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Frozen Puree - Anyone tried this?

I had hoped to make some hot sauce this year, but time is getting away from me. The peppers are piling up, and need to get processed. I read through Alabama Jack's puree recipe, and considered going that route, but a friend of mine gave me another idea. She said she steams her peppers until soft (8 - 10 minutes), then simply purees them, and freezes them in ice cube trays. Once frozen, she places the cubes in freezer safe bags, and then just adds them to soups or sauces when cooking. I do the same thing with pesto, but never thought to do it with my peppers.

In the past, I've frozen whole peppers, or cut them into strips and froze them, but never cared for the texture when thawed. Always seemed rubbery, and didn't get tender even with extended cooking.

I'm doing lots of powders this year, but for the thicker, fleshier types of peppers, I'm thinking of going this frozen puree route. It would eliminate the vinegar that the canned method requires, and since I don't care for the taste of vinegar, I'm liking this idea.

Just wondering if anyone else has tried it, and what your results were?
 
Freezing Puree works well. Another idea is to put the puree in pint ziplock freezer bags and freeze flat. Then you can break off small or large chunks as needed and re-zip the bag to keep fresh. If you just put chile pulp in the bags (no vinegar or salt), you can take it out later and make sauces when you have time.
 
Cool! I use the flat freezer bag method with pumpkin puree, and shredded zucchini. Then I just stack them up in the deep freeze.

That's good to know that I can still use the pureeto make hot sauce when I have more time. Right now I need the least labor intensive method possible.

Thanks, Salsalady!!!
 
If you want to make it as easy as possible, just blend up the peppers and freeze the mash. No need for steaming or cooking them in any way. I usually take the seeds out first (because I sell seeds) and the blend up whats left. I have done this for a few years and it really works great. The mash is good for a few months in the refrigerator, but for a longer storage time, freezing is the way to go and in the proper container, (like freezer bags) you can't taste any bad tastes that you don't want. Tom
 
Well the least labor intensive is to just freeze them whole then blend them up later, but they'll take up a LOT less space in the freezer as puree. I find my ancient blender chokes on only peppers though, I'd have to do it in the food processor or add some liquid. Since you don't like the taste of vinegar, consider trying ascorbic acid as a substitute. It's still sour but no trace of wood barrel taste or the original fruit that went into making it.
 
Finally, got a couple of trays worth of puree frozen. I did have to add a small amount of water, say 1/4 cup to each batch to get it smooth enough.

PepperPureeinicecubetray_zps7302a71b.jpg


Can't wait to start using them for cooking over the winter!
 
That looks Awesome! Just hope no lil ones open up the freezer and think : "Holy Moley, the popsicle motherlode!!!" Lol. Seriously though, Looks great. I'm going to use this method as well.
 
Love the great puree ideas. We had no ice cube trays at the time we pureed peppers, but we did happen to have 2 oz. cups with lids. We filled them 3/4 full, put the lids on, froze them on a cookie tray, and they're now stacked inside 2 freezer ziploc bags in the freezer. We did have to use some water like highalt since we didn't want the vinegar taste. We thawed and used only one of the cups so far in a huge pot of chili. Whew - is it HOT and gooood.

Thanks to Biscgolf for his wonderful and huge superhots. He grows 'em big in his part of the planet!!

We're ready for more hot cookin' during the winter.
 
Finally, got a couple of trays worth of puree frozen. I did have to add a small amount of water, say 1/4 cup to each batch to get it smooth enough.

PepperPureeinicecubetray_zps7302a71b.jpg


Can't wait to start using them for cooking over the winter!

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but this is exactly what I had in mind for adding to a Bloody Mary. The longer you nurse the drink, the hotter it gets!

I've got to get some ice cube trays like this and figure out the right concoction for this to work...
siliconeskullicecubetrays.jpg
 
Sorry to bring up an old thread, but this is exactly what I had in mind for adding to a Bloody Mary. The longer you nurse the drink, the hotter it gets!

I've got to get some ice cube trays like this and figure out the right concoction for this to work...
siliconeskullicecubetrays.jpg
What a great idea.
You could even do this w/out filling the trays with puree. you could probably just sprinkle some powdered pepper in each ice cube cubby then fill and get the same delayed/time release effect.
Thanks, I'll be trying this one out today i think.... i should have some Major Peters Bloody Mary Mix around here somewhere!?!
 
OK - 6 years after my last comment on pureed peppers - and we found 1 oz. plastic containers with lids, which is the amount we usually use for hot jam and chili. Filling the small containers close to the top lessens the freezer burn even after a couple years.
 
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