How To Freeze Potatoes
It isn't terribly difficult to learn how to freeze potatoes. Aside from blanching, which requires a bit of timing, learning how to freeze potatoes is a simple, straightforward process. Raw potatoes don't freeze as well as many other vegetables, and some types freeze better than others. Cooked, or partially cooked potatoes on the other hand, are easy to freeze, so we'll start with those.
How To Freeze Potatoes That Are Cooked - Potatoes that have been cooked, require little more than letting them cool and placing them in freezer bags. Potatoes tend to keep no more than a month or two in the freezer, with French fried potatoes and hash browns keeping the best. There is no real trick involved with either hash browns or French fries. The potatoes are simply browned to the point they would normally be served, allowed to cool, then placed in freezer bags, containers, or heavy duty aluminum foil.
Freezing Mashed Or Stuffed Potatoes - Mashed potatoes are also cooked until ready to serve, and allowed to cool. The trick to freezing mashed potatoes is to freeze individual spoon-sized portions. This can be best accomplished by putting the spoonfuls on a tray, placing the tray in the freezer, and once the potatoes have frozen, placing the individual portions together in a freezer bag or container. It's much easier and quicker to thaw the potatoes that have been frozen in this manner and prepare a meal, than to have to deal with thawing a quart or half-gallon container of solid potato.
Stuffed potatoes are also quite easy to freeze. The cooked potato is removed from the skin, mashed, and seasoned. Then the combination is simply placed back in the skin, wrapped in plastic, and placed in a freezer bag. A stuffed potato, once thawed sufficiently, will only require about 15 minutes in the oven before being ready to eat. Sweet potatoes, once cooked, can be frozen either in slices or mashed, though the former way is a bit easier. The only difference in freezing sweet potatoes is that the cooked slices should be first dipped in lemon juice to retain the natural color of the potato. Otherwise the flesh may darken during storage and look unpalatable, although it would be perfectly safe to eat.
How To Freeze Raw Potatoes - When freezing potatoes, it is usually recommended that they be cooked first. The end result will be more predictable and most often satisfactory. Freezing raw potatoes can at times yield mixed results, but if you wish to do so, here's what's involved. Raw potatoes should be peeled before freezing, with any green spots, eyes, or blemishes cut away. New potatoes, fresh from the garden, will yield the best results. The secret to success lies in the blanching process. Blanching consists of submersing the potatoes in boiling water, long enough to remove surface organisms which will certainly be present.
Blanching is not really cooking but serves to stop enzyme activity which would otherwise change the appearance, texture, or taste of the potato. Blanching time depends upon the size and type of potato you will be freezing, so the correct time will have to be determined in advance, but 4 or 5 minutes in boiling water will usually be sufficient. It's important that the potatoes be blanched long enough. If blanching time is too short, enzyme activity can accelerate and you'll not get satisfactory results. Smaller potatoes will usually give better results, but a large potato can be either sliced or diced prior to blanching. One-half inch slices or cubes would be a good size for blanching and freezing. Either plastic air-tight containers of Zip lock bags are fine for storage in the freezer.