Conference turris::cooks

    Hi, I  am planning on doing some cooking with apples.
    I would like to make apple stuff (pies and turnovers).
    I have a few questions:
    
    1.  Can you freeze these items?
    
    2.  Do they have to be fully cooked, or can they be raw?
    
    lastly,
    
    3.  How long can you keep them in the freezer before they
        start to get funny?  What should I wrap them in.
    
    I have tons of apples I would like to work with, but am afraid\
    I may ruin the goods by putting them in the freezer incorrectly.
    
    Someone help!  I already  have the apples!
    
    Thanks in advance for any suggestions,
    
    Bren

    I know you can freeze both cooked and uncooked apple pies - not
    sure how long for - we always forget things anyway !. We used to
    be subjected to lots of apples when we lived in Ireland and we used
    to freeze them " open " - ie sliced and sprinkled with lemon juice
    and spread on trays. When they were frozen we used to bag them (
    ziplock ) and then when needed we just spread them on the pie base
    and into the oven whilst still frozen. Not as good as fresh but
    still better than tinned pie filling !
    
    Rod

    I MAKE SEVERAL APPLE PIES AND APPLE CRISP RECIPES.  THE ONLY TRICK
    IS TO FREEZE THEM UNBAKED.  DON'T COOK ANY APPLE RECIPES BEFORE
    FREEZING THEM AS IT MAKES THEM MUSHY.  I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG YOU
    CAN KEEP THEM BEFORE THEY GET FUNNY.  I HAVE A RECIPE BOOK, THOUGH,
    THAT I KNOW DOES TELL HOW LONG.  I'LL LOOK IT UP AND LET YOU KNOW.
    PATTI

    WHEN YOU HAVE ENOUGH PIES, CRISPS, ETC. DO APPLESAUCE WHICH CAN
    BE FROZEN AFTER COOKING.
    
    I CUT WHOLE APPLES IN FOURS, LEAVE ON SKINS AND SEEDS, THROW AS
    MANY AS I WANT TO USE IN A BIG POT, - AND INSTEAD OF ADDING WATER,
    I USE EITHER A SMALL AMOUNT OF FRESH CIDER OR ORANGE JUICE OR
    COMBINATION OF BOTH. AMOUNT DEPENDS ON NUMBER OF APPLES, AND HOW
    JUICY THEY ARE. YOU DON'T WANT SO MUCH THAT IT'S WATERY BUT ENOUGH
    TO KEEP FROM BURNING AND TO GIVE IT THE RIGHT CONSISTENCY. BRING
    TO A BOIL AND SIMMER UNTIL MUSHY.
    
    I THEN DUMP THEM INTO A FOLEY FOOD MILL WHICH EXTRACTS THE SKINS
    AND SEEDS. ADD SUGAR OR HONEY TO TASTE, SOME CINNAMON, FRESH GRATED
    NUTMEG, AND A LITTLE GROUND ALLSPICE.
    
    IF YOUR APPLES ARE NICE AND RED, THE APPLESAUCE WILL BE A LOVELY
    PINK COLOR. IF NOT, I ADD A LITTLE RED FOOD COLORING FOR EYE APPEAL.
    
    PUT IN PLASTIC FOOD CONTAINERS (LEAVE A LITTLE ROOM AT THE TOP)
    COVER TIGHTLY AND FREEZE. THIS IS SO EASY, KEEPS SO WELL, AND TASTES
    SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE CANNED STUFF IN THE STORES, THAT EVEN IF
    YOU DON'T HAVE APPLES TO USE UP , IT'S WORTHWHILE TO GO BUY THEM
    JUST FOR THIS!

    I always freeze my apple pies after they are cooked with no problems.
    When ever I get around to pie baking, I do 3 or 4 at a time.  The
    secret to not getting mushy apples is to mix the varieties of apples.
    I usually mix macs, granny smiths and some times delicious. Don't
    slice the apples too thin and really fill the pie plate heaping
    full.  
    
    I repeat, I have never had a mushy pie and I have been doing this
    for over 20 years.

