When we hear the word «vitamins», we imagine cherubic tomatoes, pimple-bearing cucumbers and fresh strawberries. However, buying vegetables and fruits in early spring, we get either last year’s fruit crop, or fiber without vitamins.

In early spring frozen fruits and vegetables are more useful than fresh!

Rather recently, several centuries ago, people suffered from pronounced seasonality of food. Until 1930, when Clarence Birdseye offered buyers frozen vegetables, fruits, meat and oysters.

“Shocked” products

In fact, food freezing is conservation, with the difference that while classical method of conservation food is processed with high temperature, and while freezing - low. People still argue the fact what is more useful.

Freezing technologies are constantly improved, so today there are several options for cooling and freezing.

The most popular ones are «shock» (rapid) freezing, it forces cooling, light freezing and further freezing and «fluidbed» technology.

While fast freezing small ice crystals are formed, they are evenly distributed throughout the thick of frozen product. Traumatic effect of crystals on cells and tissues of live product is minimal. This way they «freeze» fish and meat, instant foods, ice cream, berries and fruits.

«Fluidbed» is used to freeze fruit and vegetable mixtures. This technology’s time of freezing is 8-15 minutes depending on size of the product, which is «steamed» through ascending flows of cold air above the conveyor.

More useful than fresh

According to scientific research, frozen vegetables turned to be even more useful than fresh. Content of vitamins in frozen mushrooms, sweet pepper, peas, corn and carrots proved to be much higher than that of fresh vegetables imported from Italy, Spain, Turkey and Israel. Fresh vegetables from southern Europe or Africa usually sold in winter and early spring, lose their nutritional value and benefits while transport. In addition, fresh vegetables have higher level of lead, cadmium and pesticides than frozen.

* Before fresh vegetables get to our table, they pass a long way, losing their benefits. Frozen, by contrast, are treated just a few hours after being picked (usually this period is not more than 4 hours). Vitamin C content is an indicator of quality of fruits and vegetables. It is easily destroyed in the sun, heat and water. It turned out that its content in frozen vegetables is no less, than in the freshest produce and much higher than that of imported vegetables.

* Vitamin content in good frozen vegetables is higher than in fresh, stored in a refrigerator. If choosing between fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, follow this rule: use seasonal fruits and vegetables, and in off-season it is better to use frozen than fresh, but kept long. The latest virtually have no vitamins.

Science of defrosting

Experts argue that the best result of frozen products use is possible only under basic rule: freeze quickly, but defrost slowly.

Defrosting of foods may occur in several ways - in the refrigerator, microwave oven, at room temperature, and in some cases you even can do without it.

* It is better to defrost meat, including poultry in the fridge. If meat was sold in a package, then you should remain it there until complete thawing.

* While defrosting foods in microwave oven, follow the instructions strictly. Otherwise, there’s a great danger of «overtiming» the product, and as a result it will start being inadvertently cooked.

* Thawing at room temperature will be faster than in the refrigerator, but do not remove food from package during thawing, to reduce penetration of harmful household bacteria. Generally, the less contact with air, the better for the product.

* You can cook soups, goulash, fish, seafood (add them to the pan in the end of cooking), dishes with pasta, vegetable and fruit mixtures without defrosting.

Home freezing

If you prefer freezing products at home, take a look at the list of products that are absolutely not recommended for freezing.

* Fruits with high water content lose crispness (green salad, radish, pepper, celery, cucumber, etc.)
* Eggs in shell. Although they can be frozen in a slightly whipped condition, or when yolk is separated from white. Boiled eggs become «rubber» in freezer.
* Mayonnaise, hollandaise sauce, custard, as all the sauces, concentrated with starch - they get «divided».
* Sliced boiled potatoes show black and become slimy in the process of freezing.