years ago
Yes, I sure would. All those beets and garlic too, and I've been hungry lately for fried green tomatoes.

Annie
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thatchairlady
11 years ago
When I thought about it, think beets are about the only vegetable that you WON'T find frozen at the supermarket. Though have never had them in fridge for a LONG time, don't doubt they'll be fine for ages.

They're one of the few veggies where canned don't taste radically different from fresh... like mushrooms, asparagus, green peas.

I like pickled beets. Not difficult to do, doesn't take a HUGE amount of time... and worth it, imo.
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