    
    
    	My wife just put some Apple Crisps in the freezer a couple of weeks
    ago and she wrapped them with plastic wrap then with aluminum foil
    after they had cooled and popped them in the freezer.
    
    	Froggy
    

    How about corn on the cob?
    
    I can't find any specific directions in any of my books on how to
    freeze the stuff! Joy of Cooking dances around it a bit but never
    answers some fairly basic questions, like:
    
    Do I shuck the corn first or freeze it in the husk?
    
    Do I blanch it? Parboil it? Cook it completely? - before I freeze it?
    
    With all the delicious corn appearing on the farm stands around us and
    a freezer with lots of empty space, I'm looking forward to your help.
    
    Thanks,
    		/Harry

I was wondering if you could freeze summer squash or zucchini?

Thanks,

Gail

	My experiences with freezing zucchini haven't been very 
	successful.  Last summer, I sliced large chunks, blanched, 
	put into plastic freezer bags, and froze.  When I took 
	them out to reheat, they tasted okay, but were tough.  

	In 2568.0, I mentioned that I was trying out a vegetable 
	lasagna, and planned to freeze it.  In this case, the 
    	squash was not cooked first.  When we defrosted and baked 
    	two days later, the zucchini in that dish was tough as well.

	The success that I HAVE had was to make zucchini bread, and 
	freeze.  It was just dandy when eaten during the winter.

    
    I've had success freezing zucchini by shredding it, soaking it for
    an hour in very salted water, then blanching it for exactly 1 min
    in boiling water, draining and freezing it in little blocks that
    I formed on a baking sheet.  When the little blocks were frozen
    I bagged them and then used the shredded zucchini throughout the
    winter for zucchini bread and in casseroles an soups.  The little
    blocks allow you to take out just the amount you want for a given
    recipe.
    
    Squash I always boil until done, puree and then freeze for pies
    or to be warmed up with butter.. whenever I've tried freezing it
    in chunks it is stringy and watery when reheated.
    
    gailann

                As far as corn goes, I just parboil the corn for about
    three minutes and then cut it off the cobb with a electric knife and 
    bag it up.

    I freeze grated zucchini without any other preparation.  I fill
    up ziplock freezer bags with it, or grated summer squash.  In
    the winter, I defrost and use for zucchini/squash bread or
    muffins, or put it secretly in stews - it's grated so it
    disintegrates and just makes the gravy richer AND passes the
    no-zuke test at the dinner table....  Anyhow, if you use it in
    breads, decrease your liquids a bit to account for the juice
    that will be in the bag after defrosting.
    
    I bet the method in -.1 gives you less liquid in the zucchini,
    but my method is very quick.  Whatever!
    
    --L
    

  My parents blanch corn on the cob (w/o husk), and then freeze it.  They don't 
cut the kernels off - they leave the cob intact.  I'm not sure how long they
cook it for when they're ready to eat it, though.

--Sharon

    I freeze corn in the husk... it seems to keep the kernels from getting
    tough/freeze-dried...  If I remember correctly though... it can't be
    kept for months and months... Steaming them to defrost/cook seems to
    work real good (softens the outer toughness).  After letting it/them
    cool down a bit... I cut of the not-so-nice-to-look-at ends.
    
    re: zucchini... I have "blanched" large/long chunks (cut in half
    length-wise), taken out the seeds and stuffed with meat filling,
    wrapped/bagged.  I defrost starting in a cold oven... periodically
    drain off some of the excess water... which I keep for a later soup or
    even to cook rice/noodles in...  I have also had reasonable results
    cutting it into "julienne" small narrow little sticks which I freeze
    without blanching...  I then bring them back to life either by steaming
    of just "stewing" if that's the right term; I put them in a pan with no
    liquid - low heat and let them "stew" in their own juice...(add a
    dribble of olive oil and a sprinkling of curry powder and yum yum
    yum...)
    
    Diana

              The main reason that you might want to cut the corn off the 
    cobb as I do is to save space, depending on how much you put up. When
    I do, its usally around 250-300 ears.