Are my frozen peppers useless?

SPHX · Sep 30, 2015

Hi all, I did a potentially dumb thing, and froze all my peppers after forgetting about them for a few days.

The problem is that I didn't destem them and didn't wash them.

From my understanding, any bacteria/fungus that is on there is now "latent" and when I pull them out could defrost and continue to grow on the pepper.

I was wondering if I have any recourse here, if they're probably fine as is, or if I should just toss them.

Thanks everyone.

CAPCOM · Sep 30, 2015

They should be ok. You will just need to process them as some as they are thawed. You could destem and wash them in cold water to start the thawing process.

SL3 · Sep 30, 2015

Sometimes I'm in a hurry and will freeze pods right off the plant. I just take them out of the freezer, put them in a large plastic bowl and pour cold water and dish soap over them. Then I rub them together with both hands (gloves) until the outside surface of the pods fells free of any stickiness or dirt. Then I rinse them thoroughly and use. So far I have never had a problem. I toss any with small cracks or breaks in the skin (usually the deflated ones) as soapy water can enter and give you an undesirable taste.

dragonsfire · Sep 30, 2015

Food grade peroxide is frequently used to clean fruit.

Hybrid Mode 01 · Sep 30, 2015

You people wash your peppers?

ColdSmoke · Sep 30, 2015

what do you mean "you people"?

oldsalty · Sep 30, 2015

Pepper people of course!!!

Lucky Dog Hot Sauce · Sep 30, 2015

I've kept peppers in my freezer for almost a year, and made hobby sauce for home use with them just fine.

Provided they show no freezer burn, the key is to use immediately - go from the freezer to the pot without thawing 1st. When they thaw they have a very short window of use before they turn to mush.

Flavor-wise, they're not quite as vibrant as fresh, but it's very, very close.
:cheers:

Hybrid Mode 01 · Sep 30, 2015

ColdSmoke said:
what do you mean "you people"?

The people who gave advice on washing peppers.

Kind of slow on the draw today?

ColdSmoke · Sep 30, 2015

you can still dehydrate them from the freezer too. Cut them in half while still hard or they will get mushy ...

dragonsfire · Sep 30, 2015

Still think dehydration best way to go, on low heat they retain the flavor and you can always re-hydrate them

CAPCOM · Sep 30, 2015

Hybrid Mode 01 said:
You people wash your peppers?

some I do. Have had some pretty gnarly dirt and bug infested pods.

SPHX · Sep 30, 2015

Lucky Dog Hot Sauce said:
I've kept peppers in my freezer for almost a year, and made hobby sauce for home use with them just fine.

Provided they show no freezer burn, the key is to use immediately - go from the freezer to the pot without thawing 1st. When they thaw they have a very short window of use before they turn to mush.

Flavor-wise, they're not quite as vibrant as fresh, but it's very, very close.

Thanks - I was mostly worried about bacteria/fungus/the fact that I didn't wash them at all before tossing them in the freezer. Wondering how much that'll matter.

Hybrid Mode 01 · Oct 1, 2015

SPHX said:
Thanks - I was mostly worried about bacteria/fungus/the fact that I didn't wash them at all before tossing them in the freezer. Wondering how much that'll matter.

It doesn't matter at all in my experience. If you put good looking peppers into the freezer, good looking peppers will come out. No washing required. As long as your pods aren't starting to get mushy or fuzzy when you freeze them, you have nothing to worry about.